Mantsinen Group has reached the top tier of global industrial companies in occupational safety. The Vision Zero Forum, coordinated by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, awarded the company its highest classification level 1 – World leading. The recognition was published on 1 April 2026.
 
Mantsinen Group is an internationally operating family-owned company that manufactures material handling machines and equipment and provides logistics services in Finland. The company’s long-term commitment to safety has now elevated it to the highest possible classification level.
 
Significant Improvement in Occupational Safety
Achieving the highest classification requires systematic and visible safety work as well as a low accident frequency rate. In 2025, Mantsinen Group recorded an accident frequency rate of 4.0 per million working hours. The lost-time injury frequency rate, which reflects the severity of accidents, decreased by 83 percent during the same period.
 
  • Over the long term, we have worked consistently to improve safety, and the progress is now clearly visible in the results. Our safety culture has developed across the entire organization, says Jani Hujanen, HSE Manager at Mantsinen Group.
The company’s development has been rapid: for the previous three years, it held a Level 3 classification, and the direct rise to the highest level reflects determined and systematic improvement efforts.
 
Safety Culture Visible in Everyday Work
At Mantsinen Group, safety work extends across all levels of the organization.
 
  • Employees feel confident raising observations and addressing issues, and they are actively encouraged to do so. Open cooperation with management has been a key factor in this development, says Joona Simonen, occupational safety representative and chief shop steward for Mantsinen Group’s Ylämylly employees.
Safety is an integral part of our daily operations and has required many practical actions and individual-level insights. It starts with all of us. This recognition shows that long-term development work and clear operating models produce concrete results, says Mantsinen Group’s Chief Operating Officer Ari Toivanen.
 
Towards a Zero-Accident Workplace
Mantsinen Group will continue to further develop its safety practices.
 
  • This is not an endpoint for us, but an incentive to continue moving forward with ambition. Our next goal is our first completely accident-free year, Toivanen emphasizes.
  • Safety is of utmost importance to us. The ‘World Leading’ recognition shows that our commitment is reflected in practice, says Mantsinen Group CEO Mia Mantsinen.
Level 1 classification is awarded to organizations that invest in safety in a visible and systematic way. Achieving it requires, among other criteria, a low accident frequency rate—fewer than 5 accidents per million working hours and a lost-time injury rate not exceeding 25 days per million working hours. In addition, the organization must have a clear and systematic investigation process for commuting accidents, and all workplace accidents involving both employees and external parties must be properly investigated and communicated throughout the organization.
 
In 2026, a total of 69 organizations achieved the highest classification in the Vision Zero Forum. These included Stora Enso, Vaisala and Helen. Other companies in North Karelia reaching the top level included Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy and E. Hartikainen Oy.
 
The classifications are awarded annually to member companies of the Vision Zero Forum. In 2026, out of 145 members, 69 reached Level 1, 43 Level 2, and 33 Level 3. The certificates of classification will be presented at the evening event of the “Safety is Culture” seminar on April 28, 2026.