(in German)

Organisational culture is of central importance to how people interact with one another in companies. It is also vital to their health at work. Here, what matters is not only how much emphasis is placed on avoiding accidents and preventing health problems in day-to-day operations, but also what occupational safety and health (OSH) measures and attitudes to safety are regarded as acceptable within a company. Prevention cultures should not merely be discussed in relation to organisations that are already highly conscious of health issues. Rather, the assumption has to be that every organisation evolves a culture of its own, one aspect of which is its prevention culture.

What values and routines is an individual company able to build on? How do people communicate about safety and health issues in their teams? Only once these questions have been clarified and the more or less effective type of prevention culture found in the organisation has been identified can appropriate routes forward be mapped out.

This baua: Guidance brochure may be used as a toolkit with which to explore and further develop an organisation’s prevention culture. It is fundamentally suitable for all companies and sectors of the economy in Germany. It is intended not just for managers and internal OSH specialists, but external consultants as well. It is based on findings published in the 2019 baua: Report "Forms of prevention culture in German companies". The report’s conclusions have been drawn on to create a workshop concept, which has been trialled in four pilot companies. It therefore supplies a set of instruments that are scientifically founded and have been tested robustly in practice.