Multi-talented international experts on SRV’s sites

Of those working on SRV’s construction sites 24.9 per cent are foreign. Most of them are employed by subcontractors. One of these subcontractors is Real Construct, a Polish firm specialising in auxiliary construction work. SRV has cooperated with the company for 10 years now on projects such as Biomedicum, Helsinki City Theatre and the new campus building of Aalto University.

“For each project, we assemble a suitable team capable of carrying out the widest range of construction work. For instance, a bricklayer should also be able to perform professional levelling and reinforcement. Stints abroad usually last a few months”, says Andrzej Daszynski, Regional Director, Finland at Real Construct.

The company has received particularly good feedback on how well it handles safety issues. “The safety of workers is one of our main priorities, no one wants to get injured. At our headquarters in Krakow, we also deal with occupational safety issues every day. It’s important for workers to understand how to follow all the safety instructions in the field. If we notice any safety risks, we comment on them immediately”, says Daszynski.

The team leader, Maciek Florek, provides orientation to every Real Construct employee who arrives on site. He translates the site orientation and work risk assessments into Polish, and ensures that the workers have truly understood the instructions. On site, Florek himself communicates in English. He has not run into any actual language problems on sites. “We’ve always come to an understanding”, says Florek with a laugh.

At SRV sites, everyone must be treated equally. Discrimination in any form is not accepted.

“New foreign workers arriving at a new site are always put under a magnifying glass. The quality of their work is evaluated very critically. We gain credibility and earn our place by doing our work well. This can take a few months, but after that, cooperation flows smoothly”, says Florek.

The story was originally published in 2017 Annual Report