Fit, healthy and productive

Our business success depends on our staff and their capacity to perform. We take numerous measures to promote the physical and mental well-being of our employees.

Workplace enhancement and lifestyle enhancement complement each other

Our employees’ health is closely related to their working environment. However, each and every employee is also responsible for their own health status. Tchibo supports workplace and lifestyle enhancement.

• Workplace enhancement: Creating working conditions that promote health by aligning work processes, working environments and workplaces accordingly
• Lifestyle enhancement: Developing working methods and lifestyles that promote health, on the basis of information, experience and training

To integrate both pillars of health promotion in our staff’s day-to-day activities, we implement numerous health and safety measures, ranging from providing ergonomic workplaces to offering sport activities. We are committed to increasingly interlinking measures to promote workplace and lifestyle enhancement.

Ergonomic workplaces prevent medical conditions

Appropriately designed workplaces ensure that employees are prepared to take on the physical challenges of their work. By way of example, we expanded our scheme of subsidising optical glasses for employees who work on computers to our shops in 2010, making this offer available to an additional 5,500 employees.

Backache is becoming an increasingly important issue. We are committed to supporting our employees in preventing back pain and relieving existing conditions. We are replacing old desks with height-adjustable models and are instructing staff on how to use their new desks. We have already made good progress here: About 75 per cent of desks at our Hamburg location have already been replaced. Upon request, we also provide our employees with ergonomic technical equipment.

Focusing on the back

We have been cooperating with the back care centre Rückenzentrum Am Michel in Hamburg since the autumn of 2010. A skilled physiotherapist is available four hours a week at our Sports and Leisure Centre to answer questions and provide support with back conditions. He treats and advises employees on ergonomics issues and prepares personal training schedules. The physiotherapist also refers staff members to our works doctor upon request of the employee or if it is deemed medically necessary. We sponsor this therapy; employees only have to pay a nominal charge of 5 EUR.

Creating favourable conditions for individual health care

Modern health and safety management goes far beyond the prevention of accidents and diseases. We are shifting our focus to active health promotion, asking ourselves: “What keeps us healthy?” Numerous varied initiatives provide our employees with the necessary means to take responsibility for their own health and well-being. The Tchibo Sports and Leisure Centre has been offering classes to our staff in Hamburg for 30 years. Varied offerings, ranging from water aerobics in our own swimming pool to ball games such as basketball or football and Pilates or Yoga classes contribute to improving overall fitness, promote preventive health care and help employees reduce stress and relax. Our company fitness groups offer team sports and competitions.

In 2010, we initiated another campaign: “Fit am Mittag” (Lunchtime Fitness). The course combines stretching and Yoga components with relaxation exercises, meditative elements and breathing exercises. The long-term programme serves to offset sedentary work.

Free check-up for executives

Tchibo executives are offered medical checks, biennial check-ups at the DIAGNOSTIK ZENTRUM Fleetinsel Hamburg. These checks include the tests required to reliably analyse the executive’s health status in a short period of time. Tchibo accepts the full cost of these check-ups.

Tchibo is an “acknowledged” example

Tchibo received various prizes and awards over the past years, proving that our central headquarters and shops in Hamburg have already embarked on the right path: The Hamburg-based occupational health and safety authority (AfA) again recognised our excellent occupational health and safety management in 2010. Our Hamburg production facility also received this acknowledgement on a previous occasion. The “organisation with excellent occupational health and safety system” label awards us for implementing and continuously furthering the development of occupational health and safety activities.

The award encourages us to continue our work in the field of occupational health and safety. But there is still room for improvement, and we are committed to boosting our performance. One focus is on seamlessly integrating occupational health and safety in all relevant processes and structures.

Decentralised and clearly defined – our occupation health and safety structures

Occupational health and safety at Tchibo is based on legal demands. Our work safety directive clearly sets out goals and responsibilities. Tchibo has a decentralised occupational health and safety system. Independent structures have been created for different locations such as the main administrative centres, shops, logistics and roasting plants. We have set up local health and safety committees. Work safety specialists who have been trained in-house support the responsible health and safety officers on location.

Occupational health and safety at Tchibo

In addition to this operational structure, our planning and sourcing guidelines also shape occupational health and safety management. A detailed checklist of occupational health and safety aspects is taken into account when upgrading shops. By way of example, this helps us consider, and consistently avoid, risks that may arise during device commissioning. The process has already been completed for our roasting plants and is set to be expanded to other areas. We also conduct safety checks when it comes to purchasing work materials and equipment.

Occupational health and safety performance in 2010

In 2010, we recorded 26 workplace accidents per 1,000 employees at our production and logistics sites, in the Tchibo shops and administration. The figure rose slightly compared to 2009, when Tchibo filed 24 workplace accidents per 1,000 employees.

We are committed to reducing the number of workplace accidents and improving the efficiency of occupational health and safety. We want to achieve this through individual measures such as repeated risk/hazard assessments, as well as by further extending workplace safety and further developing a comprehensive occupational health and safety management system. For this, we have already launched specific measures.

Workplace accidents per 1,000 employees (2008-2010)