Since October 2020, doctors have been able to prescribe apps on prescription. Germany is the first country in the world where the costs for this are covered by statutory health insurance (SHI). By the end of December 2021, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) had received 19,025 prescriptions for health apps (Diga). The most common prescriptions were for apps for back pain (3,947), tinnitus (3,450) and migraine (2,524). Women in particular (66.5 percent) use the apps.

The average price of the Diga was 329 euros in October 2020. In the meantime, four app manufacturers have increased prices again in the first year. In March 2022, the average price was already 456 euros. "We see that the apps in the SHI reimbursement suddenly cost significantly more than before," emphasizes TK CEO Jens Baas.

Few doctors on board

The report shows that the apps have not yet arrived in doctors' offices. Only four percent of all doctors have issued prescriptions for Diga so far - in absolute figures, that's just 7,000 out of 180,000 doctors). It is striking that in Berlin - where most DiGA manufacturers are also located - the prescription rate is highest (2,136 prescriptions, which corresponds to 2.3 prescriptions per 1,000 insured persons).

Source: Press text.com 

As the SES association (Swiss Achievers of Security Systems) reports in its latest industry statistics, the security industry managed to grow by 3.3 percent compared to the Covid 19 impact. This is remarkable, the Swiss association writes in a statement. Overall, the Swiss security industry was able to increase by another 26 million francs compared to 2021 and is now scraping the 800 million franc curve. This upward trend is particularly pleasing after the Covid 19-influenced, it adds.

EMA was not quite able to stop the downward trend that had been continuing since 2016. It is therefore all the more pleasing that the Access Control division was able to increase by a whopping 11.5 percent compared to the previous year. The Fire section (BMA, NLA, TLA, GWA, SAA) also posted strong growth of 2.4 percent, according to the statement, with a sustained upward trend since 2017.

BMA, the largest contributor from the Fire Section, even posted an increase of over 12 million Swiss francs compared to the previous year. With a plus of 24 percent, the TLA also has a good annual result. In contrast, the NLA closed below the previous year for the first time since 2018. TAK GWA also posted a solid result of 8.1 percent. SAA also achieved a respectable 11.5 percent.

–SES Statistics 2021 Section Fire
–SES Statistics 2021 Security Section
–SES statistics 2021 Total

Source: SES Association

The personal protective equipment (PPE) required at a workplace or for an activity must not only be available. It must also be ready for use and reasonable, i.e. functional and in a well-maintained and hygienically acceptable condition. But with most PPE components, care and cleaning is less trivial than with private clothing, and mending or repairing them also requires specialist knowledge. Mistakes whose consequences are "only" annoying with private clothing, such as a sweater that has shrunk due to being washed too hot, can be life-threatening with incorrectly treated protective equipment.

When incorrect cleaning destroys a protective function

The demands on the cleanliness of work and protective clothing naturally differ depending on the industry. In agriculture or construction, the requirements are different from those in the office or laboratory. But in any professional environment, clean protective clothing increases wearer acceptance and well-being. PPE worn on the body in particular should meet minimum hygiene requirements. However, the fact that PPE has to be cleaned of dirt and sweat is not only due to hygienic reasons. Cleanliness is often closely linked to safety or health aspects. For example, contamination with oils or greases increases the flammability of textile fabrics, and soiled high-visibility clothing can only provide limited reflection.

Protective clothing well-intentioned, but carelessly putting it in a washing machine is usually not a good idea, because:

• Due to an incorrectly selected detergent or washing process, flame-retardant impregnations can be lost, reflective stripes can become detached or the retroreflection and fluorescence can diminish.
• Adhering soiling caused by hazardous substances must be removed effectively and must not be distributed to other textiles.
• PPE contaminated with infectious bio-substances requires special disinfecting washing procedures.
• Detergent residues can change the electrostatic properties of PPE, also dissipative fibers could be washed out.
• Cut protection layers in PPE for working with chainsaws can slip.

The specifications of the PSA manufacturer are decisive

When purchasing protective equipment, the purchaser receives written instructions. In these instructions for use, the manufacturer informs the PPE user about everything he or she needs to know about storage, cleaning, care, and so on. These include information on storage - usually dry, frost-free and protected from the sun - as well as specific instructions on cleaning and care depending on the protective function. For example, protective clothing for work areas with a risk of infection may specify which agents are permitted in disinfecting washing processes. In the case of high-visibility clothing, it is crucial that color fastness, retroreflection and fluorescence are still given; here, the manufacturer specifies a maximum number of care cycles. For all PPE components, only proper care, reprocessing and storage of PPE in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications will ensure the protective function.

Any mending and repair work may also only be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. For example, in the case of welding protective clothing and PPE against fire and flames, the sewing thread or bobbin thread must also be made of a flame-retardant material. Such PPE must not be repaired by the sewing shop on the corner or by a family member who is a sewing enthusiast.

Careful control protects health and can save lives

Maintenance and control of protective equipment? This may sound exaggerated when you think of earplugs or disposable gloves. But PPE also includes means of rope protection and fall protection or equipment for height rescue, where the need for careful inspection and maintenance procedures needs no discussion. Even in the case of full-body chemical suits or heavy breathing protection with compressed air, it is obvious that inspection, care and, if necessary, professional repair are highly relevant to safety. Basically, protective equipment should be critically checked at the latest after a cleaning procedure, e.g.:

• Are there signs of aging, wear and tear such as cracks, holes, scuffed areas or cracked seams on heavily loaded components?
• Are all zippers, buttons, loops, pockets, etc. still intact and functional?
• In chemical protective clothing, are the fabrics and especially the seams still tight and provide protection against the penetration of liquids?
• In the case of electricians' protective equipment, are the electrically conductive parts such as zippers or buttons still safely covered?
• Is re-processing of protective properties necessary, e.g. re-impregnation with flame retardant substances?

It should not be forgotten that non-textile materials are also subject to aging processes. Metals corrode and plastics will soften or become brittle and stiff over time, depending on the material and environmental influences. For many PPE components, the manufacturer therefore specifies a permissible service life.

Obligations for employers - but also for employees

The above examples make it clear that cleaning, care, inspection and, if necessary, repair of PPE must be organized within a company. Who takes over which of these tasks for which PPE - in-house or via external service providers - should be clearly regulated. Where this is not done, employees could be tempted to take dirty or damaged protective equipment home with them, possibly spreading hazardous substances to their families and private surroundings.

The following principles must be observed in the in-house regulations for the maintenance of PPE:

• The company must take organizational steps to ensure that PPE is in perfect condition throughout its service life.
• Not only the PPE itself, but also the cleaning, care, inspection, repair, etc. is free of charge for the employee. The employer may not pass on these costs to the PPE users.
• The employer should instruct its employees on the care, cleaning, storage, etc. of PPE and provide the necessary resources and facilities.
• Whether cleaning or inspecting, any effort to maintain PPE is part of paid work time and is not a task for break times or weekends.
• Whenever cleaning, inspection and maintenance of a PPE component require special knowledge, the employer must appoint a suitable person or delegate the care, reprocessing, repair etc. to an external service provider. This could be, for example, a rental service that, in addition to washing and maintaining the PPE, also checks, repairs and maintains it.
• Protective equipment
• ed or exchanged.

Employees must follow the manufacturer's instructions on limits of use, wear or storage, etc. when using their protective equipment. For example, hard hats should not be stored unnecessarily in the blazing sun. Damaged PPE that is no longer intended for use should be disposed of consistently and should not be left lying around or even taken home by employees for private use. After all, anyone who relies on a supposed protective function is taking higher risks, and with PPE, compromises and carelessness can have fatal consequences.

The gap between an organization's expectations for a data protection strategy and the IT department's ability to meet them has never been greater. This is according to the Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2022. This report, which surveyed more than 3,000 IT decision makers worldwide, finds that 89 percent of organizations are not adequately protecting their data. In addition, 88 percent of IT executives would expect budgets for data protection to increase more than IT spending in general. Data is simply becoming more and more important to business success, and the challenges of protecting that data are becoming more and more complex. This makes it all the more striking that there is still a kind of data backup emergency in many places.

The data protection gap is widening

Respondents said their data backup capabilities are not keeping up with the demands of the business. The frequency of how often data is backed up has increased by 13 percent over the past 12 months. This, they said, indicates that more strategies are needed to repeatedly protect data and that challenges within organizations have increased.

However, the second year of downtime was also a result of the pandemic, he said. Seventy-six percent of organizations experienced at least one ransomware event in the last 12 months. Depending on the attack, companies were unable to recover 36 percent of the lost data, prompting better data protection strategies.

To close the gap between data protection capabilities and the growing threat landscape, Veam says enterprises will spend about 6 percent more annually on data protection than on general IT investments. Only 67 percent of enterprises are already using cloud services as part of their data protection strategy, he said. However, platform diversity will increase significantly in 2022, with a balance expected to settle between cloud servers and data centers, he said.

Other findings from the Trend Report:

• Companies would have an availability gap: Ninety percent of respondents confirmed that they have an availability gap between their expected service level agreements and the speed with which they can recover their productivity. This figure had increased by 10 percent since 2021.
• Data remains unprotected: Although backups are a fundamental part of any data protection strategy, 18 percent of organizations worldwide do not back up their data - leaving it unprotected.
• Human error occurs far too frequently: Forty-six percent of respondents struggled with configuration errors by administrators, while 49 percent were hampered by users accidentally deleting, overwriting or corrupting data.
• Economic factors continue to be decisive: When asked about the most important factors when purchasing an enterprise data protection solution, 25 percent of IT executives said they wanted to improve the economics of their solution.

Source Veam

As of this Friday, April 1, 2022, the last measures in the Covid 19 Regulation Special Situation are repealed. These include the obligation to isolate infected persons and the obligation to wear masks in public transport and health facilities. This marks a return to the normal situation, and the main responsibility for measures to protect the population now rests with the cantons.

Thanks to the high immunization of the population, there has been no marked increase in the number of Covid 19 patients in intensive care units in recent weeks, according to a statement by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), although the number of infections has risen again in the meantime. Therefore, there is little likelihood of a public health threat in the coming months, he said. However, the further course of the Covid-19 pandemic cannot be reliably estimated. The Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus will most likely not disappear but become endemic, the FOPH writes. It is to be expected that there will also be seasonal waves of disease in the future.

Transition phase until spring 2023

The Confederation and the cantons are therefore now planning a transition phase until spring 2023, during which increased vigilance and responsiveness will remain necessary. Structures must be maintained to the extent that the cantons and the federal government can react quickly to new developments. This applies in particular to testing, vaccination, contact tracing, surveillance and the obligation of hospitals to report.

Back to the normal division of tasks between the federal government and the cantons

With the change to the normal situation, most of the tasks in the management of the Covid 19 pandemic will return to the main responsibility of the cantons, as provided for in the Epidemics Act; in principle, the cantons will continue to be responsible for ordering measures to combat communicable diseases and coordinating them among themselves. The Confederation has drawn up a basic paper on this subject, which sets out the objectives and the distribution of tasks in the transitional phase. It is in consultation with the cantons, the social partners and the parliamentary commissions until April 22, 2022.

SwissCovid app is temporarily deactivated

The Federal Council has also decided to temporarily deactivate the SwissCovid app. With the lifting of the isolation requirement, the conditions for effective continuation of the app no longer exist. However, operation of the SwissCovid app can be resumed quickly if the epidemiological situation so requires. Therefore, the necessary informatics infrastructures will continue to be maintained in the background. The user data located on the federal government's systems will be destroyed.

Adjustments in the Covid 19 Regulation 3

The Federal Council also approved several adjustments to Covid 19 Regulation 3. These include the discontinuation of reimbursement for repetitive testing in camps and the facilitation of access to medicines for certain severely immunosuppressed individuals.

Source: BAG

According to the Federal Office for Civil Protection (Babs), since the outbreak of the pandemic, the cantons recorded a growing need for support in the health sector and began to increase the use of civil defense again in the fall of 2021. Therefore, a third national deployment of civil defense personnel occurred since December 10.

41,000 civil defense personnel in action

The Civil Defense was subsequently used mainly for vaccination campaigns and health care support in the area of basic care and logistics. According to the Babs, however, the principle of solidarity was always applied. However, the Civil Defense only provided support when the institutions concerned could no longer manage their tasks with their own resources and to temporarily bridge personnel bottlenecks.

To cope with the pandemic, the Civil Defense had already been deployed since February 2020. The first deployment primarily supported healthcare and nursing staff in hospitals and nursing homes in tasks such as care, triage and access control, and cleaning and disinfection. Emergency hospitals and corona test centers were set up, and assistance was provided with contact tracing and hotlines for the population, as well as transport and logistical services.

Three bids for a total of 41,000 civil defense personnel

In 2020, around 27,000 members of the Civil Protection were deployed for 365,000 service days to deal with the Corona pandemic. By the end of the second Federal Council mission at the end of October, another 12,000 civil defense personnel had been deployed in 2021, providing 167,000 days of service.

In 2022, a further 2,400 civil defense personnel were deployed with 26,000 days of service. In total, from February 2020 to the end of March 2022, around 560,000 days of service were performed by around 41,000 civil defense personnel.

Source: Federal Office for Civil Protection

No fewer than 30,351 crimes in the digital space were registered in 2021. According to the Police Crime Statistics (PKS), this is 24 percent more crimes with a digital component than in 2020, which would correspond to an average of 83 digital crimes per day, the Federal Statistical Office writes in a statement. Nearly 88 percent of the crimes involved cyber-economic crime.

Cyber fraud had increased the most. It had emerged that two types of fraud were particularly prevalent. Most frequently, crimes were committed with paid goods on classified ad platforms that were not delivered; second most frequently, online payment systems or foreign identities or personal identification data were misused to commit fraud. Please offense types are in the range of over 6600 registered offenses.

85 burglaries per day and more e-bike thefts

The number of burglaries and sneak-ins, on the other hand, has been steadily decreasing since 2012. In 2021, 31,186 burglaries and sneak-ins were committed throughout Switzerland, 5 percent less than in 2020. Burglaries and sneak-ins are still and most frequently committed in apartments and houses. That was a total of around 17,074 crimes last year. On the other hand, theft from and to vehicles has increased. This number had increased by 995 cases. Even jumped the theft of e-bike vehicles at a figure of 47 percent. Conventional bicycles, on the other hand, are being stolen less frequently.

According to the statistics, 42 completed homicides were registered by the police in 2021. However, this is one of the lowest values since the beginning of the survey in 1982.

Source: Federal Statistical Office / PKS

The safe handling of chemicals is a major challenge. Companies have to react flexibly to the demands of the market, and the internal situation is subject to permanent change: recipes and processes are optimized and rooms are repurposed, chemicals are banned, hazardous substances are replaced, and quantities are adjusted. Existing knowledge is often lost due to personnel changes. In addition, the legal framework is constantly changing and brings with it corresponding consequences for the user companies. Much is in "flux". It is therefore a must to regularly check the proper handling of chemicals in the company and to adapt it to the new conditions with well-founded know-how.

In the event of a lack of caution when handling highly flammable, corrosive, toxic, environmentally hazardous or even highly explosive substances, there is a risk of personal injury, property damage or environmental damage with far-reaching consequences also for the companies. A comprehensive legal basis exists for the areas of transport, disposal, handling and storage of chemicals, as well as for health protection and occupational safety. Companies are obliged to take safety measures. However, the practical implementation of these legal requirements raises many questions and often challenges both the chemical processing companies, the project managers and the enforcement authorities and insurers.

Getting the latest knowledge and expanding your network is the order of the day on May 17, 2022 in Zurich at the event "How to handle chemicals safely." In addition, the conference is recognized by important professional organizations as continuing education. It will be held under the patronage of the SSI Association. The conference is organized by Save AG, which specializes in the practical transfer of knowledge between security professionals on the topics of risk management, corporate security, building security, safety and health protection (AS&GS), fire protection, information and infrastructure security, civil protection as well as machine and process safety, incident prevention, natural and environmental hazards, guarding and integral security concepts.

Further information and the complete conference program at: https://save.ch/event/chemikaliensicherheit-05-2022/

The Canton of Aargau is launching a new website for its population and the businesses and organizations located in the canton. About the "Smart Service Portal" numerous government services such as confirmations, applications, permits or support requests should now be accessible.

More structured offering of government services

The focus is on a joint offering of digital services from the public sector. The canton and the 200 municipalities already have digital services and offerings on their websites. However, it has not always been clear to residents where to obtain which service, the canton writes in a statement.

More services between cantons and municipalities

Cooperation between the canton and municipalities is therefore to be strengthened with more services. It is true that the municipalities and the canton have been cooperating for a long time in the provision of electronic services under the catchword "e-government Aargau". Now, however, the process is being transformed.

"The digitalization of our everyday lives obliges the public sector to reorganize, structure and optimize its processes," explains State Secretary Joana Filippi.

The focus is on added value for the population and for the economy of the canton of Aargau; they will benefit from a "fast and simple exchange with the administration that is independent of time and place," the statement continues. In the future, users will be able to access the joint offering of digital services from the canton and the municipalities via the website of their municipality, the Smart Service Portal or directly via the main portal.

Source: Canton Aargau

Cities are becoming increasingly complex. As a result, more and more building owners and operators are turning to digital tools to maximize the efficiency of their investments, comply with market-specific regulations, and create better user experiences.

The latest edition of Verdantix's "Green Quadrant: IoT Platforms for Smart Buildings 2022" study analyzed 17 IoT platforms for smart buildings. Siemens Smart Infrastructure was ranked as one of the leading providers of IoT technologies that meet the key priorities of real estate companies.

According to the report, Siemens can offer a comprehensive range of IoT solutions for smart buildings. Its strengths lie in particular in the areas of energy management for buildings and systems, services at the workplace, and room monitoring and analysis.

According to the study, analytics and improvements in connectivity will also drive the future adoption of IoT solutions for buildings.

Source: Siemens

The Advisory Service for Accident Prevention (BFU), in cooperation with Edelrid, informs about a safety problem concerning Screw-D-Ring screws that have been installed in various climbing products and components. Affected by the safety problem are the Screw-D-Rings screws that have been installed in the following products and components:

• CORE PLUS TRIPLE LOCK: part number 88037, manufacture date 2019 10 or later.
• RADIALIS PRO: part number 71610, date of manufacture 2019 10 or later.
• TREECORE TRIPLE LOCK: part number 88036, manufacture date 2019 10 or later.
• CORE SLIDING D-KIT: Part number 88052, manufacturing date 2019 10 or later.
• SCORE SCREW D-SINGLE: part number 88062
• CORE SCREW D-KIT: Part number 88054

The enclosed identification instructions can be used to find the corresponding article and batch numbers on the affected products.

Consumers who own one of the products mentioned above are requested to fill out the enclosed Identification guide to check whether your product contains the affected Screw-D-Rings screws. For affected products, the Screw-D-Ring screws must be replaced. The replacement screws can be by means of the enclosed order form be requested.

Source: AAIB

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also increasingly finding its way into companies and services. The European network Euroshnet, consisting of OH&S experts in the field of standardization, invites to a conference on October 20 under the motto "Artificial Intelligence meets Safety and Health at work". Conference in Paris.

In the field of occupational safety and health, AI is also expected to play a broad role in the foreseeable future. However, the use of AI raises fundamental questions about interaction and collaboration with humans. Is this ethically and safety justifiable? How can technical reliability be verified? The use of AI also has implications for laws, rules and procedures. The expert forum discusses the opportunities and dangers and is intended to offer participants the opportunity to expand their network.

Source: Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization