HUS, the biggest healthcare provider in Finland’s Uusimaa region renovating two quarters at Hyvinkää Hospital, is using the new appearance meter (in Finnish "Ilme-mittari"). This meter is applied to measure the performance of the construction site from the point of view of hospital patients and other external bypassers.
Sami Katajamäki, the construction supervisor for the Hyvinkää Hospital renovation project, says he still sees many construction sites where fences are cracked and signs are dirty. Thanks to the new appearance meter, attention is now being paid to these issues.
The mission of HUS is to ensure that hospital operations run smoothly during renovation. Katajamäki sees Hyvinkää Hospital as a challenging target, as the site has many interfaces with patient flows. "Moving around in a large building is challenging. The signage has to be in such good condition that the client can find the corridor to get where they are going and not end up in a dead end," Katajamäki says.
The appearance meter consists of 6 measurement points:
- Work and operations,
- Site separation,
- Organising traffic for bypassers and site traffic,
- Signage and information,
- General impression and cleanliness
- Site facilities and structures.
The sum of correct and incorrect observations is used to produce an index.
Digital tools bring the appearance meter to builders
The appearance meter is intended to be an open and accessible meter for all construction industry and needs to be easy to measure.
According to the Institute of Occupational Health, most of the measurements like safety (TR) are usually done by apps on smartphones or tablets. "When this new meter starts to attract interest, almost immediately there is a demand for a digital tool," says Juha Salminen.
In the 1990s, Juha Salminen from Salmicon Oy was one of the development team behind the creation of the Finnish standards for safety-TR measurement. It has since become a standard in the construction industry and has significantly improved the quality and safety of the entire construction sector in Finland.
Congrid, a digital quality and safety management tool for the construction industry and the market leader in Finland, has already included an appearance meter in its own service portfolio.
Tuomas Jääskeläinen, Customer Relations and Partner Manager at Congrid, is pleased that the image of the Finnish construction industry is being improved through cooperation and development. "Congrid's intention is to be a unifier for the construction industry," Jääskeläinen comments.
Another necessity for the measurement to become more widespread is that large property developers adopting its use. Marko Kuukkanen, Head of Occupational Safety at Bonava Finland, one of Europe's leading housebuilders, says that the appearance criteria have been updated to serve Bonava's external image. Kuukkanen also says that Bonava will train site managers in the future and the measurement will be introduced on all their sites.
"Everyday perceptions of the construction sites’ external appearances have a greater impact on company’s image than advertising does. Every construction site is a showcase for the whole construction industry," says Juha Salminen.
If you want to hear more, join our free webinar (in Finnish) at 14:00 on the 30th of March.
