SUSTAINABILITY WORK AND ENVIRONMENT
All work involving motorized machines makes an impression on the environment. STORM Heliworks AB works actively and consciously for a sustainable future with minimal impact on the environment, both locally and nationally, while promoting the development of the company and the staff.
You can read more about our way of thinking and how we work below.
Social sustainability is in our hearts
STORM HELIWORKS is a flat organization where we continuously work to support each other in our daily work. As a result, we believe that we will have a good working environment with healthy, loyal and esteemed employees who will keep working in the organization with their skills. We are also investing in staff development. We do this, among other things, by hiring new pilots and giving them the opportunity to both learn the profession from the basics, take their own responsibility and give them a chance to influence the business. Thus, confidence in our own knowledge and the whole enterprise grows.
STORM HELIWORKS invests heavily in safety and a good working environment. This increases security, which strengthens the well-being of our employees. We have recently made major investments in the best workwear and protective equipment with brand new helmets for our pilots. These are greatly reducing noise in the helicopter. In general, we work proactively to avoid deviations, dangers and risks. We have annually recurring training days for our staff, where we brief safety, rescue and first aid. One effect of this is also that we learn to see the values in safety, which we also can offer to our customers.
The owners and managers in the company are working side by side with our employees, which further strengthens the “we-feeling” and indirectly the social sustainability in the company. This also increases understanding of ownership, risk factors and the further development of the company.
The well-being of the organization goes hand in hand with the local and regional
In addition to the welfare of the company, we also see that it is important that the local and regional context works. If the context around us does not work, it also has a negative impact on us as a company. We therefore choose local suppliers when possible.
The responsibility however does extend beyond the customers and suppliers alone. That is why we welcome interns during their training. Currently we have three interns who we believe can have a future within the company. Today we feel we have a good solidarity within the company and we attach great importance to how a person works in the group. This also applies to recruitments in general.
We are also keen on the development of the region and want to invest in the county of Jämtland to maintain commitment and expertise in the area. Large events benefit everyone in the area, not least non-profit associations or organizations with youth activities. That is why we have chosen to sponsor WCR 2019, among other events. We regularly participate in various local events and fairs, despite the fact that we do not have our largest target groups in the county. 80 percent of all our operations are in Sweden outside the county, and in our neighbouring Nordic countries.
We work consciously to minimize our external impact on the environment
At STORM HELIWORKS we offer solutions that have less impact on nature and wildlife than other alternatives when carrying out assignments, such as building roads in the mountains, as an example. We strive for a short exposure time with minimal disruption on the surroundings. We can achieve this by being able to work quickly and efficiently from the air, which leaves no traces on the ground. We can perform, among other things, environmental conservation assignments in areas without roads, such as restoration of hiking trails, without leaving traces on the ground which conventional construction machines do.
Throughout our operations we also comply with the strict quality and safety requirements of the European Aviation Safety Authority EASA, which has quality management systems with clear regulations and requirements. We have regular aviation safety meetings and a dedicated post holder working to make sure that all regulations are complied to. However, this is not enough for us – we want to go further. We have invested in the most modern helicopters, with less environmental impact thanks to lower fuel consumption and reduced noise. In the spring of 2019, we invested about 2 million euros in one of the country’s strongest helicopter models, the Airbus H125. This means that we can reduce the exposure time for disturbance, while also having the capacity to add more load in each lift, which reduces the number of lifts. In our fleet we have three aircraft of the world’s quietest and most environmentally friendly helicopter type, the Airbus H120.
Furthermore we only undertake assignments where we can be the best option for the customer, from both the environment and cost perspective. In general, we adapt, coordinate and communicate our assignments with landowners, authorities and other stakeholders to take as much account as possible into our assignments. In tourism, for example, entrepreneurs might want to hire us for passenger transport, but on many occasions we recommend less resource demanding alternatives.
In our service offering we also work with environmental promotion in sensitive nature areas, such as the spreading of pebbles in mountain streams for fish, liming of lakes and mosquito control, whilst working actively to minimize environmental disturbance. An example of this is that we have chosen to locate our bases at airports where aviation is accepted and already established.
We also try to work environmentally conscious in the office. In practice, this means that we use online solutions as far as possible, reducing paper and other consumables.
Flexibility lies in our DNA - Which makes us stronger financially
Since the start in 2012, we have weighed risks against investments and therefore have a consistent balance of our own and leased helicopters, to be able to quickly adjust in the event of a cyclical change. Our company owned machines increase our delivery reliability and the confidence of our customers. Ongoing investments are made when there is a sustainable basis for this. We also strive to be a flexible and solution-oriented entrepreneur. With the helicopter as a basis, we create added value in the form of new services in new markets, based on the changing needs of customers. Our strategy is also not to make the company too tied to individuals, it should be able to continue operations with different management.
In order to maximize the full potential of our investments, we do not only use the helicopters for passenger transport, which is the traditional way. We have invested in applications that allow us to offer a range of services. Saws, grippers, measuring equipment. Examples of services include laser scanning of ground areas, sawing along power lines and mosquito control. We can also photograph large forest and land areas for our clients, which is a much faster way than inventory from the ground.
In addition to our physical assets, we also invest in skills, experience and networks. The Board consists of the company owners (Stefan Larsson and Dennis Sundqvist) as well as an external competence (Franz Bergstrand) who has solid experience of working in boards, as well as knowledge in important sectors, such as the forest industry. The work of the Board is well active and is reconciled with quarterly meetings and weekly telephone reconciliations.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
STORM HELIWORKS conducts helicopter operations across large geographical areas. By using the helicopter instead of other heavy means of transport, the physical wear and tear on the surface and nature is kept to a minimum. At the same time the impact on wildlife is minimized.
We are aware that the helicopter, like most other engine driven vehicles, releases substances that have a negative impact on the environment. Fuel consumption thus represents our primary environmental impact.
For us at STORM HELIWORKS it is important to work systematically to reduce our environmental impact at all levels. We also want to increase knowledge about the environment and how we best can protect it, both within the company and with our customers.
We achieve this by:
- Choose means of transport and equipment that are as gentle on the environment as possible.
- Handle residual products in an environmentally friendly way.
- Educate and motivate employees to perform their tasks in an environmental manner.
- Choose suppliers, when possible, who share the same vision of environmentally sustainable work as we do.
- Choosing environmentally friendly and recyclable consumables.
- Carry out regular checks on the efficiency and functions of the environmental management system.
STORM HELIWORKS AB into the future
Today we feel that we have good relationships with our customers and suppliers. Their trust and confidence is our most important asset.
In the future, we want to further expand our relationships. We will do this by investing in increased communication through newsletters that are integrated with our social media channels and website.