The employees are the company’s principal ambassadors. It is they who shape the picture the public has of the company, and who represent Rosenbauer in its daily dealings with customers and all other stakeholders. This task can only be accomplished by motivated employees who are aware of what the company stands for, and of the values their work is helping to create. At Rosenbauer, we know that people who identify with their work will also be enthusiastic about it.

Securing new talent
Involvement in a volunteer fire department is a hiring criterion that we are always very happy to see. With their practical real-life experience, the firemen in our own ranks make a vital contribution towards translating customers’ requirements into high-performing products. By being at the service of the wider community, they also stand for continuity of the values that make Rosenbauer special.

A prime focus is on training young employees so as to assure a steady supply of new skilled staff. Rosenbauer provides over 120 apprenticeship training positions at its European facilities, giving it an exceptionally high apprenticeship training rate compared with other industrial firms. Most of those who graduate from a technical/industrial apprenticeship can be offered a permanent job. A large proportion of the office trainees can also be kept on.

Rosenbauer’s extensive further-education and training program permits individualized in-service training for every single employee. It offers everything from courses for personality and team development to foreign languages and management training, and courses with specialist technical and commercial curricula.

Promoting health
Rosenbauer has implemented a series of measures as part of its in-company preventive healthcare program: Among these is the launch of the Rosenbauer Health Pass, with which staff can get a free check-up followed by individual medical consultation. This check-up was broadened last year to include diagnosis of the support and locomotor system.

Also, the food offerings at the Leonding site have been revised with a view to promoting healthy, balanced nutrition. The between-meal snacks sold in the plant have also been changed over to healthy products. The sports association, which has been a fixture of company life for decades, offers a wide range of fitness-promoting sports.

The US companies have also climbed aboard the “healthy nutrition” bandwagon. The focus here is mainly on the increased risk of diabetes caused by being overweight. As well as giving employees tips on how to achieve a healthier and more balanced diet, the US companies have also started a competition aimed at encouraging staff to lose weight.

Rosenbauer has an ongoing program of activities to eliminate alcohol and tobacco consumption in the company. These go hand-in-hand with well-targeted offerings of support and counseling. The infrastructure has been adapted in line with this policy, and outdoor smoking shelters set up. The Leonding, Neidling, Graz and Telfs facilities in Austria are all alcohol- and smokefree zone.

Ensuring occupational safety
Rosenbauer protects its employees by making continuous improvements to its processes and workplaces, with a focus on prevention and health promotion. The company is constantly investing in up-to-date and ergonomically designed tools, work-aids and safety devices. When it comes to the provision of protective equipment, it goes beyond what the law requires, for example by providing individually adapted goggles and ear protectors, and orthopedic shoes. High priority is also given to preventative work, in collaboration with safety experts, occupational health physicians, staff representatives and official bodies, and to ensuring compliance with the legal requirements.

Regular, systematic inspection tours and internal 3S (Safety - Set in order - Shine) housekeeping audits are performed in accordance with defined priorities, with all detected issues being remedied and improved at top speed.

A reporting system is used to record accidents and events with reference to standardized criteria. As well as notifiable workplace accidents, “near-miss” accidents are also registered, documented and analyzed in the system, which serves as the basis for improvement actions. The internal performance metric developed to measure this is a “lost working hours rate” (ratio of hours worked to hours lost). Evaluation of recent years’ workplace accidents has shown that most of them were caused by insufficiently safety-conscious behavior and a lack of safety awareness.

The high standard of workplace safety at Rosenbauer was confirmed once again in the 2011 compliance audit for the OHSAS 18001 compliant Safety Management System.