Projects Health Management

Around 26 per cent of employee absences in the REWE Group can be attributed to muscular and skeletal disorders - the most common cause of absence due to illness.

To counteract this development, the REWE Group launched the project "naprima" in 2008, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The goal is to advise, train and motivate employees in stores to adopt healthy habits.

The project began in 15 pilot stores. Around 160 employees received intensive consulting and support from the Institut für gesundheitliche Prävention (Institute for Health-Relevant Prevention) in Münster (IFGP), from experts in health management and work safety, as well as from the REWE Group’s central health management. On the basis of surveys and observation, the experts developed tailored prevention plans.

One of the projects: a monthly calendar for the stores. It depicts healthy practices when lifting or clearing shelves and corresponding compensatory exercises. Meanwhile, the second advisory round has been launched. Starting in 2010, the ideas suitable and practicable will be implemented as much as possible on a large scale in order to efficiently promote the employees' health.

In recent years many corporate health management projects have revealed that health literacy und health-enhancing behaviour is not widespread at the workplace. Individual behavioural patterns and also working conditions are still evident that leave plenty of room for improvement with regard to preventing or reducing health impairment in the future.

Target group-specific supervision and support is required on site to help employees deal with factors impacting on their health at the workplace. This type of support can only be ensured through committed and properly informed managers.

REWE Group is therefore developing a target group-specific toolbox designed to help promote employees' health literacy. The relevant content is methodically compiled and prepared in such a way that the managers can independently utilise this toolbox without any previous instruction courses.

The toolbox is to be used as an example in the project and for determining how suitable and how well it is received. Finally its transfer throughout REWE Group and to retail stores throughout Germany is to be prepared. The programme is planned to run for 18 months and is being implemented by REWE Group in cooperation with the "Institut für gesundheitliche Prävention" (IFGP).

How can companies contribute to preserving the health of older employees? This question is the focus of the model programme 'LagO - working longer in healthy organisations'. The project aims to create healthier working conditions and processes in the long term.

The REWE Group launched LagO in March 2007 at the warehouse located in Hürth-Efferen. At the same time, two model stores in the Central Germany region were analysed. Employees from the partnered Institut für Sozialforschung und Sozialwirtschaft e. V. (iso) (Social Research and Economics Institute) conducted meetings with employees, the works council and managers. Based on the findings, new measures for older employees were drafted - from training sessions on proper sitting posture at the cash register to compensatory exercises that counteract one-sided strain.

The company also provided suitable aids, such as heat vests for the dairy product area or longer forks for the service counter. Human resources planning that also accounts for age is part of this. The experiences from the model Central Germany region are so positive that plenty of ideas are being
successively implemented.