Interview with Dr. Reinhard Salinger

”Management should respond with awareness and compassion”

Dr. Reinhard Salinger directs the workplace medical service at ECKART in Güntersthal. He is a specialist in treating dependence and preventing addiction.

Dr. Salinger, does ECKART have a special workplace addiction counseling service?

ECKART is fully cognizant of its responsibility both within the workplace and to the larger society with regard to addiction. It was awareness of this responsibility to our employees that led to a special training course for more than 200 managers. They are trained to respond with awareness and compassion toward employees who are susceptible to addiction, to offer them the help they need, and, when necessary, to involve their workplace addiction / dependency representative in the discussion.

How many such representatives does ECKART employ?

ECKART has seven of these volunteers, supported by the works physician. These volunteers and the occupational health service are there for both management and the employees involved. They alert employees with human resources responsibilities when problems become obvious at the workplace, and they offer anonymous counseling that is strictly confidential. They cooperate with facilities that provide psychological and social treatment for addiction and dependency, taking care that intervention guidelines are applied when problems become apparent. Finally, they provide follow-up support and workplace reintegration assistance.

And how are these representatives trained?

The volunteers regularly attend external training every two years. The works physician receives regular advanced training at seminars organized by the Bavarian Medical Association in Munich. He also updates the volunteers in three month intervals. And since last year, we have also been sharing information about these issues with the City of Nuremburg.