Non-stop operation

voestalpine Medicine

voestalpine employs around 11,000 people in Linz, where the Group headquarters are also located(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

What does voestalpine need to produce steel? In addition to the right equipment, raw materials, energy and employees, the steel and technology group's day-to-day operations would be inconceivable without occupational medicine. It is just as busy over the Christmas holidays, because the steelworks never sleeps.

The occupational medicine department is located directly next to cold rolling mill 1 on the voestalpine site, where qualified nurses and emergency paramedics are also on duty during the holidays. Even if the site is generally quieter than usual around the turn of the year, this does not apply to steel production, because such a gigantic plant never sleeps. Shutting down and restarting systems would take far too long; they also run through Christmas.

Sylvia Hammer-Stelzmüller (2nd from left), here with colleagues, is head of occupational medicine at voestalpine in Linz.(Bild: voestalpine)

Prostate cancer screening for the first time this year
Sylvia Hammer-Stelzmüller's occupational medicine department is open around the clock, 365 days a year. The focus is on ensuring rapid medical care in emergencies. However, due to a decline in the number of accidents, the focus is increasingly shifting from accident surgery outpatient clinics to general medicine, which this year also offered prostate cancer screening for men aged 50 and over for the first time.

From wound care to the clarification of a flu-like infection: the medical team takes on a wide variety of tasks.(Bild: voestalpine)

The Linz site has over 160 defibrillators
Every year, the 69-strong team, which includes eleven doctors, 19 qualified healthcare nurses and 17 emergency paramedics, administers more than 2,100 vaccinations. In addition, almost 20,000 physiotherapy sessions take place here every year: from electrical and heat treatment to massage. The voestalpine site in Linz also plays it safe: a total of 160 defibrillators are installed.

The company's health promotion program regularly focuses on key areas, which are defined by a clinical and health psychologist together with other experts. The current focus is on promoting optimism and boosting confidence. This is fitting at a time when even voestalpine, which is very robust due to its broad positioning, is facing enormous challenges.

Closure of plant in Germany fixed, lower wage increases
In mid-October, the company announced the closure of an automotive plant in Germany; most recently, the competition and employment protection clause was applied at four locations in Austria, which allows for lower wage increases. No agreement could be reached in this regard at the foundry in Linz. An evaluation will therefore be carried out in January to determine what measures need to be taken here in order to counteract the current challenging environment.