Mission and Vision | Co-ordinators and Structure

The network is supported jointly by the non-profit-making Bertelsmann Stiftung (Foundation) and the BKK Bundesverband GbR (Federal Association of Company Health Insurance Funds).

The non-profit-making Bertelsmann Stiftung (Foundation), set up in 1977, contributes with its work towards solving current social problems. With numerous innovative projects, e.g. in the fields of industry, politics, health service and culture, it has provided major momentum for discussions in politics and society.

The participation of the Bertelsmann Stiftung (Foundation) in the Enterprise for Health (EfH) network is the systematic continuation of its previous projects on a corporate culture based on partnership and company health policy. At present, the Bertelsmann Foundation employs 300 people. It has spent over € 600 million on charitable purposes since it was established.

The company health insurance funds (BKKs) are the third largest statutory form of insurance fund in Germany with roughly 14 million insured persons. Not only the 20 most profitable companies in Germany have their own health insurance funds but also small and medium-sized enterprises and authorities.

Company health insurance funds have been involved in workplace health promotion since the mid-80s and since then have played a pioneering role in this field.  The "European Information Centre", located at the BKK Bundesverband, has been the WHO Collaborating Centre for more than 10 years and runs the business both of the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP), established in 1996, and the German Network for Workplace Health Promotion (DNBGF).


The chairperson of the network is the former President of the German Bundestag and former Federal Minister for Health and Education, Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth.

Renowned experts in occupational medicine and work sciences support the EfH as scientific advisors. They are Prof. Dr. Eberhard Ulich (Institute for Work Research and Organisational Consultancy, Zurich) and Prof. Dr. Jean-François Caillard (University Rouen, former President of the International Committee for Occupational Health, Paris).


Conditions for membership in the EfH network
The members of the network are nominated by the network partner organisations in a selection procedure. Membership is linked to the condition that an enterprise has a systematic company health management and that it embraces the entirety of the systematically co-ordinated activities which serve to maintain and promote the physical and mental efficiency and motivation of the employees. The network partners aim to achieve a balanced distribution of the member enterprises in terms of size and branch of industry as well as the various European regions.

How EfH works
The members receive a host of ideas for their own everyday work at half-yearly network meetings and in topic-related working groups. Networking and the sharing of experience are supported by internationally renowned scientists who advise the network. The practical experience of the network members is therefore linked to current scientific findings.

(see EfH Membership)