Health
We agree with the Robert Koch Institute that the coronavirus is a health risk for everyone. This also applies to healthy people with an intact immune system, for whom the disease usually has no greater consequences than a typical flu. Each and every one of us can, however, without knowing it, transmit the virus to family members, friends and acquaintances, among whom there are also people with an affected immune system. These people can become seriously ill and possibly die from infection with the corona virus.
It is therefore our and your responsibility to prevent the spread of the virus as far as we can. Following this responsibility, the management has decided to cancel the international meetings in the near future at short notice and thus to prevent a new wave of infection in many countries of the participants starting from Testo.
Please also fulfil your responsibility by observing the hygiene measures listed below. Also make sure that your manager has your private contact details and (if possible) take your laptop home in the evening.
What we expect from you:
To avoid infection, the following activities are prohibited until further notice:
- Business trips to countries that the German Foreign Office or the Robert Koch Institute advises against visiting.
- Receiving guests from these countries.
International risk areas
- Since 10 April 2020, the Robert Koch Institute has no longer identified any international risk areas or particularly affected areas in Germany. COVID-19 has now spread worldwide. This means that all international business trips are currently prohibited. Exceptions and urgent cases (e.g. customer visits by employees from the service department) must be agreed on by the manager.
We advise against the following activities until further notice (should only be considered if important reasons make this trip necessary):
- Attending major events, especially with international guests.
- Air travel - especially from intercontinental hubs and in countries with significant risk of infection.
- Shuttle service between Titisee and Lenzkirch - make appointments through teams or similar if possible.
The following activities can be continued with due caution:
- Customer visits
- Visits of LVGs with your own vehicle and only if no illness is known in the national company
What you will find here:
Here you will find all recommendations and information about your private activities.
Why this is important for Testo and yourself:
Testo tries to protect all employees and therefore also their relatives at the workplace in the best possible way. The company therefore appeals to your responsibility in your private life towards yourself, your private environment and your colleagues. You all contribute to Testo remaining a safe workplace through your behavior in your private environment.
Further information:
On this page Testo provides you with all the information where you are exposed to increased risk in your private environment and the recommendation on how to deal with these situations in order not to carry an infection in your private environment into the company and thus risk closure of the company.
What we expect from you:
Carpooling regulation
In the next few days, public transport will probably be severely affected.
Apart from the higher risk of infection in public transport, this restriction will lead many employees to look for other transport options.
- Among them also carpools.
However, carpooling is not useful if the minimum distance of 1.5 meters is not reached during the journey.
But who has such a big car?!
We have therefore made the following arrangement at Testo:
- The recommendations for car-pooling remain the same: if possible, only drive with one other colleague, keep the greatest possible distance (one in the back seat on the rear right) and wear masks.
- The shuttle between TNE and LEN can be used again. The same rules apply here as in public transport (wearing masks).
- Commuting between the locations remains temporarily forbidden.
Leisure activities outside the company
- Please behave responsibly towards your personal environment and Testo. Adhere to the Hygiene & Conduct Guidelines and avoid large private events even after work.
- Also pay attention to the Hygiene & Conduct Guidelines for essential activities (birthdays, weddings, births, eating out) to prevent infection.
Private travel to a risk area
- We strongly recommend cancelling trips to areas for which a travel warning has been issued by the Federal Foreign Office or the Robert Koch Institute.
- If you still want to make such a trip, inform HR so that Testo, as an employer, can decide how to deal with the increased risk of contagion to colleagues.
Other travel
- We recommend that you do not travel by plane, as the risk of infection is very high. There is also a greater risk of infection on a cruise trip.
- Consult a travel agency and, if necessary, a doctor before travelling.
(especially if you have previous illnesses) - In general, stricter entry controls into a country can be expected.
- Try to reach your destination with your own car if possible.
- You don't want to take the trip?
In case of cancellation, please contact your tour operator to find out whether you will get your money back and also whether your cancellation insurance (if you have taken it out) covers a Corona case. - In general, you should inform yourself thoroughly before a journey.
- You can find further information here:
www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ReiseUndSicherheit/
CCC:
Eckhard, the way Testorians work is currently changing due to Corona. Many are, at least partially, working from home.
Have you already gained experience with such work models as the Board Member for Digital Affairs?
E. Kloth:
What many Testo employees and many other companies are experiencing right now, is a standard that has been established for some time, especially in the software development scene.
Many companies let their software developers work from home several days a week. For that reason, I have already gained a lot of experience.
CCC:
Are the software developers exclusively working from home?
E. Kloth:
Usually they come to the office for 1-2 days a week in order to make certain meetings and plans, which work better in person than virtually.
CCC:
How does that look like during the everyday routine?
EK:
The developers meet once a day digitally for a daily stand-up and discuss the progress of each individual sprint, exchange information and discuss impediments, i.e. difficulties that may jeopardize the success of the sprint. Afterwards they work again from home, or alternatively in the office.
Of course, there are also frequent short meetings between colleagues, which then held take place virtually.
CCC:At workplace, it is often a dear colleague who keep you away from work sometimes - but the opportunities for distraction at home are even more tempting. From laundry, to childcare, to social media.
How do those responsible for software development ensure that the autonomy in the home office is also used productively in the interests of the company?
EK:
This is already well solved in the agile world of software development. Every week, the members of a SCRUM team discuss the tasks of the upcoming sprint and distribute the tasks between the team members. For example, so-called Story Points are used to measure how extensive the software development task is.
The team is then committed to implement the tasks planned for the sprint. After a sprint is completed, the team checks whether the sprint goal has been achieved or not. Of course, the team can only achieve this if every member of the team is doing a good job. Since the team measures its output (e.g. Story Points, or number of "slices") for each sprint, the team can also compare whether productivity decreases or improves over time.
CCC:
Would it be possible to transfer this system to other areas?
EK:
That would be possible. At Testo we use this system not only for our software developers in Berlin and Titisee, but also for eSolution. It is necessary, to adapt the work content slightly. But performance tracking is possible in every area.
Agile work only works because of the target performance measurement. The opportunity regarding workplace, self-organization and working hours can only be offered because the employees also commit themselves to achieve agreed results. Agile employees also know that the achievement of targets is measured very transparently.
CCC:
Does that mean, the willingness to agree and achieve personal weekly targets is the prerequisite for e.g. home office and choosing the best way to achieve these targets?
EK:
Yes, it is.
CCC:
Within the agile workplace, are there any experiences of exclusively working from home for many weeks?
EK:
There are studies about this. In general, this is problematic for many.
Isolation and alienation arise when employees communicate with colleagues only virtually.
Sometimes employees run the risk of falling out of the normal daily rhythm.
Breaks are ignored, mealtimes are postponed.
This can lead to a situation where core hours for team availability are no longer given and morning stand-ups do no longer take place.
In that case, it is important that those people, if they really cannot come to see their colleagues in person on a regular basis, give themselves strict routines and try to keep working hours, work clothes and place of work clearly separated. The best way is a mixture of home office and personal cooperation with colleagues in the office.
What you will find here:
Here you will find rules for personal hygiene procedures.
Why this is important for Testo and yourself:
By following all hygiene guidelines, you protect yourself and others from infection.
Further information:
How does the virus spread?
- The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spreads from person to person.
- The main transmission route is via droplets, for example by sneezing or coughing onto another person’s face.
- The transmission can thus take place directly from person to person via the mucous membranes or indirectly via hands, which then come into contact with the mouth or nose mucous membranes or the conjunctiva of the eyes.
- Cases have also been reported in which people who have been infected with the virus have shown only mild or unspecific signs of the disease.
What we expect from you:
- If a distance of 1.5m cannot be kept, it is recommended to wear a mask to protect colleagues.
- It is recommended that you bring your own mask.
- In those areas where masks are already required (e.g. in the operative areas), the obligation to wear a mask still applies if the minimum distance cannot be kept.
- If employees from outside the department (facility management, IT, ...) have to enter other areas, they also have to wear masks.
- Regular hand washing is still the best prevention. Wash your hands with warm or cold water and soap for about 20-30 seconds and then dry them with a clean disposable towel.
- Avoid touching your face and especially the mucous membranes around your mouth, nose and eyes.
- Please observe a cough and sneeze-etiquette: Please cough and sneeze always away from your fellow human beings and into the bend of your elbow, not into your hand.
- If possible, please use handkerchiefs to sneeze into them. Please dispose of them after a single use in a trash can with a lid.
- For the time being, avoid shaking hands to greet and say goodbye.
- According to the Robert Koch Institute, disinfectants are only of limited use. Those who still want to use them will find disinfectant dispensers on every toilet in all Testo buildings, at all entrances and in the company restaurants.
- Please avoid contact with surfaces that are touched by many people (elevator buttons, door handles, etc.) Elevator buttons can be pressed with a pen or your elbow, door handles can also be operated with your elbow.
- Use your own laptop in meeting rooms. In meeting rooms, disinfect shared items (remote control, mouse, keyboard, dongle) if necessary. Disinfectants can be borrowed from reception.
What you will find here:
On the following pages you will find all the important information on how to deal with guests and visitors at Testo locations.
Why this is important for Testo and you:
Guests and visitors are a great source of danger for the entire staff and various precautions must be taken.
Further information:
- Until further notice, no visitors may be received at the locations.
Further information:
Covid-19 disease is initially difficult to differentiate from flu. It is therefore impossible for a non-professional to tell whether he is suffering from a cold/flu or the coronavirus. It is therefore particularly important that you can judge suspected cases as clearly as possible.
If you have been in direct contact with an infected person:
- You should immediately distance yourself from this person.
- Inform your manager immediately.
- Call your family doctor's office and visit them if possible.
- From now on there is a central corona ambulance in Titisee-Neustadt.
From Thursday onwards, suspected cases of corona will be examined and treated here.
Never enter the Corona Outpatient Clinic directly and without prior notification.
First contact your family doctor or 116 117.
Our company doctor Dr. Schwörer-Krais can also make referrals to this office. (She would call the employee concerned on the phone and make the referral).
However, in Neustadt:
For a pap smear, the employee not only needs to show symptoms (cough, sore throat, fever), but must also either come from a risk area or have had contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient.
If you have a well-founded suspicion, you will receive a code from your GP or 116 117.
Without this code, you will not be treated in the Corona Outpatient Clinic.
It is not possible to make an appointment.
The outpatient clinic is open from Monday to Sunday between 10am and 6pm.
Doctors examine infectious patients, take a pap smear if necessary and decide on home quarantine or hospitalisation depending on the symptoms and clinical picture.
Please note the adjacent driving directions and the parking guidance system on site.
- Go home.
If possible, only use your own car for this purpose. Avoid public transport. In any emergency, order a large taxi and sit in the back of the car.
Otherwise, the Testo decision basis "Suspected case" for managers and the table for differentiating between the diseases Covid-19, cold and flu will help you.
What you will find here:
Here you will find rules for the daily interaction with your colleagues at work.
Why this is important for Testo and yourself:
In order to avoid a closure of the company (in case of an infection of an employee at Testo) all contacts with colleagues from other areas must be traceable and reduced to the bare essentials.
This includes contacts in the daily business, in the coffee kitchen, during lunch break and during sports.
Further information:
Testo has done a lot to protect you in the workplace and minimize the risk of infection. To enable you to maintain the distances in daily business, meetings have been cancelled, the company restaurant has been closed and sufficient chairs have been removed from rooms.
Door handle opener
- To avoid smear infections via door handles, you can now order your personal door opener from Testo. This is manufactured by our colleagues in fixture construction and helps you to operate door handles without contact (opening, closing and even locking of toilet doors).
- Please order your personal door opener at the front desk (VLEmpfang@testo.de) and it will then be sent by internal mail.
- Please state your name and location. The door opener costs 2 € per piece.
At the front desk in Lenzkirch and Titisee there is a cash register, where you can deposit the 2 €.
What we expect from you:
In day-to-day business:
- Book adequately large meeting rooms.
- A large number of participants in meetings with presence should be avoided (especially cross-divisional meetings).
- The overview of the number of participants in the meeting rooms was adjusted in the employee portal.
- External visitors are only allowed in necessary cases.
- The decision and responsibility for this is the responsibility of the respective manager.
- The self declaration form for visitors must be filled out and presented at the reception desk. Wearing a mask is recommended.
Company restaurants:
- Opening TNE from 8 June.
- Having breakfast or lunch in the restaurant is possible again, food "To Go" is also still offered.
- Every second chair will be marked and must be left empty to keep the minimum distances.
- There will be three meal times. Until 11:30 for the operative areas. Building section one can have lunch from 11:30 to 12:15. Building section two can go from 12:15 to 13:00.
- The opening of the LEN staff restaurant will be checked.
In the coffee kitchen:
- Avoid larger groups of people (>3 people) in the coffee kitchen.
If three or more people are there before you, come back at another time. - Keep a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from colleagues from other departments.
- Wash your hands thoroughly immediately after operating the coffee machine and kettle.
In the sports program:
The sports program is a valued offer from the company to employees to keep fit at Testo. The risk of infection is currently too high due to the high number of contacts with external trainers and colleagues from other departments.
- When going for a walk or jogging together during the break, make sure you keep the recommended minimum distance of 1.5 meters.
- The sports program is suspended until further notice to avoid personal contacts across departments.
- The sports program should be resumed as soon as the immediate danger of infection no longer exists.li>
What you'll find here:
- According to the RKI, there have been no further COVID-19 cases in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald since 28.05.2020.
- On this basis, the Executive Board decided to discontinue the shift models.
- We will return to normal operations from 8 June onwards. It is expected that employees will then return to the company.
Exceptions:
- Employees who belong to the risk group due to age or previous illnesses.
- Employees who live in the same household with people who belong to risk groups.
- Parents, to ensure that their children are looked after. This commitment also applies to the Whitsun holidays, during which the children would be at home anyway. However, parents have not had enough time to adapt to the changed situation and organise alternative care for their children during the holiday period.
What we expect from you:
- Please consider with your manager which working model is the most reasonable to achieve your objectives in the team during the upcoming four weeks.
- The freedom to determine the model yourself is combined with the responsibility to set smart weekly goals and to follow them up. These are agreed with the manager in beforehand and documented.
- Employees and managers must ensure that the lent equipment is returned.
- The modification of workstations is not intended.
- No inquiries to the facility management are to be made.
- If you access Testo Services via Citrix from your private computer, we strongly recommend that you use a malware protection program on your private computer.
If you do not yet use a protection program, the following programs offer free Malware protection. Please use one of these programs.
- Sophos Home (https://home.sophos.com/de-de.aspx)
Avira Free Security For Windows (https://www.avira.com/de)