Health promotion in the workplace and tour of Saldome 2

The meeting point for team day 2/2024 was the well-known «castle» of the canton of Aargau at the headquarters of Feldschlösschen Getränke AG in Rheinfelden.

Andrea Wittenbecher, certified physiotherapist B.Sc. and M.Sc Work & Health from ergophys Basel GmbH, presented exciting findings on the effects of ergonomics on health at the screen based workplace. The content presented and discussed focused on what measures we can take at the workplace to move more and thus actively influence our health with the aim of improving it.

An important aspect of this was various exercises and activities that can be easily integrated into everyday working life to promote movement. In addition, the effects of sitting at a computer screen for long periods and possible complaints and their causes were explained in detail.

Another focus was on the design of the screen workstation, including the correct adjustment of office chairs, sitting and standing desks and the arrangement of screens, mice and keyboards. These aspects were considered for both the office workplace and the home office, as the challenges to health are individually relevant in both environments.

In addition, various factors that can lead to complaints were highlighted, including organizational, physical and psychosocial influences as well as very individual factors such as age, body size, previous illnesses and lifestyle.

In summary, it was emphasized how important it is to integrate as much movement and variety as possible into everyday working life. The less pain or discomfort there is, the greater the job satisfaction combined with fun and enjoyment at work. This has a demonstrable effect on performance potential and willingness to work. It is therefore crucial to take movement and ergonomics into account when planning the workplace.

Strengthened by lunch at the Feldschlösschen restaurant, the afternoon program then begins with a tour of Schweizer Salinen AG at the Möhlin site. The company mines, stores and distributes salt for Switzerland, from de-icing salts for winter road maintenance to commercial, industrial and table salts through to wellness and top-quality pharmaceutical salts. The three salt works in Schweizerhalle, Riburg and Bex produce up to 650,000 tons of salt every year.

Large quantities of salt must be stored appropriately. The guided tours ended in the salt storage hall Saldome 2, which was built in 2012 as the largest wooden dome structure in Europe by Häring AG, Eiken. Jürg Mundschin, project manager at Häring Häring AG, explained exciting insights into the dome-shaped net shell structure, which is 32 meters high and extends over a diameter of 120 meters.

The individual elements of the dome are joined together at the ends by a patented connection system (central tube) made of hexagonal steel nodes (326 in total). Starting from the 48 precisely measured binder shoes in the concreted tension ring (circumference: 377 m), the prefabricated, equilateral triangular elements (side length: 9.5 m) were assembled in layers and with maximum work safety. The dimensional stability of glulam and the systematic, self-controlling geometry enabled smooth, accident-free cantilevering using mobile telescopic work platforms: The dome structure was erected in six weeks, the roof area covers around 14,000 m² and is roughly the size of two football pitches. High-tech wood technology at its best.

The curved dome shape of the wooden structure offers optimum conditions for the space-saving and therefore cost-effective storage of over 100,000 tons of de-icing salt.