"A smile says it all" is spreading

As the swine flu gains ground, there is growing interest in this campaign for dispensing with the handshake.

"A smile says it all" is a campaign with the aim of dispensing with the conventional handshake as a greeting without causing offence to the other person. When the first swine flu infections in Germany occurred in June this year, the industrial gases specialist Messer launched this unusual campaign in order to reduce the risk of infection for its own employees, but the cause has now attracted many other supporters. Back in June, the campaign had already been joined by several hospitals and care services, wishing to protect their patients and nursing staff, as well as visitors, against infection. “Now there is growing interest from industrial firms who have to make sure that, if there is a further spread of swine flu, operational procedures are still maintained,” explains Diana Buss, Manager for Corporate Communications in the Messer Group. “Particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises, a weakening of personnel coverage or even the closure of whole departments due to sickness can lead to severe financial losses.” That is why Messer is providing information material such as posters, postcards and a brochure for free download on the website www.hoeflich-ohne-haende.de. Badges with the campaign symbol, two stylised friendly figures facing each other, can also be ordered there.

Messer is one of the leading industrial gas companies, and is active in over 30 countries in Europe and Asia, as well as Peru, with over 60 operating companies. Its international activities are managed from Frankfurt am Main, whilst management of core technical functions – logistics, engineering, production and applications engineering – is undertaken from Krefeld. In 2008, about 4,700 employees generated consolidated sales of €795 million.
From acetylene to xenon, the Messer Group has one of the most diverse product portfolios on the market – it produces industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, shielding gases for welding, specialty gases, medical gases and many different gas mixtures.
The Messer Group has state-of-the-art research and competence centers in which it develops applied technologies for the use of gases in almost every sector of industry, in food technology and environmental technology, medicine as well as research and science.

Messer Group GmbH
Vice President
Corporate Communications
Diana Buss
Gahlingspfad 31
47803 Krefeld

Phone: +49 (0) 2151 7811-251
Fax: +49 (0) 2151 7811-598
Email: diana.buss@messergroup.com
www.messergroup.com

This release was published on openPR.