MOTIVATION AND GUIDING PRINCIPLE
TeroLab Surface offers customer solutions of the highest standard. Motivated employees, innovative technologies and sustainable solutions are key factors. For Christopher Wasserman, president of the TeroLab Surface Group, customer satisfaction is on a par with the company’s social and ecological impact. The slogan: “Making the surface a better place” reflects his core strategy. Since the topic is of such importance to the company, TLS would like to take this opportunity to present some of the measures implemented and the efforts it is making with regard to sustainability.
The Wasserman family and their company can look back on more than 100 years of professional experience, and this forms the basis for sustainability in terms of a long-term strategy for the responsible use of our resources.
But how can sustainability be quantified? At TLS, we focus not only on internal assessments, but also on neutral expert appraisals. The way to achieve a sustainable company is through a combination of internal effort and external evaluation.
The logical outcome of this approach is compliance with ambitious standards such as those governing occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18001), the environmental management system (ISO 14001) and the energy management system (ISO 50001).
Quality management (ISO 9001) has already been common practice at TLS for years.
Christopher Wasserman has combined the TLS guiding principle with certifications that the company is currently striving to achieve and has presented the result as follows:
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
To ensure that occupational health and safety conforms to professional standards, all the company’s sites will work towards implementing OHSAS 18001 certification this year. This certification covers the health and safety of internal and external staff and focuses on preventing work-related accidents. Employees are consequently taking an in-depth and timely look at the topic of “TLS Safety Culture” and are completing safety training courses on an on-going basis.
Other important aspects include medical check-ups for employees by occupational health doctors and instructions on handling hazardous substances by our health and safety experts.
TLS Austria has been selected by the City of Vienna as a partner to work with the city on its Occupational Health Promotion Programme for two years. The objective is to boost individual resources. This will have long-term benefits for the health and motivation of employees by providing them with good working conditions and a high quality of life in the workplace.
AN OUTSTANDING WORKPLACE CULTURE
The success of a company is based on the commitment and inventiveness of its employees. Christopher Wasserman wished to obtain detailed feedback from his staff and so called on the services of employment culture experts Great Place To Work®. GPTW is a leading global research and consultancy firm that aims to develop an excellent workplace culture in companies of all sizes, in all sectors. The basis for this work is a detailed, anonymous employee survey. Based on an evaluation of the results, workshops are organised to look at ways in which individual departments within the company can be improved. This project work is well under way at all company sites.
WE ALSO WANT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO SOCIETY
Another outlet for social awareness at TLS takes the form of various sponsorship activities in which all our employees are involved in Germany. Employees can borrow the company’s delivery vans at weekends in return for a small donation. This has helped raise almost 300 euros to date. The CEO in Germany, Wolfram Unterberg, topped it up to 500 euros and donated it to the Langenfeld branch of the German Society for the Protection of Children.
In Austria, CEO Franz Kremsner attaches great importance to ordering Christmas cards from the SOS Children’s Villages organisation. Moreover, during the Christmas period, the company is involved in grouping, collecting and delivering parcels directly to a Catholic children’s home. TLS focuses on social responsibility, the next generation and neighbourliness. Read all about our environmental and energy management activities in our next edition!