Research for work and health
As a departmental research institution, we aspire to make accessible our research and development findings in high quality and continuity for scientifically based policy advice, knowledge transfer into practice and official regulation as well as to the wider public through the DASA Working World Exhibition. The scientists at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA) lay the foundations that make this possible with their research and development projects.
Our research and development work is independent and adheres to rigorous scientific quality standards.
It is directed towards the early detection of potential risks to employees’ safety and health, as well as possible opportunities for human-centred work design. Attention centres on changes in the world of work and the need to factor in safety and health at work right from the start when technological and organisational innovations are introduced.
Long-term research lines - four strategic fields of action
Programmatically, BAuA bundles its research and development work into research lines conceived for the long term. Meanwhile we are constantly addressing changes driven by the evolution of the world of work. In addition, our research and development activities and scientifically based technical work also take account of current scientific and political issues, as well as the needs identified from our dialogue with Germany’s main specialised scientific societies, the OSH community, and our social partners.
Our current Work and Research Programme covers a four-year period (2022-2025) and organises our research activities and technical work in four mutually reinforcing fields of action.
Field of Action 1: Safe-to-use chemicals and products
Field of Action 2: Humane work design
Field of Action 3: Promotion of health and work ability - prevention of work-related diseases
Inter-departmental focus programmes
Complementing our four established fields of action, our inter-departmental focus programmes concentrate on areas of responsibility that are of overarching significance for occupational safety and health. During previous programme periods we prioritised Mental Health in the Working World. Currently, the emphasis is being placed on two focus programmes: Safety and Health in the Digital World of Work, which gives particular consideration to the uses of artificial Intelligence (AI), and, as a consequence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the further development of the Infection Control/OSH Interface.
Safety and Health in the Digital World of Work
Junior Research Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The Infection Control/OSH Interface
Mental Health in the Working World
Quality assurance of BAuA research
In its research and development activities, BAuA is committed particularly to the vision of permanently maintaining a high level of technical expertise through consistent quality assurance, participation in national and international competition, encouragement for early-career scientists, and close cooperation and networking across the science landscape.
Our scientists examine subjects that need to be investigated by conducting in-house research projects. These are complemented by the work done on our concerns in competitively funded consortium projects and the extramural research we commission from other organisations. In all these activities, we abide by the German Federal Government’s principles of modern departmental research. Furthermore, our quality standards for research and development are based on the rigorous requirements for good scientific practice laid down by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG).
BAuA’s research activities regularly undergo scrutiny and external quality assurance as well, in particular through the close consultations with its Scientific Advisory Board (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat) and Board of Trustees (Kuratorium) and external evaluations of our technical and scientific work. The recurring evaluations carried out by the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat) - most recently in 2018 - review BAuA’s scientific performance as a federal departmental research institution and make recommendations for its improvement.
Networking through departmental research
What makes departmental research unique is that we form the ideal interface via which to exploit scientific findings and so facilitate human-centred ways of designing work that benefit employees’ health. To further these aims, BAuA networks with key actors in the world of work, the political landscape, and relevant national and international scientific communities.
