More than an apple day

Dhe interest in occupational health management is great. The responses from 270 participants in an online survey conducted in March 2013 by Praxis-Brücke Seminare AG, Rheinfelden, and Motio AG, Lyss, provide a good overview of the current situation in Swiss SMEs.

High approval

92 percent of respondents are personally interested in topics related to occupational health management. This is not surprising. Increasingly, the high professional demands and the associated pressure to perform are leaving their mark on each individual. 41 percent experience their job as psychologically and nervously stressful. The most common psychosocial risks are stress, time pressure, nervousness and tension at work. Mobbing as a particularly serious risk occurs relatively frequently. The number of absences per full-time employee in Switzerland is between six and eleven days, depending on the industry, and stress alone incurs annual costs of CHF 4.2 million, according to the latest figures from Health Promotion Switzerland.

Fifty-seven percent of the businesses that responded to the survey employ more than 100 people, and more than half of the respondents are executives, plant managers, HR managers, and members of

PersonalAffection

that of the management. Middle and upper management in particular are under a lot of pressure themselves on the one hand and have a role model function on the other. The executives are the key persons when it comes to the willingness to perform, the working atmosphere and the health of the company.

Broader vision needed

70 percent of the survey participants see the need for and benefit of a health management system in their company (Figure 1). However, many only associate the term BGM with occupational safety or direct preventive health measures - for example: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away. These actions may be viable solutions for the short term. However, there is more behind a modular BGM than the introduction of an "apple day". This is the reason why a sustainable, long-term, cost-saving health and safety management system should focus on the structures of an organization, its processes and, not least, its culture from the outset - because the introduction of health management regularly goes hand in hand with a change in culture.

When time and information are missing

A good picture of the mood is provided by the answers to what has prevented companies from introducing modular occupational health management so far. One possible interpretation of graph 2 is that the workforces and managers in SMEs are already working at the upper limit and there is no room for new topics - with all the risks for the individual. The lack of time resources seems to be a bigger obstacle than the cost factor. In addition, some companies lack detailed information on the introduction of occupational health management. Here, regular industry networks as a platform for information gathering and exchange could be a viable solution.

The response to the question: How much responsibility should a company assume for the health of its employees was also interesting. 74 percent are of the opinion that the company should take care of health beyond the legal requirements (Chart 3). The result is probably so clear because, as already mentioned above, stress, performance pressure and the conflicts in the professional environment are directly linked to the health of employees.

Tangible benefits for all

The potential of a well-implemented occupational health management is multidimensional. This is also shown by the answers to the question about the chances of an occupational health management for a company: Every one of the 270 participants

BGM - multiple pool of needs

on average, six opportunities were ticked. This illustrates that there is a multiple pool of needs behind the topic of occupational health management (Figure 4).

And what does the employer gain from this? According to Health Promotion Switzerland, between twelve and 34 percent of absences can be reduced. With 100 employees, this can amount to between 50,000 and 150,000 CHF per year. In addition, a good working atmosphere almost automatically increases motivation and thus productivity. Another point is the humanization of work, when work processes are adapted to the needs of the employees. In this way, the employer is considered "attractive" in the market and thus secures its competitiveness.

For Hanspeter Fausch, Managing Director of Praxis-Brücke Seminars, it is clear: "BGM is actually a topic with high 'sex appeal'. According to our survey, quite a few SMEs have already discovered this - but not all of them yet. The attractiveness of BGM is complex and to express it with a metaphor: Here, the money is virtually lying on the street. Those who have recognized this can say in the end: Everyone has won! The employee improves his health and the employer has noticeable savings in the form of fewer absences and fluctuation as well as a demonstrably increased productivity."

A large proportion of the companies that took part in the survey are already implementing building blocks of modular health management and some have already recognised that, in addition to individual health-promoting measures, BGM primarily has something to do with organisational development, process optimisation and analysis of procedures (Figure 5).

Improve fundamentals

On the question of how motivated SMEs can get a good start on occupational health, Hanspeter Fausch says: "The project stands or falls with the first commandment: occupational health must be declared a 'matter for the boss' in order to achieve sustainable and noticeable improvements.

Strategy that pays off

to achieve improvements. Before suitable health-promoting measures can be discussed, a solid analysis of the internal conditions is carried out. Many companies seek external support in order to examine the strategy, processes and corporate culture from an external perspective, to find starting points and to create a basis for decisions on how to proceed. Only then is it decided which interventions and changes fit the company's individual situation."

Conclusion: A BGM is promising, if from the beginning the view is put on the entire organization with its structures and processes, the humans and their individual enterprise culture.