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The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (German: Institut für Arbeitsschutz der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung, IFA) is a German institute located in Sankt Augustin near Bonn and is a main department of the German Social Accident Insurance. Belonging to the Statutory Accident Insurance means that IFA is a non-profit institution.
The IFA supports the German institutions for social accident insurance and their organisations in solving scientific and technical problems relating to occupational safety and health. The missions of IFA contain the following objectives:
The IFA provides international proficiency testing (PT) schemes for laboratories and measuring stations.[2]
The IFA works closely with 23 international OSH institutes and is member of PEROSH, a European research federation.
The director of the IFA is member of the Zero Accident Forum.[3]
Publications referring the work results of IFA can be found in a database.
The IFA is editor of Databases on hazardous substances (GESTIS): GESTIS Substance Database offers information to about 8,800 substances and is free of charge. A mobile version suitable for smartphones and tablets is also available. The GESTIS Biological Agents Database contains information for safe handling of biological agents at the workplace. GESTIS-Stoffenmanager® is an online tool for risk assessment during activities with hazardous substances. GESTIS-DUST-EX is a database on combustion and explosion characteristics of dusts. GESTIS also offers a database with a collection of international occupational limit values for hazardous substances, additionally available as a mobile app. IFA’s exposure database MEGA provides data on hazardous chemicals gathered through atmospheric measurements and material analyses since 1972. It is determined to support the institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention with epidemiological issues or retrospective considerations related to occupational diseases.
The precursor institute of the IFA – dedicated to dust abatement - was founded in 1935 and reestablished in 1953. In 1976 the institute for noise abatement in Mainz was included. In 1980 the institute – then named BIA – moved to Sankt Augustin near Bonn. In 2003 the name changed to BGIA and in 2007 the institute obtained its present-day name on occasion of the fusion of the German social accident insurance institutions in the commercial and the public sector. Since the beginning of 2010 the abbreviated designation is IFA.[7]
