The director of the Haapsalu Vocational Education Centre (HKHK)Riinu Raasuke believes that occupational health care must take into account the specificities of each employee – whether teaching, construction or cooking. Kristiina Paju, the head of special projects at the HeBA clinic, interviewed the manager about what top-level occupational health care looks like.
A tailor-made solution for each unit
The desire for a new occupational health service provider arose from the need for a more comprehensive approach. “As a vocational education center, we have both office workers and those who do physical work – in the fields of construction, textiles and cooking. This means that the risk factors that employees are exposed to are very different,” Raasuke opens. “Often, only the office worker package and some special additional packages are offered, but we needed more different profiles. I do feel that HeBA has thought along with us so that everyone gets the right package,” the director specifies. Employees have also noticed an individual approach in specifying risk factors during health checks, for example, in relation to noise or textile dust.I do feel that HeBA has thought along with us so that everyone gets the right package.
Raasuke also explains the reasons why the health of employees is highly valued at HKHK: “We are talking about the person as a whole. If an employee does not feel well, then he or she cannot contribute well – and so do his or her colleagues. Moreover, our employees work with people, that is, with students. If a teacher does not feel well, the snowball effect also reaches the students. We strive to keep our employees healthy and well, as much as possible.”
Surprisingly low time expenditure
Although the Haapsalu Vocational Education Centre has nearly 100 employees, the time expenditure related to occupational health is low. “When the HeBA annual report came, we worked on it for a longer time, but the ongoing administration takes less than half an hour a month,” adds Raasuke. Since the health of employees is important to Raasukes, the director has taken it to his desktop. “I really like the HeBA web application. Managing employees takes up practically no working time,” praises Raasuke. “Once a month, I log into the platform to see who needs to be invited or re-invited. When a new employee comes in, I quickly upload them to the platform,” says Raasuke. Email notifications that notify of new documents, such as the upload of health checks, also increase convenience. “Then we can immediately purchase everything we need, such as special shoes or glasses.”When the HeBA annual report came, we worked on it for a long time, but the ongoing administration takes less than half an hour a month.
Occupational Health as “Action of the Year”
Employee feedback on the HeBA service has been very positive. “Employees feel that they are listened to and their health concerns are addressed thoroughly.” Employee satisfaction is also reflected in the fact that the selection of HeBA’s occupational health service was nominated for the HKHK Achievement of the Year in 2024. “It is felt that HeBA really takes the time to listen to employees and offers solutions on how to improve their health,” explains the director. At the beginning of the year, the HeBA clinic also conducted a comprehensive analysis of the institution for the Haapsalu Vocational Education Center. “The summary, of course, caused a lot of buzz – there was interest in which department was the healthiest and so on. The comprehensive analysis was very warmly received, it gave everyone good input on what to organize differently in the future,” recalls Raasuke.
