The prevention campaign on Culture of Prevention!

The kommmitmensch prevention campaign was jointly run by the German social accident insurance institutions and the DGUV between October 2017 and December 2021. The aim of the campaign was to ensure that safety and health are included as an important benchmark in all decisions and processes – by all people, and in all companies and educational facilities.

Safe and healthy working, learning and living. The campaign has helped to make our world of work and education safe and healthy.

The kommmitmensch campaign used six fields of action to show people how they can start to make work safe and healthy for themselves and others. Taken as a whole, the six fields of action make up a company’s culture of prevention:

• LEADERSHIP – managers as a crucial driving force
• COMMUNICATION – talking with one another is essential
• PARTICIPATION – make extensive use of employees’ experience and knowledge
• ERROR CULTURE – openly discuss mistakes and learn from them
• SOCIAL CLIMATE – I feel good in my company!
• SAFETY & HEALTH – include it as a matter of course

The main tools of the campaign were a 5-stage model; the CultureCheck tool and its web application for conducting a self-test on the value placed on safety and health in a company; and the kommmitmensch dialogues (cultural dialogues: prevention for companies), which can be used to kick-start the process of culture change. These tools will continue to be available.

The kommmitmensch campaign also focused on organisational change and promoting a culture of prevention in educational institutions. Various information and a wide range of practical aids were specifically developed for day-care centres, schools and universities. kommmitmensch dialogues that reflected the educational settings found in day-care centres, schools, universities and vocational training were also developed as part of the prevention campaign with the input of relevant experts . The dialogues for the education sector can be downloaded in German under ‘Dialoge zur sicheren und gesunden Kita/ Schule/ Hochschule/ Berufliche Bildung’.

In 2019, the kommmitmensch campaign adapted its focus. In the corporate sector, the campaign took on Vision Zero’s spotlight on accidents as a result of falling and accidents involving vehicles, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the education sector, the focus was put on accidents involving school sports and swimming. The six fields of action continued to be the basis of the campaign’s structure.

In 2020, the kommmitmensch campaign’s activities concentrated on the pandemic. A broad range of materials on how to deal with the pandemic and Covid-19 was published . The campaign provided support in the form of tips and specialist content, including general background information, interviews with experts, and helpful resources and media materials on Corona.

Even though the kommmitmensch campaign has ended, its work in educating people about Corona is still relevant. As such, further information on Corona is available as part of several mini-campaigns (#MaskeTragen, #LüftenHilft, #ImpfenSchützt, #TestenHilft, #HomeofficeHilft) at the following link: Mini-campaigns for the pandemic (currently German only).

After running for around four years, the kommmitmensch campaign finished at the end of 2021. However, the Culture of Prevention will continue to play a key role in establishing processes and measures for improving safety and health in a targeted and sustainable manner in companies and educational institutions. Therefore, the topic will be incorporated into regular prevention work and continue to be developed in the relevant DGUV expert committees and expert groups .

Contact persons from the Health in the Workplace Expert Committee and the Changing Workplace Culture Expert Group are available for the workplace sector. Support for the education sector is available from the Education Facilities Expert Committee and its relevant expert groups.