Berlin, 19 October 2022 – Private and public companies are more than ever called upon to assume social responsibility beyond their core business and corporate purpose. This is demanded by the AOK Bundesverband, Germany’s association of public health insurers, in its new Absenteeism Report 2022. Investing in health-oriented leadership with workplace health promotion offerings and ensuring a healthy working environment are important impulses in this regard. In addition to maintaining the work-life balance, they are an important building block for corporate success, reputation and collegial esteem.
Allergies significantly lower productivity
Allergies are the most common chronic disease worldwide. The economic damage is considerable: Hay fever alone causes absenteeism of one million working days every year. Every tenth sick leave in Germany can be attributed to an allergy. In Germany alone, 30,000 young people discontinue their education due to allergies.
“The avoidable costs of reduced productivity due to untreated allergies are estimated at around 100 billion euros across Europe,” explains Professor Torsten Zuberbier, Chairman of the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation – ECARF, Berlin.“ Around 30 percent of all people suffer from allergies, millions of them in Germany alone. Researchers even assume that the number of unreported cases is higher, since not every allergy sufferer consults a doctor and is therefore not statistically recorded,” Zuberbier continues.
People spend over 90 percent of their time indoors
Indoor spaces deserve special attention in this regard, as they are 30 times more polluted than outdoor air. Besides the home, this also applies to the workplace in particular. Positioning a company with certified allergy-friendly offices is an important step – towards health-oriented corporate responsibility.
An investment in the future: Allergy-friendly workplaces
People usually spend several hours a day at their workplace. “A company that is committed to allergy prevention prevents not only absenteeism, but also high staff turnover and reduced productivity. It thus invests directly in its own future,” explains Angela Balatoni, Managing Director of the Allergy Friendly Buildings Alliance GmbH (AFBA).
About Allergy Friendly Buildings Alliance
The Allergy Friendly Buildings Alliance GmbH (AFBA) was founded in 2020 in cooperation with the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation – ECARF. AFBA GmbH has set itself the goal of promoting the general allergy-friendliness of residential, industrial and commercial buildings and thus improving the lives of allergy sufferers, increasing well-being, but also productivity in these buildings. In close collaboration with ECARF, AFBA advises building developers and companies and awards a seal of allergy-friendly building together with ECARF.