"Alexander" conquers an entire production site
By means of the so-called Alexander Technique the employees at the Siemens Building Technologies factory in Zug, Switzerland, learn how to change inefficient body movements and posture habits through heightened consciousness.
Much like the Macedonian king of the same name, "Alexander" has won over the bodies and minds of the employees at the Siemens Building Technologies factory in Zug, Switzerland – more precisely, the Alexander Technique. The unorthodox approach was one of several corporate health promotion measures recently introduced at the site, which had been experiencing an increase in health-related sick days. It is enjoying growing popularity with plant employees.
Alleviating work-related disorders
Assembly line work at the Zug factory is physically demanding. Over time, it can lead to conditions such as neck, shoulder and elbow pain. Lale Arslan, an employee of over 25 years at the plant, describes the symptoms she experienced as follows: “I constantly felt an ache in my shoulders and down my arms, and just couldn’t get rid of it.”
As a result, employees frequently called in sick, thereby also impacting production. “We tried several different measures to counterbalance the health issues”, as Rudolf Meisinger, Department Head at the Zug site, remembers, “with marginal success. We needed to find a way to tailor the measures to the demands of the individual workplace.”
Promoting good health
In 2010, Siemens Building Technologies and the Regional Company Siemens Switzerland launched a health promotion project to better align health measures with workplace needs. It included the Alexander Technique.
Today, some 100 employees of around 350 in total take part in the program – directly in the production halls. Three times a day, groups of up to ten employees participate in five-minute Alexander Technique-based sessions. Once a week, an Alexander Technique trainer is onsite to offer group or individual half-hour training sessions.
Even five-minute Alexander Technique-based sessions help to change inefficient body movements and posture habits through heightened consciousness.
"Alexander" is great
Originally developed by the Australian actor Frederick Matthias Alexander, the technique aims to change inefficient body movements and posture habits through heightened consciousness. At the Siemens site, employees are made aware of how they stand, walk, sit and move themselves at their workplaces as well as how to perform tasks like holding the drill in a less harmful way.
The management, including Rudolf Meisinger, is convinced of the technique’s advantages: “Being a movement person myself, I’m thrilled with the results. I haven’t seen employees this motivated in a long time.” Ms. Arslan, who even leads a five-minute session in the morning, enthusiastically comments: “I never would have thought that conscious body movement could make so much of a difference. I highly recommend trying it.”
2010-Jul-01 | Author
- Health management - Reference projects
- Overview
- Fit4Life
- Traveler Health Check
- Health promotion with Alexander Technique
