An external expert for occupational safety and a company physician advise and support VAUDE in the design, implementation and review of all aspects of fire protection, occupational safety and occupational health aspects.
We have safety officers in all areas of the company – they are deeply familiar with the processes in their own departments, are confronted daily with the working conditions there, and are familiar with the problems or dangers that can arise. They motivate their colleagues to engage in safe work practices and immediately inform the occupational safety committee of any defects or hazards.
They also participate in regular inspections throughout the company to monitor adherence to regulations and assess risks.
Together with her team, our Head of Human Resources and Organization is responsible for occupational safety. As a contact person for internal and external groups, this person keeps VAUDE's occupational health and safety systems running.
To this end, she moderates the quarterly meetings of the Committee for Occupational Safety (ASA), which includes the external Occupational Safety Specialist, Safety Representatives and the senior management, as well as employees from Logistics, Maintenance and the Manufaktur, the Occupational Health Management Coordinator and the company physician.
This has allowed us to successively establish the infection protection measures recommended by the Robert Koch Institute at VAUDE and provide information about them via our intranet or in direct communication with individual departments. We have encouraged all employees who had the opportunity to perform their work from a mobile work location to use this as often as possible. At our corporate headquarters, we made arrangements for those who needed to be present so that minimum distances of at least 1.5 meters could be maintained between each other, provided masks and hand sanitizer. Meetings were held as videoconferences wherever feasible. Last summer when the pandemic was weak, meetings (on issues such as continuing education) were held on-site under strict hygiene precautions.
Since the beginning of 2021 when we first became aware of positive Covid cases in our workforce, we have had a comprehensive rapid testing campaign with the support of our company physician to prevent the spread of infection. In April 2021 we set up a testing center on our company premises, where all employees who had to work on site were asked to perform a rapid test under the supervision of specially trained volunteers.
At the beginning of June and the end of July 2021, we organized a company vaccination program, supported by "dh healthcare solutions GmbH". All employees who wished to take advantage of this opportunity (as well as relatives of our employees) were vaccinated against Covid-19 at our site during working hours with the mRNA vaccine from BionTech/Pfizer. Approximately 260 employees received their first and second vaccinations in the program.
Due to the high vaccination rate at VAUDE, we closed our test center in the fall, but continued to provide immediate, free rapid testing and asked both unvaccinated and vaccinated employees to use these tests conscientiously to prevent the spread of infection at VAUDE.
Since the end of November, we have been monitoring and documenting in accordance with our obligations under §28b of the Infection Protection Act. Only people who are vaccinated against Covid-19, recovered or currently tested negative may enter our premises.
Managers and employees are trained in risk assessment so that they can recognize early signs of physical or psychological stress at work and take counter measures.
All employees who have missed more than six weeks of work due to illness in the past 12 months are offered an occupational reintegration program. An open discussion takes place covering any needs the employee has for reintegration into their job and what can be done to avoid future absences.
An external company physician is regularly available to us on-site as a contact person. In addition to required medical examinations for certain occupational groups, a variety of voluntary preventative services are offered: health protection for travel to regions with special climate-related conditions, computer monitor vision assistance, as well as employee vaccinations can all be discussed during working hours.
Nevertheless, if health issues arise, employees, the manager involved, the company physician and the personnel department work together to find constructive solutions and to address the causes and symptoms.
VAUDE keeps a digital record of accidents. Each injury or accident that occurred during working hours or on the way to work is documented here. These are evaluated annually by the Occupational Safety Committee and measures for prevention are defined.
| GRI: | 103 |
| GRI: | 403-2 |
