Occupational Safety and Occupational Medicine
The Department of Occupational Safety and Health is part of the Department of Buildings and Technology (GUT) and works on behalf of the Vice-Rector for Digitalisation and Infrastructure. The eight-member team is responsible for occupational safety, employee protection and the health of all staff and students. With expertise and commitment, the department offers legally compliant solutions of the highest quality to prevent safety and health-related hazards. The expertise and experience of the team members was of particular benefit to the institution in organising and implementing the COVID-19 protective measures at the TUW.
Employee protection
Through technical, medical, ergonomic, psychological and multidisciplinary measures, the employee protection team contributes to ensuring that the employees of the TU Wien can carry out their activities in a healthy manner at workplaces that are designed safely and in accordance with the law. The team’s tasks include carrying out evaluations and (preventive service, safety-related) inspections as well as measuring all workplaces and workstations, including reporting and documentation. The portfolio is supplemented by strategy development and planning of future or new workplaces and workstations, the preparation of safety and health protection documents and advice and support for workplace-specific instructions and the development of internal laboratory and workshop guidelines. This also included the acceptance of those safety concepts that had to be submitted by the users for review and approval in view of the COVID-19 infection incidence and the generally applicable regulations for the strictly regulated use of learning spaces by students. Compliance with safety and hygiene measures was checked on a random basis by the regular rounds of the security service. According to the recommendation of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, if several people use a learning room, a responsible COVID-19 officer must be nominated.
The recording of accidents at work and on the way to and from work, near-accidents and similar events of staff, students and apprentices is handled by the staff of the department, as are the post-accident evaluations and the required reporting. In addition, the GUT department provides personal protective equipment, trains first aid procedures and offers instruction and thematic counselling.
Occupational medicine
Occupational medical care according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ASchG) includes counselling and support for employers and employees in the implementation of the ASchG in the company. Together with the safety specialists, occupational medicine as a preventive discipline influences the design of the workplace and work processes and aims to improve working conditions in order to avoid health hazards. The services offered include preventive service inspections as well as activities in accordance with the ordinance on health surveillance at the workplace and an occupational psychology consultation hour where TUW employees have the opportunity to receive individual counselling. This offer is strictly confidential, anonymous and free of charge for TU Wien employees. The counselling takes place by appointment in person or alternatively online. Appointments for preventive medical check-ups and flu vaccinations are offered to all employees by TUW in cooperation with the Occupational Health Service (AMD) and IBG (Innovatives Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement GmbH) via the health portal. Eye tests, radiation protection examinations, travel advice and physiotherapy round off the offer.
COVID-19 prevention with in-house expertise
As early as April 2020, university-affiliated experts joined forces to provide professional and rapid support in introducing hygiene measures on campus. The head of department and trained chemist, Anna Evic-Petrik, produced disinfectants for hands and surfaces together with colleagues from the Faculty of Technical Chemistry in their TUW laboratories. The average consumption of disinfectant at the TUW at that time was about 80-100 litres per week. This in-house production relieved the Austrian market and ensured at TU that hygiene measures in offices and laboratories were introduced quickly and effectively.
During the first lockdown in April 2020, the continuation of research operations was only possible in the form of a pilot operation in compliance with the specified behavioural and distance regulations and corresponding safety precautions. Access by staff was only permitted in a highly controlled manner and in limited numbers. The scientists were supported by GUT – in particular by the security service and the Department of Occupational Safety and Occupational Medicine – in implementing the necessary safety measures. Disinfectants, gloves and – during the pilot phase – mouth-nose masks were provided. In addition to these requirements, further workplace-specific safety and protection measures were taken by the responsible laboratory and workshop managers. Part of the TUW safety concepts is, among other things, the reporting process of COVID-19 suspicions/illnesses, in which, in addition to the occupational safety experts, a hygiene team is also integrated, which quickly carries out disinfection and cleaning work in the laboratories or offices when cases of infection and illness occur at a TUW site. This maintains the specified level of protection at the university at a high level.
Occupational medicine
Occupational medical care according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ASchG) includes counselling and support for employers and employees in the implementation of the ASchG in the company. Together with the safety specialists, occupational medicine as a preventive discipline influences the design of the workplace and work processes and aims to improve working conditions in order to avoid health hazards. The services offered include preventive service inspections as well as activities in accordance with the ordinance on health surveillance at the workplace and an occupational psychology consultation hour where TUW employees have the opportunity to receive individual counselling. This offer is strictly confidential, anonymous and free of charge for TU Wien employees. The counselling takes place by appointment in person or alternatively online. Appointments for preventive medical check-ups and flu vaccinations are offered to all employees by TUW in cooperation with the Occupational Health Service (AMD) and IBG (Innovatives Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement GmbH) via the health portal. Eye tests, radiation protection examinations, travel advice and physiotherapy round off the offer.
COVID-19 prevention with in-house expertise
As early as April 2020, university-affiliated experts joined forces to provide professional and rapid support in introducing hygiene measures on campus. The head of department and trained chemist, Anna Evic-Petrik, produced disinfectants for hands and surfaces together with colleagues from the Faculty of Technical Chemistry in their TUW laboratories. The average consumption of disinfectant at the TUW at that time was about 80-100 litres per week. This in-house production relieved the Austrian market and ensured at TU that hygiene measures in offices and laboratories were introduced quickly and effectively.
During the first lockdown in April 2020, the continuation of research operations was only possible in the form of a pilot operation in compliance with the specified behavioural and distance regulations and corresponding safety precautions. Access by staff was only permitted in a highly controlled manner and in limited numbers. The scientists were supported by GUT – in particular by the security service and the Department of Occupational Safety and Occupational Medicine – in implementing the necessary safety measures. Disinfectants, gloves and – during the pilot phase – mouth-nose masks were provided. In addition to these requirements, further workplace-specific safety and protection measures were taken by the responsible laboratory and workshop managers. Part of the TUW safety concepts is, among other things, the reporting process of COVID-19 suspicions/illnesses, in which, in addition to the occupational safety experts, a hygiene team is also integrated, which quickly carries out disinfection and cleaning work in the laboratories or offices when cases of infection and illness occur at a TUW site. This maintains the specified level of protection at the university at a high level.
