Award-winning! Smart Work 2025: Making earth material extraction monitoring more consistent and customer-oriented
The Smart Work page presents everyday innovations and success stories developed by the employees of the City of Hämeenlinna.
At the start of 2024, by decision of the City Council (13 November 2023), the follow-up monitoring of earth material extraction sites was transferred from building control to Environmental Protection. A new environmental inspector position was established within Environmental Protection to carry out this monitoring.
The monitoring of earth material extraction sites was developed to be more customer-oriented and consistent. There are a total of 43 permit-requiring earth material extraction sites in the Hämeenlinna and Hattula monitoring area. Extraction sites are invoiced annually according to the annual volume of material approved for extraction in the permit decision, and in return for this fee, operators are entitled to receive high-quality monitoring every year. Due to the relatively large number of extraction sites, efforts were also made to focus on improving the efficiency of monitoring.
In 2024, two significant development measures were carried out in earth material extraction monitoring: the monitoring authority performed inspection measurements of the lowest extraction levels at the extraction sites, and a form-based inspection report was developed to streamline monitoring, replacing the monitoring memo that had previously been commonly used during inspections.
The form-based inspection report offers clarity, consistency, and practicality as its main benefits. The items to be inspected are listed in numbered order in the report, making the text clearer for the operator than a narrative-style report. The completed report is easy for the operator to understand, and any shortcomings identified during monitoring, as well as the measures required of the operator, are easy to find. The up-to-dateness of the permit holder’s contact details, recorded at the beginning of the inspection report, can also be conveniently checked during the monitoring inspection.
It was noted during monitoring that the inspection report significantly clarified and sped up preparation for inspections. The inspection report will continue to speed up preparation in the future, as the previous year’s report is used as a starting point for the following year. Operators also gave positive feedback on the clarity of the inspection report.
The development of earth material extraction monitoring and the inspection report continues. During 2025, Environmental Protection’s monitoring system will be replaced with the Trimble Locus system, which will make it possible to boldly experiment with new approaches and practices.
Developer
Risto Erkkilä, Environmental Inspector