Department for Safety, Security and Health

The Department for Safety, Security and Health handles issues pertaining to:

  • organising environmental healthcare and health protection
  • alcohol, tobacco and drug policy and the prevention of harm caused by gambling
  • combating communicable diseases
  • pharmaceutical service
  • biotechnology and gene technology as well as gene technology legislation
  • medical research
  • medical devices
  • acquisition of vaccines
  • data protection
  • preparedness planning and preparation for disturbances and exceptional circumstances for the Ministry, the administrative branch and the sector
  • safety planning for operating units in the sector.

Performance guidance and ownership steering

Department for Safety, Security and Health is responsible for the performance guidance of the following institutions:

In addition, the Department is responsible for the ownership steering of Alko Inc., STUK International Ltd, FinnHEMS Oy and FVR – Finnish Vaccine Research Ltd.

Responsibilities and personnel of the Department’s units

The Department for Safety, Security and Health is headed by Taneli Puumalainen.

Wellbeing and Health Protection Unit (HYT)

The Unit handles issues pertaining to:

  • alcohol, tobacco and drugs and the related legislation
  • preventing the use of substances and harms caused by them
  • preventing and minimising accidents in the home and in leisure time
  • preventing, monitoring and researching harms caused by gambling games, and the development of treatment
  • victim-offender mediation in criminal and civil cases as well as national guidance
  • preventing violence against women and children, preventing domestic violence and insecurity, and women’s shelters
  • preventing trafficking in human beings and commercial sexual exploitation
  • monitoring the quality of drinking water and bathing water, housing health and health protection legislation
  • controlling the health risks of chemicals as well as chemical and cosmetics legislation
  • nanotechnology
  • preventing the health risks of radiation, radiation legislation
  • organising environmental healthcare
  • the appropriation for health monitoring and communicable diseases
  • communicable diseases and their prevention and the national vaccination programme
  • performance guidance of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, performance guidance of the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency together with the Department for Work and Gender Equality, and the ownership steering of STUK International Ltd. and Alko Inc.

The Unit is headed by Jari Keinänen.

Biotechnology and Medicines Unit (BILA)

The Unit handles issues pretaining to:

  • pharmaceutical service
  • data protection
  • acquisition of vaccines
  • biotechnology and gene technology as well as gene technology legislation
  • performance guidance of the Finnish Medicines Agency
  • medical research
  • legislation on tissues and organs
  • medical devices

The Unit is headed by Tuula Helander.

Preparedness Unit (VAL)

The Preparedness Unit handles issues pertaining to:

  • preparedness planning and preparation for disturbances and exceptional circumstances for the Ministry, the administrative branch and the sector
  • safety planning for operating units in the sector
  • supervising the safety of the Ministry’s premises insofar as they are not handled by the Prime Minister's Office
  • maintaining and developing of situation management capacities in emergencies in the Ministry
  • the Ministry’s on-call system
  • organising national preparedness training for healthcare and social welfare
  • ownership steering of FinnHEMS Oy
  • strategic steering of the information systems in high-level preparedness of healthcare and social welfare, insofar as the task is not handled by the Department for Steering of Healthcare and Social Welfare, as well as the implementation, maintenance and support of such systems.

Preparedness Director Pekka Tulokas.