Our top priority is ensuring that our employees return home just as healthy as when they left for work. We are doing a great deal to achieve this and have been continuously developing workplace health promotion and safety for many years. Two key factors play a decisive role in this: We are constantly working to reduce the accident rate and increase the health rate. This requires many small and large, well-coordinated measures—from group-wide safety standards to periodic 15-minute safety sessions, education, awareness-raising, and short presentations on health topics (Health in Focus), all the way to optimal patient care.
Health & safety is firmly anchored in our organizational structure. “Corporate Health & Safety” is led by the Chief Health & Safety Officer, reports directly to the Executive Board of voestalpine AG, and promotes group-wide collaboration on safety and health. Together with a Health & Safety Committee, consisting of employees from the four divisions and the Works Council, “Corporate Health & Safety” works intensively to reduce the accident rate. This has been reduced by 60% since 2016.
The LTIFR measures accident frequency as the number of reportable workplace accidents resulting in more than three lost days per million hours worked. The LTIFR has already been significantly reduced in recent years—thanks to preventive measures and awareness campaigns! The implementation of cross-divisional collaboration helps us foster an active health & safety culture where colleagues look out for themselves and others in their daily work. The health rate of 95.4% (FY 2024/25) confirms that our occupational health policy is working well. At many production sites, our health & safety activities are embedded in an established and actively practiced occupational health and safety management system (ISO 45001).
Our employees benefit from low-threshold on-site services, e.g. for vaccinations or check-ups.
Prevention, health promotion and patient care: Sustainable success is only possible with healthy employees in a safe working environment.
The Steel Division has once again been awarded the seal of approval from the Austrian Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ÖNBGF) for the period 2025 to 2027. A central component of the workplace health promotion initiatives is fostering a supportive work environment ( ) and respectful interactions among employees, as well as promoting mental health through educational measures. These are intended to help break down taboos surrounding the topic. The Steel Division offers employees access to prompt and confidential clinical-psychological counseling, as well as training sessions and workshops on topics such as stress management and mindfulness.
Many companies in the Metal Engineering Division with locations in Austria have also been awarded this seal of approval. This confirms the professionalism of our health promotion programs and other initiatives that contribute to the well-being and safety of our employees, such as the Steel Division’s “WIR” program, which promotes respectful and appreciative interactions among colleagues.
To achieve all of this and ensure it for the future, concrete action is needed. To stay in the realm of medicine: The cardiovascular system is the interplay between workplace health promotion and occupational safety.
At our two larger locations in Austria, we operate our own occupational health centers. In addition to occupational medicine, the Linz Occupational Health Center also houses a medical facility functioning as an independent outpatient clinic for general medicine, with a focus on musculoskeletal disorders. Here, for example, acute illnesses or injuries can be treated and patients can be quickly referred to our in-house physical therapy department. In addition, vaccination campaigns and clinical-psychological counseling are offered, and the occupational health centers provide the legally required occupational health care.
Our employees benefit from colorectal and skin cancer screening programs, and—since the occupational health department also serves as a travel and tropical medicine clinic—they also receive advice on health protection and vaccinations when traveling to distant countries, such as on business trips or vacations. Physical therapy treatments and massages promote physical fitness, and the “Strong Back” program—an online course led twice a week by a certified physical therapist—reached a total of 2,503 active colleagues in Linz across 66 sessions in 2025.
The scope of services offered by the Occupational Health Center of the Metal Engineering Division in Donawitz ranges from actively supporting the entire corporate health system and promoting health in the workplace to ensuring compliance with the Austrian Occupational Safety and Health Act ( ). This includes supporting employees in matters related to maintaining and promoting health in the workplace, planning workplaces, work equipment, work procedures, and work materials, as well as providing assistance with occupational physiological, occupational psychological, and ergonomic issues. A central focus of the center’s activities is the so-called §49 examinations, which are mandated by law prior to commencing work and at regular intervals thereafter. Also important are the organization of first aid, measures for reintegration into the work process, and the identification and assessment of hazards.
For about three years, the facility in Donawitz has served as an outpatient clinic for occupation-specific diagnostics. Across 750 m², medical services are available there that allow for rapid assessment of findings, e.g., X-rays, ECGs, laboratory diagnostics, ultrasounds, and much more. Free vaccinations in Austria, such as the flu shot or, for those aged 60 and older, vaccinations against shingles and pneumococcal disease, are also offered as part of health promotion at the Donawitz location. The comprehensive range of occupational health services in Donawitz is also utilized by other Styrian companies for their workforces. At smaller locations, we collaborate with selected external partners. Or, as at the Hamm site (Germany), where since 2020 a physical therapist—who also serves as a company paramedic in emergencies—not only treats his colleagues’ physical ailments but is also available as a health expert for all health-related questions. He also works closely with a medical assistant, who is on site once a week, and the company physician.
Occupational safety is a central component of our corporate culture. Our 2026 Health & Safety Calendar guides us through the year, addresses relevant topics each month, and fosters dialogue. Insights from Safety Flashes complement this dialogue by compiling serious incidents across sites and highlighting opportunities for learning.
In the Metal Forming Division, recent events demonstrate how important it is to identify risks early and consistently avoid hazards. The “Red Lines” set clear boundaries for activities with potentially life-threatening consequences and are communicated through a multilingual e-learning program. Additionally, #safetystartswithme stands for active personal responsibility, conscious intervention, and the belief that safety begins with each individual.
Uddeholm, as one of the High Performance Metals sites, is also consistently pursuing the goal of “Zero Accidents.” More than 6,000 risk assessments, regular safety rounds, and a robust reporting system support early risk detection. Training, open communication, and the continuous development of the safety culture are essential components of this effort.
In 2026, the Metal Engineering Division is focusing on “Decide now, prevent accidents”: identifying near-misses, responding correctly, and stopping risks before serious accidents occur.
In Linz, occupational safety and health have also been given new, effective spaces. The “sichersund” center was established in 2023. There, not only are safety training sessions held for our employees, but safety-related behaviors are also practiced at various stations. Hazards can be experienced “live,” so to speak, in a safe learning environment. The training stations cover a wide range of topics, from workplace ergonomics to occupational medicine and psychology, electrical and physical hazards, the proper handling of hazardous substances, and correct load and rope securing. And at a virtual reality station, employees practice the correct behavior when working on crane tracks. How to handle personal protective equipment is also explained there and, above all, tried out . Because learning by doing is simply the most effective way to retain knowledge. The “Sicher-Gesund” Center is a permanent facility designed to leave a lasting impression on training participants.
The Occupational Medicine Clinic in Linz is open 365 days a year to address employees’ health issues. Certified healthcare and nursing staff are on site around the clock to provide rapid assistance and arrange further care if necessary. General practitioners care for patients during core working hours and have access to modern diagnostic tools and numerous treatment options (especially physical therapies).
Health and safety are our top priorities. Through many large and small measures and programs, we are a benchmark and thus also a role model for other companies in occupational safety and workplace health promotion.
The modernized Linz plant outpatient clinic
This enables state-of-the-art medical care for our employees at the site.
The presentations, grouped under the umbrella term “Focus on Health,” offer the opportunity to engage directly with a subject matter expert. The presentation portfolio is continuously expanding, and some sessions take place on-site in the production halls, ensuring low-barrier access to health topics.
Die voestalpine ist ein weltweit führender Stahl- und Technologiekonzern mit kombinierter Werkstoff- und Verarbeitungskompetenz. Die global tätige Unternehmensgruppe verfügt über rund 500 Konzerngesellschaften und -standorte in mehr als 50 Ländern auf allen fünf Kontinenten. Sie notiert seit 1995 an der Wiener Börse. Mit ihren Premium-Produkt- und Systemlösungen zählt sie zu den führenden Partnern der Automobil- und Hausgeräteindustrie sowie der Luftfahrt- und Öl- & Gasindustrie und ist darüber hinaus Weltmarktführer bei Bahninfrastruktursystemen, bei Werkzeugstahl und Spezialprofilen. Die voestalpine bekennt sich zu den globalen Klimazielen und verfolgt mit greentec steel einen klaren Plan zur Dekarbonisierung der Stahlproduktion.