Björn Böhning, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (Germany), visited the Wolfsburg plant of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand on May 14, 2020.
Volkswagen Group Board Member for Human Resources Gunnar Kilian, Andreas Tostmann Board Member for Production and Logistics for the Volkswagen brand and the Chairman of the General and Group Works Council Bernd Osterloh informed Böhning about the successfully restarted production and the associated comprehensive health protection measures.
State Secretary Björn Böhning said: “The corona pandemic has a significant impact on the entire economy and thus on the whole world of work. If more people return to their workplaces, the risk of infection increases. An occupational safety standard adapted to the situation is therefore necessary. For this reason, the BMAS has developed the corona occupational safety standard together with social partners, the occupational safety authorities of the federal states and the accident insurance institutions. It applies to all employers and employees and contains nationwide and cross-sector reliable minimum standards for the protection against infection. The corona occupational safety standard gives companies and employees the security they need to get back to work. In addition, the corona occupational health and safety staff at BMAS advises on the further development of occupational health and safety standards in the course of the pandemic. This requires an exchange with practitioners and companies, just like today. “
Gunnar Kilian, Board Member for Human Resources at the Volkswagen Group: “Health protection is our top priority when restarting production. The 100-point plan that we agreed with the works council enables us to consistently pursue this goal even during the restart. The first weeks after the resumption of production show that the protective measures defined therein work very well and are being implemented excellently by our colleagues. I would like to expressly thank the team for this.”
Andreas Tostmann, Member of the Board of Management for Logistics and Production at the Volkswagen brand, said: “The team managed the restart very well. Our processes and setup have proven their worth. Not a single component is missing in the production, the employees have accepted the health protection measures well. Now it is a matter of the automotive market starting up again as quickly as possible. “
Bernd Osterloh, General and Group Works Council Chairman, emphasized: “With our general works agreement on health protection, we have set a standard in industry. We have now received inquiries from all over the world about the 100-point plan – from Japan to California. We developed most of the measures directly on site with the great expertise of our experts from the workforce. That was real teamwork – proof of the strength of Volkswagen.”
