Social responsibility 2023

The development programme for wellbeing at work was kicked off in 2021, with 2023 being its final year. During the project, we focused especially on the management of wellbeing at work as, when effective, it serves the organisation’s core operations. The goal is to enable the smooth flow of work and the organisation’s productivity by constantly clarifying structures, processes and responsibilities.

During 2023, a manual for wellbeing at work was written in the development programme. We worked with the University of Jyväskylä, resulting in development measures to support career management (master’s thesis). Pilot units under the development programme for wellbeing at work have reshaped organisational structures and work instructions to support clearer job descriptions and a more straightforward division of responsibility areas. Supervisors have learned to raise any problems in the working community earlier and better than before.

According to a survey conducted by Universum Communications, Luke has been the most attractive workplace among professionals and students in natural sciences for five years in succession.

Everyone at Luke is responsible for wellbeing at work, and everyone can have an impact on their own wellbeing and that of others.

We measure Luke employees’ wellbeing at work by monitoring the amount of sick leave, among other metrics. In 2023, sick leave totalled eight (8) days per person. The corresponding figure in the previous year was 11. This means that the amount of sick leave decreased from the year before. Preventive measures and a reasonable level of infections supported work ability.

Cooperation with occupational healthcare, HR management and supervisors has increased. Cooperation is close and effective. We are in a long-term occupational healthcare service agreement with Terveystalo, and its knowledge of Luke’s operations, special characteristics and challenges has increased the effectiveness of our cooperation. We have also used occupational physiotherapists’ services. Occupational healthcare focuses on preventive services.

The number of absences of more than 30 days due to illnesses has decreased from 2022. In 2023, there were 85 such absences, while the corresponding figure in 2022 was 116.

We prevent sick leave by following an early caring model in which supervisors seek to tackle any issues that reduce the ability to work at an early stage. Maintaining active contact between HR management and occupational healthcare is essential to identify any problems early.

Luke uses the preventive Mielen Chat and Mielen Sparri remote services provided by Terveystalo to strengthen mental health. The preventive services offer quick access to help for coping and mental problems, anxiety, unexpected changes in life, and other situations that place the functional capacity or work ability at risk.

Workplace surveys were conducted with occupational healthcare in seven locations to identify any work-related stress and risk factors, the personnel’s resources, and working conditions. The plan is to conduct workplace surveys in 14 locations in 2024.

Occupational safety is an important part of working at Luke. We achieved level 3 – towards the top of the world – of the Vision Zero Forum for the second time based on our occupational safety metrics. We are committed to taking a targeted approach to improving safety and health at work in accordance with the ISO 45001 standard.

In 2023, the number of safety observations increased and awareness of this preventive metric improved. We have prepared process descriptions for task risk assessments and workplace surveys conducted by occupational healthcare, and we have agreed upon a mutual service promise with the occupational healthcare service provider. Task risk assessments will always be updated before workplace surveys. Once workplace surveys have been conducted, we will sum up the key findings of both processes and prepare an implementation plan under the leadership of supervisors to reduce risks.

Luke’s guidelines for the prevention of harassment and inappropriate behaviour have been updated. In addition, the form for occupational safety rounds has been completed, and the goal is to train the personnel to use it during 2024. We have been preparing new guidelines for threatening and violent situations, and provided initial training regarding this theme. The occupational safety and health personnel have visited Luke’s different locations and participated actively in the development of occupational safety and health activities.

The accident group has convened every two weeks to monitor and maintain the status of accidents, insurance claims and accident investigations. The accident group has compiled statistics on accidents, and the lost time injury and accident frequencies.

In 2023, we continued to separately monitor and report the frequency rates in research infrastructure services (Infra) as the unit’s personnel experienced the majority of accidents occurred at Luke. The unit’s personnel typically work in Luke’s research cowhouses, aquaculture facilities, greenhouses, research fields and other experimental research infrastructures.

At the beginning of 2023, we launched the Infra-Nollis project to allocate funds to corrective measures for the risk factors identified in risk assessments and accident investigations. Improvements in several Infra locations have been achieved under the project manager’s leadership.

For example, we have built walkways and handrails, repaired platforms, acquired lifting tables, helmets, high-visibility vests, first aid kits and hose reels, as well as automated feeding equipment. In addition, we have organised bidding processes for fall protection for aquaculture facilities and mechanical engineering drawings for bunker silos on our research farm.

Luke’s lost time injury frequency (LTIF 1 = at least one accident leading to sick leave), i.e. the number of occupational accidents per a million working hours, was 9.7 in 2023 (7.4 in 2022) and the lost time accident frequency was 138 (128 in 2022). Compared to 2022, there were more accidents and resulting absences. Five employees had an accident leading to sick leave of more than 30 days which increased the number of absences due to accidents from the previous year.

The table below shows women's wages in relation to men's. In the table, the average male salary is subtracted from the average female salary. If the value is positive, the man is paid more and if negative, the woman is paid more. The figures refer to the gross monthly wage.

Men's wages are higher than women's in all age groups considered. The difference in pay is explained by the different tasks performed by men and women. On the other hand, performance at work (personal contribution to the pay scale) is similar for both sexes, and there are even more men than women in fixed-term contracts (22% vs. 15%). The proportion of women and men in managerial positions is equal (selected age groups, 6% for both sexes).

In the 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65-69 age groups, 57% of men and only 43% of women hold research posts. Most of the pay gap is explained by the fact that researchers' salaries are on average higher than in research support and administrative positions. In the 25-29 and 30-34 age groups, 62% of men and 40% of women are also in research posts. 

In the 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49 age groups, 63% of men and 62% of women work as researchers. The pay gap is largely due to the fact that a higher proportion of men (74%) than women (63%) hold a doctorate. This is also reflected in titles. 22% of men and 18% of women hold the title of Specialist Researcher, while more women hold the title of Researcher. Among non-researcher positions, more men are research engineers (8%) than women (4%). On average, the salary of a research engineer is €450/month higher than that of a research supervisor. 

In 2023, we started to advance Luke’s doctoral programme to be launched at the beginning of 2024. Through the doctoral programme, we seek to train the next researcher generation, increase our competence level and ensure high-quality research in our key research areas, also in the future. Our goal is to have 20–25 doctoral dissertations completed each year. Each doctoral researcher’s university grants the right to complete a doctor’s degree programme and ultimately the degree.