The company adds another WELL Health & Safety Rating certification to its portfolio, awarded by the WELL International Building Institute following the successful evaluation of strategies and solutions that address the safety, health, and well-being, of people who occupy the buildings, new or existing ones. The evaluation process analyzes not only the operational policies, maintenance protocols, or emergency plans of the building, but also Skanska’s approach to stakeholder engagement and communication, which seeks to make the occupants of the building responsible and actively involved in the sustainable development of daily activities.
After all the projects developed by Skanska in Romania have obtained the WELL Health & Safety Rating certification since the beginning of the pandemic, 2022 brings the company a new certification, WELL Health & Safety Rating - Facility Operations and Management, this time granted to its headquarters office located in the Equilibrium 1 building.
The certification obtained following the evaluation of a third-party review process is evidence-based and attests to the company's ongoing efforts to create office spaces that promote health and well-being in the workplace. These are materialized not only through the solutions and strategies implemented within the building but also through Skanska’s specific organizational culture, created around the concept of well-being.
This shows us that, in addition to the smart solutions implemented in office space, the individual contribution of people who spend time there is just as important in creating and maintaining a safe, healthy, and balanced environment.
Following the evaluation, the office space of the commercial development division of Skanska in Romania, with a size of approx. 550 m², managed to achieve remarkable results for 18 optimizations in all six categories analyzed: cleaning and sanitation procedures, emergency preparedness programs, health service resources, air and water quality management, stakeholder engagement, communication, and innovation.
“The pandemic has highlighted the important role that buildings, and especially their proper management, play in supporting the health, safety, and well-being of people who spend their time within them. The office space, even more so, is responsible for being a true ecosystem to its employees, where caring for the safety and well-being of all guides the day-to-day activity. We believe that all this should not be just a series of solutions and strategies, but a lifestyle in which we actively participate together” – says Aurelia Luca, Executive Vice President for Operations in Hungary and Romania within the Skanska Development Division of the CEE. "Therefore, this new certification is not only a proof for the safety of our buildings, but also for the engagement of people who interact with them in promoting the standard of living WELL and safe, every day" - she adds.
Among the analyzed criteria, Skanska stood out for its business continuity plan during crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan manages to identify the key strategies for recovering and operating the business in emergency situations and the equally efficient continuation of the remote activity.
Other optimizations include constant monitoring of air and water quality, reduction of surface contact through touch-free solutions, restricted use of hazardous or harmful ingredients in cleaning, disinfection, and sanitation products, as well as constant communication with stakeholders and their involvement in the well-functioning ecosystem of the building. Therefore, Skanska also encourages a healthy lifestyle, by hosting a true culture of well-being through constant communication with stakeholders and for the facilities made available to the occupants of the building. Moreover, the company has also received an innovation optimization, accorded to the teams that have at least one WELL Professional accredited member.
The Skanska Equilibrium 1 and Campus 6.2 projects are the first office buildings in Romania to obtain the WELL Health-Safety Rating certification, followed by the Campus 6.3 building. In 2022, Skanska strengthens its position as a leader in safety and well-being at work with the new WELL Health & Safety Rating certification obtained for its Equilibrium 1 building.
