Corporate social responsibility

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency addresses corporate social responsibility in its procurements by paying attention to avoidance of the grey economy and observing labour and human rights in FTIA's own and service providers' work. This is facilitated by contract terms that limit chains of contracts to three levels. In addition, FTIA supervises the suppliers’ eligibility, the precondition for which is fulfilment of social obligations.

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency has also promoted new employees' entry in the sector by enabling their inclusion in contracts relying on an apprenticeship model. This means that new experts are assigned responsible tasks, which they perform with the support of a more experienced person. Taking accessibility into account in contracts where possible is also important. 

Corporate social responsibility in transport infrastructure management has been identified as a key theme of the future. Will transport infrastructure networks and their development serve different population groups equally, and will the benefits and disadvantages arising from them be shared fairly? The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency produced a preliminary study on these issues in 2023 and will take steps to address corporate social responsibility more extensively in the future. 

Accessibility  

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency strives to meet accessibility requirements in the design, construction, maintenance and procurement of the transport system and routes (physical accessibility) and in digital services (digital accessibility). In addition, FTIA engages with accessibility organisations. 
 
In 2023, FTIA examined the roles in transport system accessibility issues together with other actors in the administrative branch and participated in the preparation of an accessibility vision for the transport system. The vision defines the desired development in transport system accessibility at the national level. 

Based on the vision work, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency has identified its own priorities regarding accessibility. In 2023, FTIA engaged in cooperation with stakeholders and citizens on accessibility by organising audits following the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's operating model for testing by citizens at Kuopio railway station as well as in connection with the construction of Hessundinsalmi Bridge in Pargas.

Accessibility in the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s services means ensuring that as many current and future user groups as possible can access digital services as easily as possible. In this context, accessibility means accounting for people's differences and diversity in the planning and delivery of services. Accessibility is addressed in the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency’s digital service and application procurements and in ensuring that the launched services are accessible. 

In 2023, accessibility audits of services were carried out (including the website of the Ihku cost accounting calculation service). In addition, the Regional State Administrative Agency audited FTIA's public online service vayla.fi, without finding significant shortcomings. Accessibility has been integrated into the preparation and publication process of documents, and the importance of this matter has also been stressed to those responsible for web content. To support accessibility, a simple language website explaining the Kupittaa–Turku rail project was published as a pilot in spring 2023.
 

Stakeholder survey on procurement competence and ability to cooperate

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency strives to actively develop its services as well as its procurement and cooperation competence, and to this end, it conducts regular customer and stakeholder surveys. As FTIA is a significant contracting authority, our responsible action and the impact of our activities affect the entire infrastructure sector. 

One of these surveys is the annual stakeholder survey focusing on our procurement competence and ability to cooperate, which aims to examine the views of various stakeholders and service providers, including construction consultants, contractors, maintenance contractors and design consultants, of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's procurements and tendering processes. 

The findings of the survey are monitored at agency level as one of the market performance indicators, and the results are used to develop FTIA's procurements and procurement categories. Key observations are incorporated in the following year’s operational planning. In the survey conducted in 2023, respondents identified as our strengths an experience of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency as a responsible operator, as well as smooth collaboration between the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and ELY Centres.

As development areas were identified a need to make better use of the market, for example by determining the appropriate level of minimum and eligibility requirements in competitive tendering and the competence requirements set for individuals, and by paying more attention to enabling new operators’ access to the field and to small local operators (in the ELY Centres’ procurements). Some respondents also felt that the operating methods and processes vary somewhat between units, projects and persons. Having the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's voice and message coming across clearly in projects was found important, even if its in-house organisation is thin in places and some of the construction management tasks are commissioned from consultants. The survey findings were incorporated in operational planning and development projects through procurement management and the development of procurement categories. 
 

Interaction with stakeholders

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's experts engage in regular and multichannel dialogue with various stakeholders on the planning, construction and maintenance of the transport network. This dialogue increases mutual understanding of the need for and impacts of solutions and mutual practices. In accordance with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's strategy, the dialogue, its practices and the operating models associated with it are developed continuously. 

The interaction and cooperation take multiple forms. In the planning phase, interaction is guided by a statutory process whose purpose is to guarantee residents and other participants an equal opportunity to participate and influence matters in their living environment. While construction is in progress, projects use a variety of methods to communicate about the impacts of construction on the daily lives of residents and others involved. The most common methods include resident and interaction events, surveys, site walks and tours, online question and answer sessions, school visits and interaction on the social media. Regarding maintenance, user feedback plays an important role in the development of operations. Last year, more than 17,600 customer feedback messages were received. 

In addition to dialogue related to planning and construction, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency engages in strategic-level dialogue and cooperation with various customer and stakeholder representatives. In 2023, around 200 cooperation meetings were organised with different stakeholders and customer groups. In addition, representatives of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency are involved in several regular cooperation groups and networks that operate across sectoral boundaries. The purpose of the meetings and cooperation is to collect and update our customer insight concerning customer needs and the operating environment for the purposes of developing the transport network.

In 2023, planningrelated interaction was developed by launching a new e-service for citizens. This web service makes it easy for citizens to familiarise themselves with transport network plans, comment on them and issue statements. For example, it can be used to identify landowners in the neighbouring area and inform them of plans. The service is undergoing continuous development, and it facilitates the activities of both the customer and experts as part of the statutory interaction process.

In the context of construction projects, resident events relating to Hailuoto causeway and Espoo Rail Line projects attracted interest in 2023. The question and answer sessions with the Project Manager of Helsinki-Riihimäki rail project can also be considered successful. In the corporate world, entrepreneurs in Tulli district were met to discuss such topics as the construction period traffic arrangements of Tampere passenger yard project. 

A site visit organised in connection with the bridge upgrade projects of Kirjalansalmi and Hessundinsalmi on Road 180 was another new opening. The project actors invited local residents to visit the site of the new bridge across Kirjalansalmi strait. The idea was to provide residents with an opportunity to see the daily life of the construction site and the progress of the work on a guided walking tour along the temporary bridge. Several builders and project representatives were present to answer questions and tell residents about the project.

Personnel  

The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is a responsible employer with established practices and processes for ensuring the wellbeing of its personnel and for work ability management together with an occupational health care partner. The objectives of the occupational safety and health policy also include ensuring that FTIA is a safe and healthy workplace with thriving personnel and that occupational safety and health work is proactive and systematic. 

In 2023, FTIA continued to invest in strengthening its employer image and developing personnel competence following the HR and training plan. The number of applicants for positions in FTIA increased significantly compared to the previous year. More anonymous recruitments were also completed than in 2022, in keeping with the measures set out in the Equality and Non-Discrimination Plan. 

Equality and non-discrimination were also realised and promoted more extensively in the administrative branch together with the ministry and other agencies. The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency additionally surveys and monitors the realisation of equality by monitoring the pay system, and little or no differences between the genders exist between positions of the same level of difficulty.

The work on FTIA's operating culture continued, for example with the theme of coaching supervisory work, and the principles of FTIA's management culture were also defined to support this work by interviewing all supervisors. FTIA also organises regular internal sparring sessions for supervisors, as well as forums in which different areas of supervisory work are discussed and support is offered extensively. 
 

Image: Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency's key personnel figures in 2020–2023