Fit and healthy in the workplace
First annual Safety and Health Day at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences
The Fire Safety Officer and students of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences initiated the first annual Safety and Health Day on the Kleve Campus. The day-long programme was dedicated to strengthening the social and mental well-being of students and staff.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, July 24, 2015: A group of six undergraduates from the Quality, Environment, Safety and Hygiene programme were instrumental in organising Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences’ first annual Safety and Health Day. Together with the helpful guidance of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Schumachers, Professor of Integrated Management Systems, Quality, Environment and Safety of the Faculty of Life Sciences, and Heinz Lippe, the university’s Fire Safety Officer, the students developed and oversaw an programme packed full of health and safety-related information. In particular, the event was dedicated to evaluating and strengthening the social and mental well-being of students and staff. The organisers also received valuable assistance from locally-active companies and other partners.
Protecting our most valuable resource with preventative health and safety
Safety and Health Day kicked off with an introductory greeting from Dr. Heide Naderer, President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, followed by an initial presentation from Prof. Dr. Nele Wild-Wall, Professor of Psychological Research Methods and Diagnostics, on “Psychological Stress in the Workplace”. Presentations and activities on a range of other topics, for example “Work Stress”, “CO2 Strain – Room Temperatures and Ventilation”, “Workplace Ergonomics”, and the “Psychology of the Spine”, enabled visitors and participants to explore many different aspects relating to the promotion of good health and social and mental well-being.
Safety and Health Day also included numerous free health checks – including an eye test, a grip strength test, a blood sugar level check-up, and a core strength/balance test – all of which gave visitors the chance to take an active part in the spirit of the day’s programme – protecting people, our most valuable resource. “Safety and Health Day was a huge success across the board. Besides the many info booths, the general introduction to the university’s extracurricular sport clubs, the fire extinguisher training provided by volunteer firefighters from Kleve, and the first aid/defibrillator training from the Malteser Hilfsdienst, the DKMS was able to type match many new potential bone marrow donors, particularly among employees of the university”, noted Heinz Lippe, the Fire Safety Officer of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.