Electronic patient dossier: Southeast Switzerland has been launched
Shortly before the end of the year, there is movement in the electronic patient dossier (EPD): the population in south-eastern Switzerland can now also open one. In Neuchâtel, progress is also being made, initially for people with diabetes.
Roger Strässle - 15 November 2021
With the electronic patient dossier, all relevant health data can be viewed quickly and easily. Image source: www.mondossiersante.ch
On the national Digitaltag on 10 November, it was time to get serious, and the eSanita went with her electronic patient dossier "on the market". Since then, residents of the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden, Glarus, Graubünden and St. Gallen have been able to open a personal EPD. According to eSanita, interested persons can present themselves at one of the approximately 40 official opening offices in their region. Instructions on how the procedure works are available on the website of the provider. a step-by-step guide to the opening available.
Neuchâtel also with EPD
Recently, the canton of Neuchâtel also launched its EPD. The product there runs under the name "Mon Dossier Santé". The electronic patient dossier in Neuchâtel is based on the Post E-Health platform, writes the yellow giant. Implementation in the canton is taking place in stages. A first implementation phase concerns patients with diabetes. The expansion of "Mon Dossier Santé" to the entire population of Neuchâtel should take place in spring 2022, according to the statement.
Vaccination documents: EPD as a secure repository
The foundation myvaccinations.ch sent the vaccination data to its former users a few days ago. The electronic patient dossier is a suitable new and secure place to store this data, as E-Health Suissethe federal and cantonal competence and coordination office, writes. In the case of the digital medical record, the unique identification of persons and access are clearly regulated. E-Health Suisse therefore recommends that all vaccination documents received be stored in the EPD as soon as one is available in the region.
Standards for Industry 4.0 are being developed internationally
The Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV) delegates Swiss experts to international committees so that they can contribute their know-how in connection with Industry 4.0.
What do standards regulate? To answer this question, you need to know the standardisation process. The SNV does not draw up any Swiss standards for the topic of Industry 4.0. However, it is involved in an international network and delegates Swiss experts to international standards committees. These experts contribute their ideas and expertise to global standardisation organisations such as ISO, IEC, CEN, CENELEC and other international associations. At the same time, participation enables those involved to be aware of the latest discussions and developments at an early stage and to use these for their own organization. After all, standards are developed from practice for practice. The knowledge advantage can also help a Swiss company to align itself with the latest developments at a very early stage, especially in the area of Industry 4.0.
Standardization stands for open systems
Industry 4.0 is based on the rapid progress of information and communication technologies. This area is correspondingly diverse and complex. This also makes it clear that there are hardly any standards that cover the entire area of Industry 4.0. The machine parts, connectors, controls and other digital elements required are too diverse. Standardization is therefore primarily involved in the area of data exchange, so that individual systems can communicate with each other. After all, Industry 4.0 should ultimately lead to efficient production that conserves resources. For example, the system reports that a drill needs to be replaced after another 100 drillings. Since this can be provided in good time, there is no downtime. Faulty production is also avoided because the drill is replaced before it drills incorrectly. However, the part is not replaced during routine service as it used to be, but only when it is actually worn out. The drill is monitored with sensors. As soon as a limit value is exceeded, it sends a message to the machine's "digital twin". This information can be called up from anywhere via the Internet or, depending on the system, an automatic order can even be triggered.
This interaction, the interoperability of the individual elements, is therefore central. This requires professional software that is based on standardized interfaces and thus enables data exchange and profitable data use. There are companies that deliberately design their products in such a way that they are not compatible with others, in the sense of a one-stop shop. In this way, they want to persuade customers to use only their products. This may have its advantages, but at the same time it creates dependencies or limits the possibilities. And if one assumes that individual solutions often have to be sought in the industrial sector, then linking standardized elements with specially manufactured components is only possible with open systems that can be linked via interfaces. Accordingly, standardization aims to achieve the best possible compatibility, particularly with regard to these interfaces, in order to achieve the greatest possible flexibility. Further topics of standardization in the field of Industry 4.0 are data security, integration and automation of systems, artificial intelligence and safety aspects in the interaction of machines and employees.
The future is already here
In the long term, companies, whether small or large, can hardly avoid dealing with Industry 4.0 and investing in this direction. If they do not do so, this will have a detrimental effect sooner or later. This is because competitors will be able to produce more cost-effectively, as Industry 4.0 leads to more efficient and resource-conserving production. Standards enable plants to be expanded at a later date or individual components to be modernised.
The most important standards on the subject of Industry 4.0
SN EN ISO/IEC 27001:2017 - Information technology - Security procedures - Information security management systems - Requirements
IEC PAS 63088:2017 - Smart manufacturing - Reference architecture model industry 4.0 (RAMI4.0)
ISO/IEC 21823-Standards series - Internet of things (IoT) - Interoperability for IoT systems
ISO/IEC 30161:2020 - Internet of Things (IoT) - Requirements of IoT data exchange platform for various IoT services
Study provides measures against staff shortage
Stress in the workplace and poor general conditions were already serious issues in the Swiss healthcare system before the pandemic. This is shown by the latest results of a national study by the Bern University of Applied Sciences. It provides solutions to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
The current pandemic clearly demonstrates how important it is to have a well-functioning health care system with a sufficient number of specialists, as the Bern University of Applied Sciences Health writes. But even before Sars-CoV-2, the healthcare sector had to contend with a shortage of skilled workers, early departures from the profession and poor conditions in the workplace. In order to record the sources of stress, stress reactions and the resulting long-term consequences in the everyday working lives of health professionals in Switzerland, the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) Health launched the national project "Work-related Stress among Health Professionals in Switzerland", or STRAIN for short, in 2017 (see box). The study not only collects empirical data, but also provides practical solutions to reduce the problems in the long term, according to a press release.
First results on workload in the health care sector
The results of the study show the work-related stress in the healthcare sector: According to this, 28 % of midwives and 21 % of doctors are rarely or never able to keep to their legally stipulated break times in their everyday working lives. Among the doctors, 24 % are affected by a strong to very strong conflict between work and private life. 13 % of the nurses suffer from an impairment of everyday life due to spinal complaints. And 15 % of carers think about leaving the profession early several times a month or even daily. The STRAIN project team had studied the occurrence of a stressor and its actual impact on employee health and satisfaction. According to the study, the researchers found the most important correlations in the reconciliation of work and private life, the lack of development opportunities and the behaviour of direct superiors.
Leadership training can reduce stressors and long-term consequences
Based on these results, the BFH Health project team identified seven fields of action to create an optimal and healthy working environment for healthcare professionals and developed a two-day training programme for healthcare managers. During this two-day programme, the participants also exchanged views on the topic of stress in multi-professional groups and developed their own recommendations for action to improve working conditions. As an initial evaluation of the intervention shows: If more than 70 percent of an organization's leaders participated in the training program, it had an exclusively positive effect on stressors and long-term consequences.
Improving the framework conditions is crucial
In order to keep health professionals healthy and satisfied in the long term, an improvement in the framework conditions is crucial. The study shows that, on the one hand, effective measures for a good work-life balance, optimisation of the workload and management structures are key issues. On the other hand, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, better development opportunities and a stronger focus on a positive feedback and error culture are also important. According to the report, managers play a central role in the implementation of these measures in everyday practice.
Follow-up project in the starting blocks
The STRAIN project is going into the next round and is now called STRAIN 2.0. The follow-up project offers interested organisations the opportunity to record stressors in the workplace and the resulting long-term consequences in all health professions on an annual basis. The aim is to create a regular, nationwide database on work-related stress and the general conditions in all health professions. Not only would data be collected, but the evidence-based recommendations would also be further developed in order to be able to offer healthcare organisations targeted and sustainable solutions for reducing workload and optimising the framework conditions.
Source: BFH
Work-related Stress Among Health Professionals in Switzerland
The Study "Work-related Stress among Health Professionals in Switzerland" (STRAIN) of the Bern University of Applied Sciences Health recorded the different sources of stress and stress reactions as well as the resulting long-term consequences in the daily work of health professionals in Switzerland over the period 2017 to 2021. The 15-member STRAIN project team is made up of interprofessional staff from three universities: the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, the HES-SO University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland and the University of Applied Sciences Southern Switzerland SUPSI. The STRAIN study is currently the largest intervention study in the Swiss healthcare system. It includes over 160 participating acute hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, psychiatric clinics, nursing homes and Spitex organisations from all language regions. The aim of the study is to improve the framework conditions in the healthcare sector and to keep healthcare professionals healthy and satisfied in the long term.
CH companies on the upswing - new risks on the horizon
According to Deloitte's CFO survey, the Swiss economy is continuing to pick up speed, but the risk assessment is changing significantly. Currently, 60 percent of corporate sales are back at or above pre-crisis levels. The respondents assess the economic outlook for the next twelve months as positive. At the same time, supply bottlenecks, a shortage of skilled workers, price pressure and the threat of inflation are weighing on the outlook.
The vast majority (83 %) of chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed in Switzerland agree that the Swiss economy will continue to grow over the next twelve months. This is the third highest figure since the Deloitte CFO survey was first conducted in 2009. Only four percent of the CFOs surveyed expect a downturn.
"The Swiss economy has suffered temporarily. However, thanks to targeted government intervention and an overall robust and broad-based structure, it will emerge from the pandemic stronger and faster than many other OECD countries," says Reto Savoia, CEO of Deloitte Switzerland. "This is very positive news, provided that neither policymakers nor companies rest on their laurels now, but respond consistently to the new risk situation."
Company outlook predominantly very positive
The 114 CFOs surveyed expect their key performance indicators to increase over the next twelve months; this applies to the number of employees, sales and investments. A high 79 percent of the CFOs surveyed anticipate revenue growth over the next 12 months, and only 7 percent expect a decline. More than half of CFOs (53%) expect to hire more people than they leave in the next 12 months. According to CFOs, spending on marketing, events and business travel is likely to rise particularly sharply. The only area in which the proportion of CFOs with a positive outlook has decreased is margin development.
Further, as of the September 2021 survey date, 60 percent of CFOs said their revenues were back to or above pre-crisis levels, nearly twice as many as in March (34%). A year ago, that figure was 18 percent. "Many companies have actually overcome the crisis and have enough orders again. However, they are often unable to fulfil them in full due to a lack of materials and staff. As a result, the pressure on margins is increasing," explains Alessandro Miolo, Managing Partner for Audit & Assurance at Deloitte Switzerland.
Delivery problems and shortage of skilled workers
"The risks for companies have changed more significantly than ever before in the space of six months," says Alessandro Miolo (see chart). For the first time, CFOs cite all their activities related to the flow of materials and information from purchasing to delivery as the biggest business risk, the audit and advisory firm writes.
The complex and highly globalized supply chains were not prepared for a global pandemic, nor for the current strong growth in demand. "Crises with similar effects on global trade as the Corona pandemic can, however, happen again. With a foreign trade ratio twice the OECD average, stable and sustainable supply chains are particularly important for Switzerland. Policymakers should therefore continue to simplify and digitalise the customs system and secure free trade with agreements - and companies need to manage their suppliers and distribution more actively and drive forward the digitalisation of supply chain networks," Miolo continues.
Productivity must increase more
In addition to general supply chain concerns, rising raw material prices and a lack of transport capacity, the shortage of qualified employees is once again a major issue, he said. "The issues around supply chains and skilled labor, combined with pressure on margins and rising inflation, make for a dangerous cocktail of risks that is not easy to digest," says Miolo.
The shortage of skilled workers has jumped up a whole 15 places in the CFOs' risk assessment, writes Deloitte. For companies with ambitious growth plans, it is therefore crucial that key employees stay with the company. "In addition, companies also need to make it easier to recruit top international talent, as the approval processes are complicated and burdensome, and successful foreign university graduates are leaving the country in large numbers. Companies must also continue to invest in new technologies - as many did successfully during the pandemic. This should also help to finally reignite productivity growth and enable sustainable growth," says Deloitte CEO Reto Savoia.
The race for the Swiss Medtech Award 2022 has begun. The coveted innovation prize of the Swiss medtech industry is being offered for the fifth time. The prize money will be increased from the original CHF 50,000 to CHF 75,000.
Swiss Medtech is calling on the Swiss medtech industry to provide innovative services for the Award to advertise. To the sponsors Lichtsteiner Foundation, Straumann Group and Ypsomed have become new Sonova according to the Swiss Medical Technology Association. This would allow the prize money to be increased from 50,000 to 75,000 Swiss francs.
Sonova Holding AG is an internationally active Swiss group of companies specializing in hearing solutions with headquarters in Stäfa. "We want to give people quality of life. That is our motivation. We want to share this with like-minded people in our commitment to the Swiss Medtech Award," says jury representative Andi Vonlanthen, Group Vice President Research & Development at Sonova. "The Swiss Medtech Award is gaining in importance year after year. This is also demonstrated by our partnership with the four sponsors. I am very pleased about this strong commitment to the industry," says Peter Biedermann, Managing Director of Swiss Medtech.
What requirements?
The application deadline for the 2022 Award is 30 January 2022. In addition to the "Swissness" factor, other criteria must be met. For example, the effect and benefit of the product, technology or process must also be proven by completed patient studies (all criteria here).
The winner is honoured at the annual Swiss Medtech Day in front of over 600 guests.
Predict industrial pump failures and reduce energy consumption
No fewer than three companies will benefit from the CSEM Digital Journey competition in 2021: Digitel SA, which wants to develop new systems for optimising the energy consumption of refrigeration plants, and Schweizer Zucker AG and Schweizer Salinen AG, which want to jointly implement digital solutions for predicting failures in industrial pumps. Artificial intelligence is involved in both winners.
The competition launched in 2018 CSEM Digital Journey is intended to support Swiss SMEs in their digitisation projects in order to increase their competitiveness on the international market.
This year, one prize went to Digitel SA, based in Cugy (VD), and a second to the national sugar and salt producers Swiss Sugar and Swiss Salt Works, who were joint candidates. The two winners will be able to draw on the entire wealth of expertise and technology at CSEM and will receive individual technological support worth CHF 100,000 each, according to CSEM.
AI for the detection of weak points in industrial pumps
Schweizer Zucker employs around 250 people at its plants in Frauenfeld and Aarberg, who process around 10 000 tonnes of sugar beet per plant per day during the harvest season. Schweizer Salinen extracts, stores and distributes up to 600,000 tonnes of salt a year and ensures the supply of salt to the whole of Switzerland with its three salt works in Schweizerhalle, Riburg and Bex.
With the help of CSEM, the two SMEs now want to tackle a common challenge: using artificial intelligence to predict failures in their industrial pumps, which circulate different types of liquids - Swiss sugar, for example, has more than 150 pumps on a total of 50 kilometres of pipeline. Currently, the condition of the pumps is not proactively checked, which prevents early detection of defects. Weak points are therefore only detected late, which can lead to costly failures. With a predictive analysis, defects could be detected early, processes optimized and energy saved.
Reduce energy consumption of refrigeration systems
Founded in 1989, Digitel SA specializes in the development and marketing of solutions for the regulation and remote control of refrigeration systems for the food wholesale, hotel and industrial sectors. Such installations are very energy-intensive. In Switzerland, industry, supermarkets and service companies alone consume around 11,000 GWh of electricity, which is equivalent to one seventh of Switzerland's total electricity consumption.
Aware that this is the case, Digitel has already developed an initial solution to detect excessive power consumption. Together with CSEM, the company now wants to use artificial intelligence to bring a comprehensive energy efficiency solution to market. The aim is to provide end users with a tool that continuously measures the energy consumption of a plant fleet, detects and reports anomalies and their causes, so that the energy balance can be optimized.
This solution could very soon be applied to the Digitel plants already in use, achieving energy savings of between 5 and 10%.
"For many Swiss SMEs, digitalisation is a key differentiator in the area of customer services. As the two winners of our competition show, it can also help to reduce costs, for example by reducing technical downtime and optimising energy consumption," explains Alexandre Pauchard, the CEO of CSEM. The CSEM Digital Journey competition is aimed at companies with fewer than 250 employees, whose financial and human resources are often insufficient to meet the challenges of digitization.
Smartphones are increasingly the focus of cyberattacks. Sometimes the criminals' deeds remain undetected, but there are often signs that one's own device has been affected. VPN pioneer NordVPN has identified six conspicuous features that indicate a hacker attack.
The increased number of attacks on smartphones comes as no surprise. After all, sensitive data is stored on mobile phones these days, and hackers can do a lot of damage with it. But how do I find out if my smartphone is affected? The following six signs of a hacked smartphone identified by NordVPN should prompt a thorough security check.
Severe loss of performance
The latest smartphones are true high-performance machines. If the performance drops for no reason, there is usually something wrong: apps that start very slowly or run sluggishly, and a battery that quickly drops to its knees can be indications of a hack: malware and surveillance software often work invisibly in the background and consume resources.
Unknown apps
Regularly downloaded apps, even if they come from trusted sources, can be a gateway for malware. Many free apps make their living by playing out advertisements from external providers. However, through appropriate docking stations that developers implement in the app's code, hackers may also be able to gain access to the phone. If other unknown applications appear after the installation of an app, there could be a security vulnerability. In this case, smartphone owners should check which applications they have downloaded themselves have permission to install further apps. Keeping an eye on your own app catalog is also part of security 101.
Faulty apps
Not only unknown or invisible apps can make a foreign access to the smartphone obvious. A hacker attack could also be the reason if everything seems normal at first, but then otherwise perfectly functioning apps no longer start or close during use for no apparent reason. Mysterious in-app purchases and messages in messenger programs that do not originate from the user are also possible signs that a vulnerability is being exploited. Security gaps in the system or careless user behavior, such as the careless opening of email attachments, are the usual gateways for cybercriminals.
Increasing data consumption
Another point that can indicate malware is a larger consumption of data volume. If extremely high numbers of used data transfer cannot be explained, monitoring software could be working in the background. In order to avoid escalating costs in case of doubt, smartphone users should cut the Internet connection until the security vulnerability has been cleaned up.
Inexplicable advertising
Everyone who is on the Internet knows them: pop-up ads. Unfortunately, this type of advertising is not unknown on smartphones either. Nevertheless, it is rather unusual when a large number of pop-up windows suddenly appear on the screen, even though no browser app is running. Spyware or malware could then be the cause.
Eerie camera phenomena
Probably the most atypical, but at the same time scariest case of hacking activity is directly related to the smartphone camera. Hacked phones sometimes turn up pictures and videos in the local file folders that were demonstrably not shot or filmed by the user. Similarly creepy, and another sign of third-party access, is when the flash constantly turns on and off by itself. Camera software and related hardware in particular consume large amounts of resources. Therefore, it usually comes to inexplicably large heat development of the device.
"If there is a suspicion of a hacker attack, the most important thing is not to panic," emphasizes Joanna Rusin-Rohrig, Country Manager DACH at NordVPN. "The first step back to security is to change your passwords. After that, it's a good idea to install anti-virus software and run a virus scan. In parallel, mobile phone owners can of course also look out for suspicious and unknown apps on their own and uninstall them. If these measures don't help or don't help enough, the last option is to reset the smartphone to factory settings."
A new PwC financial study has examined the impact of Covid-19 on the financial health of healthcare providers. The pandemic-related loss in 2020 is CHF 1.3 to 1.5 billion. Only 28 percent of acute hospitals report a positive annual result in 2020.
The study "Swiss hospitals: How healthy were their finances in 2020" by PwC Switzerland looks at the financial, strategic and operational impact of Covid-19 on healthcare providers. The fact is that the pandemic placed enormous demands on the healthcare system.
Schmetotal rupture
As a result of the pandemic, Swiss hospitals and clinics suffered total financial losses (before cantonal contributions) of between CHF 1.3 billion and CHF 1.5 billion in the 2020 reporting year. The service providers came under strong pressure on the earnings side. Acute care hospitals experienced a sharp drop in revenue as a result of the ban on elective surgery in spring 2020. This was particularly pronounced in the inpatient area, with revenue losses of minus 4.2% compared with the previous year. In the outpatient sector, the decline was much less pronounced at minus 0.5%. Sales in the psychiatric clinics were only slightly lower than in the previous year, while sales in the rehabilitation division decreased considerably.
Profitability slumped
The EBITDAR margin of acute hospitals fell from 7.0% in the previous year to 5.3% in 2020, well below the minimum value of 10% defined by PwC and at the lowest level in the last five years. The picture is similar for EBITDA, EBIT and net profit margins in 2020, with only 28% of the acute hospitals surveyed reporting a positive annual result in 2020, down from 60% in 2019. Covid-19 clarified: Financial targets and sufficient earning power in normal years are central to building up reserves for difficult years and managing crises independently. Swiss hospitals should be able to survive on their own earnings power.
Need to catch up in digitalization
The pandemic has accelerated the digitalisation of the Swiss healthcare system. With the digital Covid certificate, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has set an important milestone. Lukas Engelberger, President of the Swiss Conference of Ministers of Public Health (GDK), sees the digital tools developed at short notice to combat the pandemic as a quantum leap in the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. At the same time, he sees a lot of catching up to do, for example with the electronic patient dossier.
Supplementary insurance market on the move
Service providers must promptly develop multi-benefit concepts to describe their innovative services in a comprehensible way. In the study, Philomena Colatrella, CEO of CSS Insurance, talks about the potential of flexible and dynamic insurance products with a strong focus on treatment quality.
Tariff systems of the future
Based on the history of the Swiss tariff landscape, the authors reflect on the outpatient tariff system of the future. For almost a decade, service providers in the inpatient sector have been billing on the basis of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG). In an interview, Dr. med. Simon Hölzer, CEO of SwissDRG AG, attributes great development potential to the targeted further development of the DRG catalogues (see here, page 36). The experts agree that a tariff system of the future must eliminate misaligned incentives between outpatient and inpatient interventions and ensure permeability between inpatient and outpatient care with outpatient flat rates.
An initiative on behalf of those affected
With the Patient Empowerment Initiative, two insurers and two hospitals want to set a milestone in the direction of quality-oriented remuneration. In a pilot project, they want to create an incentive to enable patients to make fact-based and thus more targeted decisions. This is because the prevailing volume competition in the Swiss healthcare system creates false incentives, according to which treatment decisions are not always optimal for those affected and, in the worst case, are harmful. The tariff system envisaged by the Patient Empowerment Initiative focuses on the quality and benefits of treatment and aims to reduce overuse and misuse. In doing so, affected individuals take a more active role in decision-making about their treatment.
Press release PwC
To the study: The study "Swiss Hospitals: Insight into Finances 2020" by PwC Switzerland was conducted in September 2021 on the basis of the annual reports of 45 acute hospitals and 13 psychiatric clinics. For an in-depth insight into practice, the study contains various interviews with industry representatives and excursions on special topics.
The maintenance industry will meet at maintenance Schweiz in Zurich from 17 to 18 November 2021. Focus topics at the 14th trade fair for industrial maintenance include "Predictive Maintenance" and "Data Management". Rainer Artho and Bernhard Bürgler from fmpro, the association for facility management and maintenance.
Where does the maintenance industry currently stand in this time of crisis and what challenges does industrial maintenance face?
Bernhard Bürgler, fmpro board member: Basically, we as an industry have come through the crisis pretty well. It is difficult to make a general statement because we are very broadly positioned. The challenges we are still facing are primarily cost pressure, the shortage of skilled workers and digitalization. In addition, the crisis has of course brought new challenges. One example is the global supply chains, which no longer function as smoothly as they did in the past. This is particularly evident in the case of electronic components, which have much longer delivery times or are simply not available in some cases. Therefore, solutions and ways have to be found to circumvent this problem or to live with it.
What opportunities do you see with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) being used more and more?
Bürgler: We are at the beginning of a great wave of digitalization in maintenance. Personally, I am currently working intensively on predictive maintenance. This is also one of the big topics at this trade fair. From my point of view, we are slowly coming out of the hype and trial phase and are moving in the direction of applications that are suitable for industrial use and can represent clear added value for manufacturing companies.
What are your association goals and perspectives for your members in the coming year?
Rainer Artho, fmpro Managing Director: We are now coming out of a two-year pandemic, and when I look ahead and think about 2022, the main thing for us is to get back to normal. As an association, we live very much from networking activities, namely physical networks. This is one of fmpro's three core commitments, which we have in fact not been able to pursue for the past two years. With our renewed activity, we are now returning to normality. The cooperation level is also coming back to life, such as the cooperation with the Institute for Data Analysis and Process Design (IDP) - ZHAW or with other associations that are at home in the maintenance sector. These important cooperations have suffered somewhat due to the retreat into the home office.
Now you are planning real events with visitors on site again?
Artho: Yes, we usually hold up to 50 events in a year. These range from loose networking meetings, events, visits and presentations to training courses. It is not yet clear how quickly we will return to the level we had before the pandemic. At the moment, we are still feeling a certain reluctance on the part of companies as well as on a personal level. And the federal regulations are still there and could possibly be tightened up again.
Bürgler: The most important occasions for maintenance are our Maintenance Day and the Maintenance Roundtables, which we want to ramp up again. The maintenance day is always a highlight in the year of the specialists. To this end, it is planned that we will visit a nuclear power plant in spring 2022.
What topics will you bring to maintenance Switzerland as an association and what added value will you generate for your members and interested parties?
Bürgler: From my point of view, the trade fair is ideal for exploring the state of the art. Especially in the area of digitalization, the latest technologies are on display and being demonstrated. I am specifically looking forward to the topic of predictive maintenance and what the various manufacturers have to offer in this regard. Smart sensors will be another big topic. Maintenance professionals will be working much more with data in the future. There is still huge potential here, for example in linking, good and user-friendly processing and the correct interpretation of data. These topics will keep us busy in the industry for a long time to come. There is a lot of potential here, because in my view we are only at the beginning of a major development.
You have your finger on the pulse of the times and are already implementing digital maintenance and digitalisation. What three important advantages can you name here?
Bürgler: Maintenance managers are grounded people with both feet on the ground. First, digital tools have to work for them. That is not or was not always the case in the past. But in the meantime, we have industry-standard solutions. Secondly, digital tools have to make sense and add value for the maintainer. We cannot install a solution and then receive dozens of false alarms that distract us from our core activity. So thirdly, the benefit has to be tangible and in a good balance. We are slowly getting there with this technology.
Networking between industry, science, users and educational institutions is also important for a successful strategy of your members. What does the education strategy look like?
Artho: All our activities support the networking of the various players in our industry environment. But we also have special platforms, for example an education network, where we specifically promote the exchange of education providers with the HR area of companies. The experts for the federal examinations form another exciting network. On the one hand, the preparation, execution and correction of examinations are a strong, non-professional commitment, but on the other hand, they are also an excellent network in the area of maintenance.
On fmpro's training strategy and activities: We are the sponsors of the higher professional examinations for Facility Management Managers and Maintenance Managers. From 2022, these two qualifications will be merged into a single title "Head of FM & Maintenance". This is the result of several years of conceptual work. In addition, we also want to maintain our professional examination "Maintenance Specialist" at the existing high level with around 200 graduates per year. fmpro's commitment to education also represents an important contribution to the shortage of skilled workers, which will remain a major issue.
Do you see digitalisation generating new job opportunities and completely new job profiles - also for women?
Bürgler: Maintenance today and in the future will be very much in the direction of problem solving and analytics. Networked thinking is required here. We have long since moved on from the era of the maintenance worker who, symbolically, almost bathed in oil. There is no reason why women should not take this career path. Maintenance is an extremely broad and exciting field.
What is the association particularly looking forward to at maintenance Switzerland in November 2021?
Artho: Since we are at this trade fair primarily for the networking aspect and because some of our members also exhibit at this trade fair, it is simply an important meeting place. You can exchange information on the topic of maintenance from A to Z. It is also interesting for us to get to know maintenance people who don't know us yet and to convince them about us. For us, maintenance Switzerland is a very good platform, especially because it is very specialized. It is a streamlined format for all participants, for exhibitors and for visitors. It's not like Swissbau, where thousands of visitors come but there's little connection with maintenance. That is what makes this trade fair so valuable for us and our industry. The relevant offers or topics are there. But the people who come are also relevant and we therefore have a very efficient platform.
What is special about maintenance Switzerland and live trade fairs in general for both of you?
Bürgler: For me, the meeting point aspect or networking is also very central at the trade fair maintenance Switzerland. It's not just a place to meet up with old partners, but also to make new contacts and find out about new technologies. This exchange in particular is crucial for me. During the pandemic, we all missed the personal exchange. This trade fair is therefore an ideal opportunity for a "conversation at the coffee machine". You can also philosophize a bit about the future of the industry, think about solutions and simply discuss among colleagues what works and what does not.
Artho: I would like to emphasize the general benefit of the trade fair with a high contact density in a very short time. You meet people spontaneously, but you can also make an appointment with customers or partners. That easily leads to 20 conversations in one day and there simply aren't many platforms for doing business with this intensity. Especially if you prepare a bit for the event. Then the trade fair is a success for everyone involved!
Interview by Inoveris on behalf of Easyfairs Switzerland GmbH
Parallel to maintenance Switzerland, for the first time the Aqua Suisse (17 and 18 November 2021) in Zurich. 85 suppliers will be showing the latest technical developments in the supply of water and gas and all the associated components, technologies and product innovations. Also taking place as a parallel event is the Pumps & Valves Zurich, the trade fair for industrial pumps, valves and processes. Interested parties can register for the industry event 2021 with the Visitor code "2501" log in to get a free ticket, which entitles Aqua Suisse, maintenance Schweiz and Pumps & Valves to join the company.
ISO 45003: Managing mental stress in the company
ISO 45003, the first international standard on the management of mental stress, was published in 2021. It supports the requirements of ISO 45001, which describes the requirements for an occupational health and safety management system and provides guidance on implementation.
Editorial office - 22 October 2021
Headaches at the workplace. Photo: TÜV Rheinland
"ISO 45003 underlines the importance of mental stress in occupational health and safety today. Consequences such as reduced performance and increased employee fluctuation as well as long periods of incapacity to work cause high costs in companies. It is therefore important to identify mental stress within the framework of a risk assessment and to reduce it by means of suitable measures. For this purpose the ISO 45003 a comprehensive guideline that we take into account in all our services," explains Iris Dohmen, a psychologist at TÜV Rheinland who advises companies and organizations in various industries on issues of business psychology.
Shared responsibility of all hierarchical levels
All hierarchical levels in the company must work together in the management of mental stress: Top management sends an important signal to all employees through its clearly communicated commitment to occupational health and safety. It also provides the framework for analyses, measures and evaluations and creates the conditions for implementation by providing resources. "ISO 45003 emphasizes the importance of employees in all process steps. They are the experts for their area of work: they know the hazards, the effects of the measures taken and can make further suggestions for improvement," says Dohmen.
Confidentiality and anonymity are the prerequisites for employees to report incidents and risks or to talk about the effects of hazards on health. For this reason, ISO 45003 stipulates that data must be collected and documented in such a way that no conclusions can be drawn about individual employees.
The management of mental stress is a continuous process
Identifying and reducing mental stress is a process that must be continuously monitored by all those involved: It is important to analyse the effects of the measures and to strive again for improvements. It is therefore important to provide comprehensive information about the management of mental stress and to communicate the status of the measures on a regular basis. "Good communication is the key to involving managers and their teams in the development of all processes for managing mental stress," explains Dohmen. This communication is multi-faceted, he adds. It includes, for example, information on how work-related changes that can affect health and well-being, expectations of employees, and opportunities for feedback. By continuously collecting and evaluating information on mental stress, a continuous process is created. This continuous improvement process not only reduces mental stress, but also improves the company's performance and productivity.
Criminal hackers have allegedly succeeded in stealing a list containing the names of up to 130,000 companies that applied for Covid 19 credit via the EasyGov platform in 2020. According to current knowledge, no other data apart from the company names was stolen, as Seco emphasises. As the operator of Easy-Gov, immediate measures were taken and an investigation initiated.
About the web platform www.easygov.swiss in August 2021, criminal hackers used an automated query to steal a list with the names of up to 130,000 companies, according to Seco. These companies had applied for a Covid 19 loan in 2020, at the height of the pandemic-related economic crisis.
Not affected are those companies that have already repaid the loan in full, as well as all confidential company data such as bank details, IBAN number, contact persons, etc., Seco stresses. The loan amount as part of the attacked data collection was not tapped by the hackers, according to the information. The data of the companies registered on EasyGov was also not affected.
According to an analysis of the access logs, an attack with up to 544,000 accesses per day was detected between 10 and 22 August 2021. A total of 1.3 million queries were made in August. An automated query was carried out on the basis of the UID numbers and a list of companies that have applied for a Covid 19 loan and have not yet repaid it could be created with a high degree of probability, according to the media release.
"Only" public area affected
The attacked web interface was closed within a few minutes. The data viewed was removed from the server and the process used on EasyGov was completely deactivated. According to Seco, the affected correction process for Covid 19 credit applications was available to companies in the public area of EasyGov without a login. In the protected area (i.e. with login), such an automated query was excluded.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is supporting and advising Seco in this case. The investigations are being pursued at full speed. Seco is not aware of any other security leaks, the office said.
EasyGov is the online counter for companies. Thanks to this platform, official procedures can be handled easily, quickly and efficiently. The platform enables companies to handle approval, application and registration procedures electronically in a single place. EasyGov relieves the burden on companies and saves costs for the authorities. The online counter had been spared cyberattacks since its launch at the end of 2017 until this incident. The cyber attack that took place is being comprehensively investigated and all necessary measures are being taken to ensure that the platform is also secure in the future in the public area (without login), it concludes.
Source: Seco
Medical devices are now covered by the Recycling Ordinance
The recycling of electronic devices is being extended. For example, from the beginning of January 2022, medical devices will also fall under the Ordinance on the Return, Take-Back and Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (VREG).
Thanks to the separate collection and recycling of end-of-life appliances, valuable materials such as gold, copper, aluminium, iron or recyclable plastic components can be recovered using the appropriate recycling technologies. The Federal Council writes that the revision of the ordinance will help to strengthen the recycling of old equipment and thus close the resource cycle. With the revised VREG, rare technology metals such as neodymium or tantalum are now to be recovered if the necessary processes exist, it says.
What new things are included in recycling?
The scope of the Ordinance on the VREG is to be extended to all electrical and electronic equipment from 1 January 2022. According to information, this includes in particular medical devices, monitoring and control instruments, dispensing machines and photovoltaic modules, which will in future fall under the VREG. The Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) will publish a list of the devices concerned, according to the Federal Council's statement. The fact that the requirements of the VREG now also apply to equipment from vehicles, buildings and objects that can be dismantled at a reasonable cost also increases the potential for recovering recyclable components.
The revised package of regulations states that a concrete division into equipment categories will now be dispensed with in the VREG. This is justified by the fact that, in the context of the disposal process, equipment is not grouped according to categories, but according to components and the substances they contain in various treatment streams. Treatment streams are designed to concentrate target materials - which can be recyclables or pollutants - in as pure a form as possible. In this way, they can be better recycled (material or energy) or disposed of, as the Federal Office for the Environment emphasises.
Funding solution deferred
It is also stated that due to the ongoing discussions on parliamentary initiative 20.433 "Strengthening the Swiss circular economy", aspects relating to the future financing solution for the collection and disposal of electrical and electronic equipment within the framework of the VREG have been postponed. As soon as the work of parliament has been completed, the Uvek will analyse whether the VREG should be revised again with a view to the future financing system, as it concludes.
