New safety measures proposed for Jätkäsaari parking garage after deaths

Proposals for new safety measures at the Saukonlaituri parking garage in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari district will be sent to local housing companies for comment next week, according to the facility’s owner, Jätkäsaaren Pysäköinti Oy.

The move follows four fatal falls from the building’s roof since last autumn, the most recent in February. Residents, shaken by the incidents, submitted a petition in February demanding immediate safety improvements.

Managing Director Mikko Syrjänen said the draft plan aims to restrict access to the top level, where the falls occurred. Emergency regulations currently require open staircases on the building’s exterior, which have allowed easy access to the roof. The company is now working with rescue authorities and building inspectors to find alternative emergency exit solutions.

“We are developing measures to prevent or significantly hinder outsiders from accessing the area,” Syrjänen said.

If implemented, the changes would cost “a few hundred thousand euros,” covered by the parking facility’s users—primarily residents of the connected housing companies. Comments on the proposal are requested by the end of August, with a final decision expected by the end of the year.

Syrjänen emphasized that no final decision has been made and that the building itself has no structural defects.