Professor Dr. Rolf Ellegast recently became head of the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA) of the German Social Accident Insurance in Sankt Augustin. In an interview with KAN (Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization), he provides insights into current focal points, developments and the impact of the institute’s research work.

What are the IFA’s current work priorities and new topics?

With around 270 employees, the IFA has proven expertise in the scientific and technical aspects of occupational health and safety and in applied ergonomics. Our work leads to concrete improvements in workplaces and work equipment and supports the accident insurance institutions and their member companies in their daily occupational health and safety practice.

Changes in the world of work are constantly creating new challenges. One current topic is advancing digitalization, in particular the integration of artificial intelligence into work systems. The IFA is involved in several projects on this topic with its cross-departmental AI competence center. Of course, we are interested in how work systems are designed and used so that the safety and health of employees does not suffer. But we also always ask how occupational safety can use AI to protect or improve health and safety.

Climate change also poses new challenges for occupational health and safety. In a prevention project, for example, we are analyzing the working conditions of bicycle couriers and investigating stress factors such as whole-body and hand-arm vibrations, UV radiation and heat stress. In this context, we are also testing the practical benefits of cooling vests on particularly hot days.

Where do the topics that the IFA deals with come from? Has the work changed over the years?

Many of our research topics are the result of inquiries from accident insurance institutions and companies in the field. In addition, many of our employees are active in government and scientific committees in which current developments in occupational safety are discussed.

We also identify relevant future topics ourselves through our risk observatory. One example of this is the field of industrial security, in which we have built up extensive expertise within a short space of time. As the number of networked production systems increases, so does their vulnerability. Attacks on industrial control systems are on the rise and can endanger the safety of employees. With our work at the IFA, we are helping to protect against such attacks, for example by drawing up test principles for industrial security.

In general, our work has changed considerably in recent years. Today, the IFA has a more international focus and is more closely networked with the professional world – both within scientific societies and in standardization committees.

What happens to the results of your research work?

Our aim is to make research results usable both in practice and in the scientific community. The fact that we succeed in this is reflected in the broad response to our publications and lectures.

We are particularly proud of projects that make a lasting contribution to reducing illnesses and accidents in the workplace. One example is the reduction of formaldehyde exposure in pathologies and anatomies. Another is the safe design of therapy tables to prevent fatal accidents – a project that we implemented together with the Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization Commission.

We also actively contribute our findings to standardization processes. In 2024, around 50 IFA experts were active in a total of 109 national and international standardization committees to further strengthen occupational health and safety. (Source: KAN)

At the open day on May 25, 2025, visitors will learn more about the Institute for Occupational Safety and can take a look at the diverse laboratories and workshops. Further information is available on the Website of the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (IFA) of the DGUV.