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Access tech for safer workplaces
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Access tech for safer workplaces
Menu
Access tech for safer workplaces
May 5, 2025
2 min
English
Jimmy Laakso: The Concrete Guy Who Finally Had Enough, And How We Started Building Safesite To Create Peace At Work
Most entrepreneurs solve problems they read about. Our founder Jimmy solved a problem he lived with for 25 years.
When Air Horns Meet Reality
Picture this: you're trying to evacuate a construction site with an air horn while jackhammers drown out everything. That's the reality Jimmy Laakso faced for over two decades – watching the same safety nightmare play out site after site.
"The uncertainty about who's on the worksite and where they are during an emergency has been left to chance," Jimmy explains. Twenty-five years of concrete dust, project deadlines, and the constant worry that when something went wrong, we'd have no real way to account for everyone.
The Day Everything Changed
Then came Oceana. The Gothenburg incident that made headlines for all the wrong reasons – smoke, fire, and chaos that reminded everyone how fast "routine workday" becomes "life-or-death emergency."
"After Oceana, we could no longer sit with our arms crossed," Jimmy posted afterward. That moment crystallized what he'd been seeing for decades: evacuation procedures weren't just broken, they were dangerous.
So he did something crazy. After 23 years of steady employment, he left Skanska to fix it himself.
Building Something That Actually Works
We didn't try to reinvent construction – we just made it less deadly. The solution was obvious once you thought about it: connect every worker to the one thing they never leave behind – their smartphone.
Emergency hits? Everyone gets the alert instantly. Site manager needs headcount? Real-time data shows exactly who's on-site. Language barrier with the new crew? Automatic translation handles it.
The clever part? We only track exact locations during actual emergencies. Rest of the time, you're just "in Zone 3," not standing exactly 2.5 meters from the coffee station.
Real Sites, Real Results
While most startups are still in beta, we've been running controlled evacuations at actual construction sites. Take our test at the Noden project in Skövde – full Skanska crew, real evacuation drill, complete accountability in minutes.
Mattias Jarlhed from BS Verkstäder put it perfectly: "Safesite has a very smart solution to the alarm problem that works fantastically well."
That's not marketing speak – that's a facility manager saying "this thing actually solves my problem."
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Here's the stat that should terrify every site manager: up to 80% of workers don't know their site's evacuation plan. Not because they're careless, but because every site has different procedures.
Imagine you're an electrician working three projects in one week – Monday at Skanska with one system, Tuesday at Peab with something completely different, Wednesday at NCC with their own setup. By the time you figure each one out, you're on to the next job.
We created the same experience everywhere. Same app, same process, same safety level whether you're downtown or in the middle of nowhere.
What's Next
Construction first, but this problem exists everywhere – industrial facilities, large offices, anywhere you need to know who's on site and reach them fast.
"The goal isn't just a successful company," Jimmy reflects. "It's creating a new standard where no one wonders if their coworkers made it out safely." Essentially, we want to create a way to help people feel peace at work.
Most entrepreneurs solve problems they read about. Our founder Jimmy solved a problem he lived with for 25 years.
When Air Horns Meet Reality
Picture this: you're trying to evacuate a construction site with an air horn while jackhammers drown out everything. That's the reality Jimmy Laakso faced for over two decades – watching the same safety nightmare play out site after site.
"The uncertainty about who's on the worksite and where they are during an emergency has been left to chance," Jimmy explains. Twenty-five years of concrete dust, project deadlines, and the constant worry that when something went wrong, we'd have no real way to account for everyone.
The Day Everything Changed
Then came Oceana. The Gothenburg incident that made headlines for all the wrong reasons – smoke, fire, and chaos that reminded everyone how fast "routine workday" becomes "life-or-death emergency."
"After Oceana, we could no longer sit with our arms crossed," Jimmy posted afterward. That moment crystallized what he'd been seeing for decades: evacuation procedures weren't just broken, they were dangerous.
So he did something crazy. After 23 years of steady employment, he left Skanska to fix it himself.
Building Something That Actually Works
We didn't try to reinvent construction – we just made it less deadly. The solution was obvious once you thought about it: connect every worker to the one thing they never leave behind – their smartphone.
Emergency hits? Everyone gets the alert instantly. Site manager needs headcount? Real-time data shows exactly who's on-site. Language barrier with the new crew? Automatic translation handles it.
The clever part? We only track exact locations during actual emergencies. Rest of the time, you're just "in Zone 3," not standing exactly 2.5 meters from the coffee station.
Real Sites, Real Results
While most startups are still in beta, we've been running controlled evacuations at actual construction sites. Take our test at the Noden project in Skövde – full Skanska crew, real evacuation drill, complete accountability in minutes.
Mattias Jarlhed from BS Verkstäder put it perfectly: "Safesite has a very smart solution to the alarm problem that works fantastically well."
That's not marketing speak – that's a facility manager saying "this thing actually solves my problem."
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Here's the stat that should terrify every site manager: up to 80% of workers don't know their site's evacuation plan. Not because they're careless, but because every site has different procedures.
Imagine you're an electrician working three projects in one week – Monday at Skanska with one system, Tuesday at Peab with something completely different, Wednesday at NCC with their own setup. By the time you figure each one out, you're on to the next job.
We created the same experience everywhere. Same app, same process, same safety level whether you're downtown or in the middle of nowhere.
What's Next
Construction first, but this problem exists everywhere – industrial facilities, large offices, anywhere you need to know who's on site and reach them fast.
"The goal isn't just a successful company," Jimmy reflects. "It's creating a new standard where no one wonders if their coworkers made it out safely." Essentially, we want to create a way to help people feel peace at work.
Most entrepreneurs solve problems they read about. Our founder Jimmy solved a problem he lived with for 25 years.
When Air Horns Meet Reality
Picture this: you're trying to evacuate a construction site with an air horn while jackhammers drown out everything. That's the reality Jimmy Laakso faced for over two decades – watching the same safety nightmare play out site after site.
"The uncertainty about who's on the worksite and where they are during an emergency has been left to chance," Jimmy explains. Twenty-five years of concrete dust, project deadlines, and the constant worry that when something went wrong, we'd have no real way to account for everyone.
The Day Everything Changed
Then came Oceana. The Gothenburg incident that made headlines for all the wrong reasons – smoke, fire, and chaos that reminded everyone how fast "routine workday" becomes "life-or-death emergency."
"After Oceana, we could no longer sit with our arms crossed," Jimmy posted afterward. That moment crystallized what he'd been seeing for decades: evacuation procedures weren't just broken, they were dangerous.
So he did something crazy. After 23 years of steady employment, he left Skanska to fix it himself.
Building Something That Actually Works
We didn't try to reinvent construction – we just made it less deadly. The solution was obvious once you thought about it: connect every worker to the one thing they never leave behind – their smartphone.
Emergency hits? Everyone gets the alert instantly. Site manager needs headcount? Real-time data shows exactly who's on-site. Language barrier with the new crew? Automatic translation handles it.
The clever part? We only track exact locations during actual emergencies. Rest of the time, you're just "in Zone 3," not standing exactly 2.5 meters from the coffee station.
Real Sites, Real Results
While most startups are still in beta, we've been running controlled evacuations at actual construction sites. Take our test at the Noden project in Skövde – full Skanska crew, real evacuation drill, complete accountability in minutes.
Mattias Jarlhed from BS Verkstäder put it perfectly: "Safesite has a very smart solution to the alarm problem that works fantastically well."
That's not marketing speak – that's a facility manager saying "this thing actually solves my problem."
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Here's the stat that should terrify every site manager: up to 80% of workers don't know their site's evacuation plan. Not because they're careless, but because every site has different procedures.
Imagine you're an electrician working three projects in one week – Monday at Skanska with one system, Tuesday at Peab with something completely different, Wednesday at NCC with their own setup. By the time you figure each one out, you're on to the next job.
We created the same experience everywhere. Same app, same process, same safety level whether you're downtown or in the middle of nowhere.
What's Next
Construction first, but this problem exists everywhere – industrial facilities, large offices, anywhere you need to know who's on site and reach them fast.
"The goal isn't just a successful company," Jimmy reflects. "It's creating a new standard where no one wonders if their coworkers made it out safely." Essentially, we want to create a way to help people feel peace at work.
Most entrepreneurs solve problems they read about. Our founder Jimmy solved a problem he lived with for 25 years.
When Air Horns Meet Reality
Picture this: you're trying to evacuate a construction site with an air horn while jackhammers drown out everything. That's the reality Jimmy Laakso faced for over two decades – watching the same safety nightmare play out site after site.
"The uncertainty about who's on the worksite and where they are during an emergency has been left to chance," Jimmy explains. Twenty-five years of concrete dust, project deadlines, and the constant worry that when something went wrong, we'd have no real way to account for everyone.
The Day Everything Changed
Then came Oceana. The Gothenburg incident that made headlines for all the wrong reasons – smoke, fire, and chaos that reminded everyone how fast "routine workday" becomes "life-or-death emergency."
"After Oceana, we could no longer sit with our arms crossed," Jimmy posted afterward. That moment crystallized what he'd been seeing for decades: evacuation procedures weren't just broken, they were dangerous.
So he did something crazy. After 23 years of steady employment, he left Skanska to fix it himself.
Building Something That Actually Works
We didn't try to reinvent construction – we just made it less deadly. The solution was obvious once you thought about it: connect every worker to the one thing they never leave behind – their smartphone.
Emergency hits? Everyone gets the alert instantly. Site manager needs headcount? Real-time data shows exactly who's on-site. Language barrier with the new crew? Automatic translation handles it.
The clever part? We only track exact locations during actual emergencies. Rest of the time, you're just "in Zone 3," not standing exactly 2.5 meters from the coffee station.
Real Sites, Real Results
While most startups are still in beta, we've been running controlled evacuations at actual construction sites. Take our test at the Noden project in Skövde – full Skanska crew, real evacuation drill, complete accountability in minutes.
Mattias Jarlhed from BS Verkstäder put it perfectly: "Safesite has a very smart solution to the alarm problem that works fantastically well."
That's not marketing speak – that's a facility manager saying "this thing actually solves my problem."
The Numbers Nobody Talks About
Here's the stat that should terrify every site manager: up to 80% of workers don't know their site's evacuation plan. Not because they're careless, but because every site has different procedures.
Imagine you're an electrician working three projects in one week – Monday at Skanska with one system, Tuesday at Peab with something completely different, Wednesday at NCC with their own setup. By the time you figure each one out, you're on to the next job.
We created the same experience everywhere. Same app, same process, same safety level whether you're downtown or in the middle of nowhere.
What's Next
Construction first, but this problem exists everywhere – industrial facilities, large offices, anywhere you need to know who's on site and reach them fast.
"The goal isn't just a successful company," Jimmy reflects. "It's creating a new standard where no one wonders if their coworkers made it out safely." Essentially, we want to create a way to help people feel peace at work.