Anora’s Koskenkorva Distillery once again awarded the Starch Europe Safety Programme’s Year Award

Nov 20, 2023

The Year Award is a recognition given to plants that have registered no employee lost workday cases involving days away from work for the calendar year, and it is an important recognition for Anora’s efforts in developing workplace safety. This was the third consecutive year when Koskenkorva Distillery has won the Year Award.

Safety is one of the top priorities in Anora’s sustainability work and we have invested strongly in improving workplace safety as well as in developing our safety culture both within the organisation and together with our partners. Hosted by the European Starch Industry Association Starch Europe, The Starch Europe Safety Programme has been rewarding best performing starch plants in the EU for their efforts in reducing workplace accidents since 2014. Supported by European starch producers, the purpose of the programme is to support starch producers that have continuously strived to improve their safety processes and build a safer working environment for their employees.

In the 2022–2023 Safety Awards, five of Starch Europe’s member companies met the requirements of the Year Award, which is awarded to plants that have registered no employee lost workday cases involving days away from work for the calendar year and no employee and no non-employee workplace fatalities for the calendar year. For Koskenkorva Distillery, this year’s recognition was the third one in a row. “We have been developing an anticipating working culture to ensure a safe working environment for all our employees for years now,” explains Koskenkorva Distillery’s Production Manager Arttu Kivi.

“At the Koskenkorva Distillery – and all our other sites – we have been working persistently and systematically on improving workplace safety. Workplace safety is built on our strategy, but the most important element is still our committed employees, and so I want to congratulate our team at Koskenkorva Distillery for this great achievement,” says Hannu Vähämurto, Business Unit Director, Industrial Products & Services, from Anora.

The membership of Starch Europe comprises of 30 EU starch producing companies, and together they represent over 95% of the starch industry in the EU. Koskenkorva Distillery produces around 60 million kilos of barley starch annually, most of which is utilised by the paper and board industry. Anora’s high-quality starch is also an important raw material for the brewing and food industries.

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