Case Study
Vocational training and employment at the print media company SP Medienservice

The company SP Medienservice was founded in 1991. The range of services includes the Internet (web design), graphics and printing. The company employs permanent staff and trainees. The majority of the trainees and only a small number of the skilled workers have a hearing impairment. The willingness to provide vocational training and employment for people with a hearing impairment is based on the company owner's good experience. For example, he can particularly rely on the commitment and quantitative and qualitative work performance of his employees with a hearing impairment. This also includes the trainees, who are firmly integrated into the daily processes and processing of orders.
The young people with a hearing impairment were carefully selected by the company owner together with the Integration Service (IFD), so that they fit into the team according to the requirements of the company and the training profession. According to the company owner, the trainees with a hearing impairment are usually more motivated and qualified than the usual young people with an identical school-leaving qualification. For example, his trainees with a secondary school diploma, without their disability-related limitations, would certainly have been able to achieve higher educational qualifications. Although there are such exceptions, he could basically state that the knowledge of the German language is often very poor. In his opinion, the reason for this is the teaching of the learning content in schools for people with a hearing impairment, which is mainly in sign language. Thus, he says, it is almost impossible for him to employ trainees with a deafness in the field of media design due to the linguistic or written deficiencies, although this is a very popular training profession.
In general, he determines the suitability of an applicant for a training position in his company by means of a preceding internship, as this enables him to better assess inclinations, motivation, character, etc. in advance in everyday professional life.
In addition to the positive aspects of employing people with disabilities, which lead to added value for the company, it is important for the company owner to make a contribution to the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Employees with a hearing impairment (hearing impairment or deafness) are only able to perceive acoustic information, e.g. spoken language and signals, to a limited extent or not at all. Due to the disability, audible information must therefore be changed or modified in such a way that the employees can perceive it using assistive products (e.g. hearing aids, cochlear implants, flashlights or vibration detectors) or sign language.

The first trainee with a hearing impairment was hired after an internship through the mediation of the IFD. The young person successfully completed his bookbinding training after three years, was taken on permanently and, as head of the bookbinding department, is now also involved in teaching the training content, as he can communicate more complex issues using sign language. The company is currently providing vocational training in media design, bookbinding and printing. The trainees with hearing impairments attend the vocational school at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Berufskolleg Essen, where they can also be taught in sign language.
In order to compensate for the disadvantages caused by the disability in the intermediate and final examinations, a time allowance can be granted or a sign language interpreter can be used to adjust the examination. However, this must be applied for in advance with the relevant chamber.

The layout of the printed materials is designed by the media designers on the PC. This is followed by printing by the printers and, depending on the product, cutting, folding, gluing and binding by the bookbinders on the machines available.
As the printers with deafness were unable to hear the acoustic signal when the offset press started up or shut down due to their disabilities, an optical all-round signal lamp was fitted to the offset press for reasons of occupational health and safety (see Fig.).
To communicate with the employees with deafness, the company owner and the hearing staff learned the terms that are important for the company's operations in sign language. Due to the noise level in the print shop, sign language has now become the usual mode of communication between all employees in the machine shop.

The company received a grant from the Integration and Inclusion Office to purchase machines for the workplaces of employees with hearing impairments. It also received a hiring bonus for some trainees from funds of a special NRW program and a vocational training grant from the employment agency as an integration grant.