Preventive healthcare and occupational safety
Preventive healthcare and occupational safety are key elements of human resources policy in the Volkswagen Group. In fiscal year 2019, we underpinned this by drawing up a corresponding Group Policy. This defines basic requirements and objectives relating to occupational health and safety, laying down rules for the organization thereof as well as the responsibilities of the Group, brands and companies.
In addition to fulfilling statutory requirements, Volkswagen’s Health department places strong emphasis on preventive approaches with regard to health, fitness and performance. Employees are given the opportunity to have regular check-ups. In the follow-up appointment, they are offered options for improving their health that are tailored to their needs and draw on the latest medical knowledge. Since fiscal year 2020, our Health department has faced unique challenges due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures that needed to be put in place. Our top priority has been to safeguard production in the Group without putting the protection and health of our employees in jeopardy. To this end, we developed and implemented a variety of actions such as hygiene measures, setting up dedicated test and vaccination centers at Volkswagen locations and providing input and guidance from the Health department on the Safe Production Initiative, which supports safe and healthy manufacturing under pandemic conditions.