Occupational Health and Safety
With the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based services economy, a company’s competitive strength and ability to create value no longer depend primarily on technical manufacturing resources but also, increasingly, on employees’ capacity to give their best and, thus, their health and wellbeing. Occupational health and safety is an important success factor for our company. Alongside workplace accident prevention and protection initiatives – a major priority – we also engage in programs to promote and encourage better health and greater health awareness among our employees.
Management Approach
The traditional work safety measures employed by Siemens have been very successful in reducing work accidents and preventing the occurrence of occupational diseases. But there is considerable potential still to be realized when it comes to promoting health in the work place as a means of reducing illness-related costs and enhancing productivity.
- The entire work force needs to be involved (participation).
- Employee Health Promotion BGF GF must be consulted on all important decisions affecting healthy and safety in every organizational unit of the company (integration).
- All related measures and programs must be conducted systematically: requirements analysis, definition of priorities, planning, execution, continuous monitoring and evaluation of results (project management).
- BGF conducts behavior-related and relationship-oriented measures.
- It combines risk reduction with the strengthening of protective factors and health potentials (holistic approach).
Beyond that, the employees receive the necessary knowledge, training and equipment to fulfill their responsibilities with regard to health and safety and take the necessary precautions to prevent risks and perils.
In many of Siemens locations worldwide, employees find medical advice and treatment in plant medical offices.
While responsibilities for occupational health and safety have always been clearly defined at Siemens, they were more tightly bundled this year to give them greater clout. On February 1, 2009, Dr. Ralf Franke assumed responsibility – as Corporate Medical Director – for the new Corporate Unit “Health Management.” In addition, the Managing Board decided to combine – effective May 1, 2009 – the governance functions for environmental protection, health management and occupational safety in the staff department “Environmental Protection, Health Management and Safety” (EHS), which is also headed by Dr. Franke. In this capacity, Dr. Franke reports to Labor Director and Siemens Managing Board member Prof. Dr. Siegried Russwurm. The aim of this organizational structure is to develop and globally establish a first-class EHS management system in order to increase Siemens’ long-term competitiveness.
Guidelines for Occupational Health and Safety
Our global company guidelines set binding minimal standards for occupational health and safety. Under these guidelines, preserving the health and safety of every person who works for or with Siemens is a fundamental tenet of the company’s worldwide activities. The promotion of health and safety is an integral aspect of the Siemens corporate culture, indicative of the company’s sense of responsibility for people and for its business. Siemens intends to achieve and maintain a leadership position in this regard, by means of continuous learning and improvement, comparison and experience sharing.
The active and visible commitment of the company’s top managers is a critically important element of successful health and safety management. Thus, managers on all levels are responsible for ensuring that the legal requirements and standards for health, safety and emergency planning are implemented in accordance with the Siemens guidelines and the applicable laws and regulations of every country.
A systematic reporting system enables the top management to evaluate the overall direction and efficacy of the health and safety system and develop strategies for improving it. To that end, we compare our own health and safety results regularly with the goals we have set for ourselves and with available outside statistics.
Regular audits worldwide ensure that external and internal regulations are implemented and complied with. Managers, occupational safety experts, safety officers, security experts, company doctors and employee representatives are working together to further improve them.
Prevention
Diabetes prevention
Diabetes is one of the great medical challenges of our time. Type-2 diabetes is one of the world’s most common metabolic disorders. In Germany alone, six million people have diabetes. This number is expected to increase to about 10 million by the year 2010, with a greater incidence of diabetes in younger people. This trend is being fueled by risk factors such as obesity and lack of exercise, but it can be countered by proactive, effective prevention programs. Under the PRAEDIAS project of Siemens AG, initiated under the tutelage of the Erlangen site managers, those employees who were identified as having a higher risk of contracting diabetes were given the chance to attend free training seminars on reducing the risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. After 12 months, those employees who participated in the program were found (PRAEDIAS Action Group) showed improvements in many relevant parameters, such as glucose tolerance, weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. Thus, the risk of contracting type-2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease was significantly reduced.
Health checks for managers
Siemens AG offers full diagnostic check-ups to its upper-level managers every three years, as an active health promotion measure. A standard examination protocol developed in conjunction with the company’s staff physicians covers all significant health parameters (with particular emphasis on cardiovascular health).
Spa programs for all employees
Siemens’ vision of health promotion issues directly from the realization that the company’s success depends increasingly on highly qualified, highly motivated and healthy employees, who are emotionally stable and well capable of working in groups. Any health problem leads to substantial costs for the company due to lost productivity (absenteeism due to illness). These days, stress, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, as well as repetitive motion injuries, for example, are occurring with greater frequency in younger employees.
The Siemens spa programs are designed in accordance with recognized scientific and therapeutic principles. They combine adequate exercise with nutrition and incorporate stress management and relaxation techniques.
Participants of the 24-day program actively acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of the three-step program:
- Exercise
- Nutrition
- Relaxation