Who are we?  

Lizette, 44, started at Braviken in 2004 as a cleaner and has since worked in various departments, but has been a forklift driver since 2015. I live in Jursla with my husband, daughter and our dog Nala. In my spare time, I like to go for long walks in the woods and go to music concerts. 

38-year-old Beatrice was first employed at Braviken as an agency worker in 2019, but became a Holmen employee in 2022. I spend my free time at home on the farm just outside Norrköping, with the cattle and horses. I like to go for a run when I have time. Unmarried, but have three cats. 

 

Department:  

We are currently a team of 13 forklift drivers in the loading and production planning department, and we use temporary agency workers at peak times. However, if we get a sudden absence, we have to pull together to get the job done.  

We do vertical, horizontal, container and ship loading. 

We load about 320 units a week and about 450 000 tonnes of paper a year. We load the ship every two weeks with help from the Port of Norrköping.  

The loading is done from three warehouses with 13 loading ramps and the old rail line, where we do horizontal loading and also 1 450 diameter reels are loaded.  

Horizontal sideloading is the job with the highest number of reported incidents, and also the loading operation that usually takes the longest time and the most resources. It’s also the type of loading that has increased most in recent years. 

 

A working day:  

The day begins with a briefing on the daily schedule and allocation of work, then we do a daily inspection of the forklifts before work can begin. The working day is difficult to plan due to factors such as the weather, production and vehicles not turning up when they’re supposed to. At the moment, we often have shipments pushed back, so Thursday and Friday are the busiest days in the department. 

We move loads around using the small forklift trucks and drive up to the vehicles in the large trucks, and we make sure that we switch between the large and small trucks every other day. We also take it in turns to drive the sweeper and clean up the warehouse to minimise the risk of gravel damaging the reels. We keep the loading bays and other areas clean and tidy. In addition, we use a forklift to transport consumables such as edge protectors, rubber mats, riser blocks, etc. that are needed for loading. 

Since we load different diameters and have different loading methods, it’s important to work it all out correctly to minimise any reloading. We also co-load with Hallsta Paper Mill on some shipments. 

We photograph every shipment before, during and after loading, using Cargosnap, to minimise the cost of complaints from our customers.  

 

Why Holmen? 

We see Holmen as a stable and secure employer and workplace with good plans for the future. Good environmental and climate impact. You feel involved in and well informed about the Group as a whole. 

Our department is a small, friendly team, with a strong focus on community and wellbeing. 

5 things we do to relax after work: 

  • Walk/exercise 
  • A tasty dinner 
  • Spend time with family and friends 
  • Read a good book or listen to a good podcast 

  

We are passionate about: 

Making sure we and our colleagues have a good day at work. We focus on doing our job safely and efficiently, and to a high standard. 

Concluding words: 

Thank you for letting us write about a day as a forklift driver at Braviken Paper Mill. We hope we’ve given you a good idea of what we do.