Responsibility of procurements

Our goal is to lead the way in responsible and effective procurements. The core of Hansel’s operations – saving public funds – is responsible in itself. Public procurements can also have broad social impacts.

We promote sustainability through both our joint procurement and our expert services. We take environmental, social and economic aspects related to sustainability into account as far as possible in our competitive tendering, contract period and customer assignments.

Joint procurement is an effective way to implement the national procurement strategy and the decisions concerning the responsibility of public administration. Due to the large volume of procurements, we can influence the establishment of new types of services and steer the development of products and services in a direction that takes environmental, social and economic aspects into account.

Hansel’s sustainability programme 2026–2028

Hansel’s sustainability programme is based on the company’s strategy and the results of the Double Materiality Analysis (DMA) as well as the Government's resolution on the strategic ecological objectives of public procurement. Hansel’s Sustainability Manager is responsible for implementing the sustainability programme together with the sustainability team. The work is guided by Hansel’s Executive Committee, and its focus areas and results are approved by Hansel’s Board of Directors. We report on the results of the sustainability programme in our Annual Report.

Our sustainability programme places particular emphasis on the goals of environmental and social responsibility. Our company has a separate compliance programme which takes into account the key issues of financial responsibility identified in the Double Materiality Analysis.

The responsibility analysis evaluates the joint procurement

The sustainability analysis reviews the elements of environmental, social and financial responsibility in detail. The tool reminds the tenderer of a number of things that should be taken into account and to which related requirements can be included in the tender documents, for example, as mandatory requirements or contractual terms.

Environmental sustainability

In every joint procurement, we look for ways to find environmentally friendly alternatives and reduce the adverse effects of procurements. The goals may include, for example, reducing energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency, reducing waste or promoting material efficiency and circular economy.

In preparing a joint procurement, requirements related to, for example, energy efficiency or the reduction of the use of harmful substances can be set for products and services, or they can be used as comparison criteria or contractual terms. The benefits ultimately achieved depend on the customer’s needs and the specification of requirements set in mini-competition.

Social responsibility

With regard to social responsibility, particular attention is paid to compliance with labour and human rights and the promotion of decent work. Responsibility requirements can be included in the contract terms, and some of our contracts require suppliers to commit to the requirements set out in a separate Code of Conduct appendix. It is also important to take accessibility into account in contracts where this is possible.

Financial responsibility

We require sufficient financial performance from our suppliers, which is measured by risk category requirements, among other things. We also set net sales requirements for our contract suppliers and monitor their financial performance automatically throughout the contract period.

Life cycle costing is applied to the calculation of total costs as a comparison criteria when it is appropriate to the nature of the procurement. In some procurements, we centrally monitor our contract suppliers’ compliance with the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out on behalf of our customers.

Innovative procurement

The innovation perspective is also included in our responsibility analysis. The policy and productivity targets of public procurements as well as the need to increase the quality of the service and streamline processes, encourage contracting entities to make innovative procurements. Innovative procurements are targeted at new or significantly improved goods or services: procurement improves the productivity, quality, sustainability and/or effectiveness of public service. In addition to the subject of the procurement, the procurement procedures or procurement contract may also contain innovative elements aimed at achieving the objectives.