Clear objective - complex environment

In Germany, there is a complex patchwork of rules and regulations intended to ensure working conditions are humane and safe. If these provisions are to have the desired effects, successful cooperation is essential between the various stakeholders, including employers, employee representative bodies, managers, employees, occupational physicians, OSH specialists, and other OSH experts, as well as the inspectors who visit workplaces on behalf of the federal states’ safety and health administrations and the social accident insurance providers. They are all integral parts of the occupational safety and health system, and have their own specific roles, rights, and duties.

Additionally, processes that are transforming society and technology, such as digitalisation, the growth of artificial intelligence, demographic developments, and climate change, are having impacts on the contemporary world of work and will continue to do so in future. If they are to be capable of meeting these challenges, Germany’s occupational safety and health institutions will have to function together as a learning system and continually adjust to new circumstances.

BAuA’s role

BAuA therefore draws on a range of methods to investigate from multiple perspectives how appropriate and effective OSH structures and processes currently are, and whether they need to be modified in response to developments in the world of work. For example, the collection of quantitative data and analyses of representative surveys conducted by other institutions enable us to reach findings about workplace OSH structures and the prevalence of OSH measures. Which rules and interventions enhance outcomes and which make little difference? How fully do organisations abide by statutory OSH requirements? What factors and parameters help employers design work safely and healthily?

BAuA researches how OSH structures, processes, and instruments can be modified to cope with the growing complexity of the world of work, especially by exploiting digital technologies and artificial intelligence to develop future-proof, preventive solutions. A detailed article about this subject can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 3) (in German).

Our activities

Variables that influence prevention practice

The design of OSH instruments should be tailored to the dynamics of the social contexts in which they are applied. A large number of factors interact here, influencing employees’ safety and how their health is protected. Apart from structural features and work processes, these variables also include the conceptual paradigms within which actors operate, their motives, and their attitudes. It is consequently necessary to involve the target groups inside an organisation in the implementation of occupational safety and health interventions.

OSH measures can, on the one hand, modify the technologies deployed, organisational characteristics, and work processes but, on the other hand, also change employees and managers’ behaviour and attitudes. Technologies, organisational structures, and processes vary between sectors and workplaces of different sizes, while the attitudes of an organisation’s management and workforce are simultaneously shaped by and expressions of the prevention culture that prevails there. A broad spectrum of factors thus determine the configuration of occupational safety and health systems.

Methodological approaches

It should be clear from these comments that the wider environment and interventions’ effectiveness under the conditions fostered by that environment have to be interpreted context-dependently in OSH practice. The concept of evidence offers a framework of reference that allows the impact chains of complex interventions to be investigated in context (see the diagram “Advanced evidence prism”). Generally, information is only to be accepted as evidence if there is the greatest possible certainty as to its validity.

In principle, evidence of causality can only be obtained by studying a control group that is not affected by the intervention, either beforehand or afterwards. At the same time it should differ as little as possible in terms of structural social variables from the intervention group with which the measure is implemented. However, since it is frequently difficult to recruit control groups or this may not actually be possible for ethical reasons, sophisticated statistical techniques can represent an alternative under certain circumstances. As a rule, though, these quantitative methods do not permit conclusions to be drawn about the cause-effect relationships that lie behind statistical correlations detected in impact research and evaluations.

Light can also be shed on possibly correlated impacts by qualitative methods, such as guided interviews that are evaluated using content analysis techniques or reconstructive procedures of the kind associated with grounded theory methodology (GTM). Furthermore, qualitative methods can help to develop researchers’ understanding of the reasons why a measure affects one or several dependent variables. It is also possible to illuminate complex correlated impacts with qualitative methods for the purposes of formulating theoretical statements. Such methods are therefore especially well suited for exploratory impact research, which is carried out in particular when there is initially a lack of clarity about an intervention’s impacts or relevant factors with influence on organisations’ empirical OSH prevention practice.

The results of exploratory research can be used to develop hypotheses about the interaction of unfavourable and favourable factors for effective OSH practice. Where necessary, these theoretical assumptions and impact models are backed up quantitatively by applying mixed-method designs.

BAuA Focus Group on Intervention Research

BAuA also conducts intervention research to explore correlated impacts, examining the conception, implementation, and impact analysis of OSH measures. BAuA’s research overwhelmingly studies interventions that are implemented in workplace contexts and intended to promote healthy, human-centred work design. In a broader sense, policy measures can also be regarded as interventions that need to be evaluated. The central element of intervention research is the conduct of randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

The Focus Group on Intervention Research has been meeting since June 2021 and essentially pursues two aims: pooling BAuA’s expertise in this field, and encouraging dialogue between different parts of the Federal Institute and across disciplinary boundaries. The members of the Focus Group convene three times a year to talk about the different intervention research activities being undertaken at BAuA. Both the methodological design of intervention research and the substantive issues and organisational processes pertinent to the participants’ current projects are discussed on these occasions.

Technical and organisational OSH: opportunities created by digitalisation

The majority of organisations currently think about the technical and organisational sides of occupational safety and health as distinct topics. Yet linking up these two aspects offers hitherto unexploited potential for practical, human-centred work design - especially where innovative digital technologies come into play. It will only be possible to get buy-in from organisations as safe practices are developed for the future by addressing their needs, making the advantages of integrative approaches clear (e.g. where they facilitate the implementation of statutory requirements like risk assessments), and simultaneously raising awareness of the new dangers posed by digitalisation.

Linking up OSH processes, digital tools, and artificial intelligence will create new opportunities for occupational safety and health. Human-centred design and clear lines of responsibility will be crucial. A detailed article about this subject can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 7) (in German).

Researching preventive occupational healthcare

Preventive occupational healthcare is an important component of OSH prevention in workplaces. The preventive potential of a holistic approach in this area has been propagated for a long time and emphasised by official rules and regulations. However, there is a dearth of evidence about the ways preventive occupational healthcare is delivered in real-world settings. This formed the background to the conception of the project “The holistic approach in the preventive occupational health care - analysis of its implementation in the operational practice”, which has seen BAuA investigate the conditions under which preventive occupational healthcare is provided and whether it is being implemented in a holistic fashion.

At the start of the project eleven expert interviews were conducted with representatives of specialist policymaking bodies, interest groups, and the academic community. Another work package surveyed occupational physicians active in various healthcare settings - occupational physicians in private practice, physicians who work for occupational health services, and company doctors. Additionally, thirty in-depth interviews with occupational physicians are currently being evaluated. There are further plans for interviews that will explore how company managements and employees perceive occupational physicians’ activities.

BAuA’s research into holistic preventive occupational healthcare is a good example of our concrete work on the further development of occupational safety and health. An illuminating interview about this subject with Dr Falk Liebers and Dr Solveig Aupers can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 6) (in German).

Focus on logistics: OSH interventions in networked work structures

A networked world of work demands correspondingly networked occupational safety and health systems. When several employers’ staff operate in the same workplace, those employers have to cooperate with one another. One good example is the logistics sector, where a haulier’s personnel will share workplaces with its clients’ employees while goods are being loaded and unloaded. Given that approximately 90,000 accidents occur annually during the loading and unloading of lorries and material-handling vehicles, there is urgent need for improvements here. The general expert opinion is that a large proportion of these accidents are partly attributable to inadequate communication about safety issues between the organisations concerned. The “Occupational health and safety action at the interfaces of supply chains” (INTER-OSH) research project is therefore concentrating on how organisations communicate about safety and health problems around supply chain interfaces, at both the management and employee levels, and what material implications this has for OSH interventions.

BAuA’s INTER-OSH project is investigating communication about safety issues and OSH cooperation around supply chain interfaces, particularly in the logistics sector, the aims being to reduce accidents when goods are loaded and unloaded and develop practically relevant design recommendations for inter-company OSH practice. A detailed article about this subject can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 8) (in German).

BAuA’s role in the German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy

The German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy (Gemeinsame Deutsche Arbeitsschutzstrategie, GDA) is enshrined in legislation as a fundamental pillar of modern occupational safety and health provision in Germany. This alliance has the objectives of continuously modernising the country’s OSH system in step with the evolution of the world of work, and creating incentives for organisations to further bolster the mechanisms that protect their employees’ safety and health. The GDA’s highest decision-making body is the National OSH Conference (Nationale Arbeitsschutzkonferenz, NOSHC), whose business is administered by BAuA. The Conference specifies concrete OSH targets and coordinates the measures taken to implement them. The NOSHC is made up of three representatives from the German Federation, three from the federal states’ supreme OSH authorities, and three from the umbrella associations that speak for the accident insurance providers. BAuA supports the NOSHC in various ways:

1. It functions as the NOSHC’s Coordinating Office, making organisational and technical contributions to the Conference’s work. For example, it coordinates the cooperation between all the bodies and individuals that participate in the GDA, analyses data and facts relating to OSH implementation in order to inform decision-making about the GDA’s continued development, arranges meetings and events for the NOSHC, and runs the GDA’s portal on the internet: www.gda-portal.de.
2. It deputises for the German Federation’s representatives at meetings, which allows it to contribute to the strategic decisions taken by the NOSHC.
3. It takes part in the debates conducted by the NOSHC’s various working groups, bringing its expertise to bear on priority topics such as the Psyche work programme, musculoskeletal disorders, and carcinogenic hazardous substances and assisting with the evaluation of the GDA. Furthermore, its briefings for the German Federation’s representatives provide opportunities to feed findings about issues on the NOSHC’s agenda into the Conference’s deliberations and draw attention to new avenues for the further development of the GDA and OSH provision.

BAuA makes essential contributions to the GDA by performing various tasks and functions - above all administering the NOSHC’s Coordination Office -, therefore helping drive ahead the substantive and organisational development of OSH provision. A detailed article about this subject can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 9) (in German).

The Federal Specialist Office for Occupational Safety and Health

A “minimum inspection rate” is due to apply from 2026 on, meaning at least five per cent of all establishments in each German federal state will have to be inspected by the public labour inspectorates every year. The Federal Specialist Office for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesfachstelle für Sicherheit und Gesundheit bei der Arbeit, BfSuGA) has been set up within BAuA to evaluate how successful the federal states are at meeting this target. The BfSuGA is supplied with predefined sets of data by each federal state on the inspections they have carried out, which it is currently using to build up a system that will monitor public labour inspection activities and so aid the German federation to comply with its reporting obligations. The other pillars of the BfSuGA’s work include discussions at the federal state level and information-gathering trips. The supplementary qualitative data it collects make it possible to capture the knowledge acquired by practitioners, gain far-reaching insights into the public inspectorates’ operations, and track alterations in the OSH system.

The introduction of the minimum inspection rate and creation of the Federal Specialist Office for Occupational Safety and Health (BfSuGA) are intended to strengthen the supervision of workplace occupational safety and health provision, ensure its supervisory controls are evaluated systematically, and thus support the further development of the OSH system in Germany. A detailed article about this subject can be found in BAUA: AKTUELL edition 3/2024 (p. 5) (in German).

Evaluation of the statutory minimum wage

By law, the Minimum Wage Commission (Mindestlohnkommission) is tasked with the ongoing evaluation of the statutory minimum wage in Germany. The Coordination and Information Office for the Minimum Wage (Geschäfts- und Informationsstelle für den Mindestlohn), which is based at BAuA in Division 1, assists the independent Minimum Wage Commission in fulfilling its duties, particularly the ongoing evaluation of the statutory minimum wage. The Minimum Wage Commission submits a report on the impacts of the statutory minimum wage to the German Federal Government every two years, usually around the middle of the year. The Commission’s latest report is always publicly accessible on its website. The website also documents the Minimum Wage Commission’s decisions concerning adjustments to the level of the minimum wage, which are adopted every two years as well. The statutory minimum wage is evaluated on an ongoing basis, with research being conducted in house by the Coordination and Information Office’s academic staff or by external providers. The final reports on the research projects commissioned from third parties and publications by the Coordination and Information Office’s academic staff can be found on the Minimum Wage Commission website.