Digital solutions for health and safety at work

Digitization is more than the smartphone in our hand or Netflix on the smart TV. Digitization has found its place within work and health. Here, it brings some advantages in the form of occupational health and safety – for companies as well as for employees.

Otto Building Technologies GmbH shows how broad the range of topics and applications can be. The company uses the digital services of the ias-Group. For several years, the group has been offering digital solutions for occupational health and safety and works together with doctors, psychologists and occupational health management (OHM) consultants.

But why do we need digital solutions at all? One reason, among others, is working from home, which has gained in importance due to the Corona pandemic. According to ifo institute, around 25 percent of German employees work at least partly from home. In order to reach these workers more easily, digitization comes at the right time.

But what is advantageous for the home office is also suitable for the office, because the flexibility created by digitization is also helpful on site. Workers can flexibly carry out their work training as it fits into their often busy schedules. Digital solutions then reach people exactly where they are.

Otto Building Technologies uses the advantages of digitization to reach their employees more easily and in a more personalized way, both at home and at work. "Since the Corona pandemic, we have made the ias-Group's digital fitness world available to our employees," explains Steffen Schmidt, Head of HSEQ+IT at Otto Building Technologies. "This is a good way to give all employees something to do regardless of location and time." In their fitness world, more than 2,000 online courses on various topics such as exercise, relaxation are available to them. But sports are not the only thing on the program: the platform offers extensive health tips, for example on the topics of mental health, back or gut health, nutritional guidance, as well as a wide variety of articles and health journals.

The pandemic in particular has demanded a lot of mental strength from employees. But even beyond that, depending on the field of activity, they are more or less mentally stressed – a condition that can end in burnout if left untreated. To prevent this from happening, the ias-Group has developed a digital risk assessment of mental stress, which will be used at Otto Building Technologies in the coming months. The employees receive an individual link to a questionnaire about their mental stress. These questionnaires can be assigned to the specific company departments as well as their respective function. Furthermore, the questionnaire is anonymous so that the company cannot draw any conclusions about the individual personal data.

The subsequent evaluation is done in cooperation with psychologists. Among other things, the overall picture of mental stress within the company is determined, but also within certain occupational groups and locations. "This will enable us to recognize where there is a need for stress reduction and improvement of mental health, i.e. we will get a good feeling for where we need to take concrete action," explains Schmidt.

For all digital solutions, Otto Building Technologies is always in consultation with the company doctors and the occupational health and safety consultants of the ias-Group. The latter advise the company not only on additional services, but also on communication with employees. This does not always have to involve extensive programs. According to Schmidt, health already begins in small ways: "We are considering introducing a so-called active break. We don't want our employees to just sit all day, but give them an incentive to actively organize their break together."

Beyond the aforementioned topics, the ias-Group offers other digital solutions for occupational safety and health. These include online safety instructions, which can be supplemented by web-based training. Both employers and employees have the advantage of optimizing their time and organizational effort through the digital trainings. The spectrum of training topics can range from occupational health and safety to health promotion and health management. Digitization thus creates added value for both companies and employees in terms of health and occupational safety.