How the City of Jyväskylä is Redefining Occupational Safety with Smart Technology

City of Jyväskylä – Experiences with the 9Solutions Solution

In threatening situations, employees can call for help using locating safety buttons.

The City of Jyväskylä is setting an example in improving employee safety. Approximately 1,500 city employees are now equipped with locating safety buttons that allow them to call for help in threatening situations. These wireless buttons are most widely used in social and healthcare services, where the same system also manages patient nurse calls. The system has since been expanded to other municipal service areas, including youth work, culture, and sports services.

A key component of the City of Jyväskylä's personnel security solution is technology developed by the Finnish company 9Solutions. While security technology has long been utilized in social and healthcare services, Jyväskylä has acted as a pioneer by being among the first to implement the solution across other municipal sectors.

"The employer has an obligation to provide a means to request assistance if threatening situations may arise at work. The personnel security system has been developed according to needs and requests from the field." — Esa Aaltonen, Development Manager, City of Jyväskylä

Expanding Safety Across All Departments

In Jyväskylä, locating safety buttons have been widely implemented in various units where employees may face potential threats. In addition to the 1,500 wireless buttons, fixed safety buttons have also been installed in various premises.

The construction of the personnel security system began with nurse call buttons in assisted living facilities and healthcare units. Soon, the system was expanded to other service areas, primarily to ensure staff safety. Wireless buttons that can be attached to clothing have been acquired for libraries, museums, school student welfare services, youth work, and for those working alone. The selection of locations was based on feedback from employees and management, as well as proposals from occupational health and safety authorities.

"Once safety buttons were acquired for one location, they were soon requested elsewhere. The new security solutions have been perceived as necessary and effective—they have essentially marketed themselves," says Esa Aaltonen.

Utilizing security technology is part of the city’s broader occupational safety framework, which also includes training, standardized instructions, work arrangements, workspace design, and outsourced security services.

"The most significant selection criteria for the security technology were reliability, versatile features, integration capabilities with other systems, and overall cost-effectiveness," Aaltonen notes.

The Advantage of Real-Time Locating (RTLS)

The personnel security solutions used in Jyväskylä were developed by the Finnish company 9Solutions and supplied by Viria. The idea for the safety buttons stemmed from founder Sami Herrala’s personal need to ensure his father could get help quickly if needed. This invention has evolved into a comprehensive system now used by over 1,300 healthcare organizations.

"To date, the largest installation was carried out at the new Hospital Nova in Jyväskylä. Over two years, 13,000 devices were installed, including patient nurse call buttons and equipment tracking tags," says Sami Herrala.

The primary advantage of the system is the accuracy of indoor real-time locating. The location can be pinpointed down to the specific room, ensuring help arrives quickly even if the person who triggered the alarm is moving. Alarms can be routed directly to nearby colleagues or security guards.

Automatically Updating Software

9Solutions provides its software as a service (SaaS). This ensures the system never becomes obsolete, as all users always have access to the latest version. The intelligence resides in the software rather than the buttons themselves, allowing features to be updated remotely.

"In the City of Jyväskylä, security technology has been implemented in different locations at different times. With automatically updating software, the system functions identically across all sites. This is a major benefit when staff move between different offices," Herrala explains.

Founded in 2009, 9Solutions has grown into Finland’s leading provider of locating safety and communication systems and smart care solutions. The company plans to continue expanding beyond the social and healthcare sectors, as demand for flexible personnel security solutions grows across various industries.