Exposure Monitoring - MGU

Service, organisation and coordination of the MGU measurement system for exposure assessment of the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions (SOK), MEGA exposure database and GESTIS Stoffenmanager

The tasks of the "Exposure Monitoring - MGU" section in the department Exposure and Risk Assessment involve research, development and consulting for the monitoring, documentation and evaluation of working conditions. An essential goal of the section is to use recorded data for the purposes of risk management in OSH at company and industry level, in order to identify and evaluate exposure and thus to contribute effectively to reducing risk

The section coordinates the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions' MGU measurement system for exposure assessment. This comprises control of the MGU's quality management (QM) system and commissioning of QM tasks in the IFA and at the accident insurance institutions involved in the MGU. This in turn includes the conducting of audits and the determining of indicators for the MGU, and production of the annual QM report.

The section’s remaining tasks are divided between two groups:

A table on which sampling equipment, such as sampling heads and cartridges, are placed.

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Sampling equipment in the SOK
Source: Seifen - IFA

Service, Organisation and Coordination in the MGU

The SOK is the interface between the measurement services and the laboratories in the MGU. It provides organizational and technical support to all parties involved in the MGU by:

  • supervising measurement campaigns in the MGU
  • managing the workflow in the MGU and process monitoring,
  • providing sampling media for measurements of hazardous substances,
  • checking incoming data and samples and ensuring their quality,
  • harmonising and further developing digital exposure data collection,
  • further developing, checking and making available analysis and measurement reports.

Process monitoring includes, in particular, planning measurement compaigns and ensuring their quality in order to guarantee a harmonized approach by all parties involved. The SOK provides the coordinator of the measurement compaigns.


MEGA group "Measurement data on exposure to hazardous substances at the workplace (MEGA)"

The MEGA group is responsible for the IFA exposure database MEGA (measurement data on exposure to hazardous substances at the workplace) and the GESTIS-Stoffenmanager®.

a boxplot depiction which differentiates between the A and E fraction of dusts

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Boxplot on dust exposure data from the IFA exposure database MEGA
Source: IFA/MEGA

IFA exposure database MEGA

In MEGA, the data from the MGU – measurement system of exposure assessment - are documented and evaluated with the aid of the evaluation software MEGAPro developed at IFA. On behalf of the accident insurance institutions, the results of these evaluations of exposure data on hazardous substances and biological agents are used for

  • Prevention
  • Investigations relating to reported cases of occupational diseases caused by substances
  • Epidemiology
  • REACH exposure scenarios
  • Validation of models for estimating exposure.

and are made available in the form of publications.

The group participates in the quality assurance of the documented data and in the continuous further development of the documentation of relevant exposure conditions in the MGU. In this context, the group participates in committees of the accident insurance institutions and the DGUV. In particular, the group is involved in the planning of measurement programmes in order to ensure that the evaluation is adapted to the problem at hand. The accident insurance institutions are trained in the use of the MEGA evaluation software in order to be able to evaluate their accident insurance-specific data.


a cartoon of how useful GESTIS is to a customer and companies

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GESTIS-Stoffenmanager® supports companies and accident insurance institutions in the risk assessment of activities involving hazardous substances.
Source: Michel Hüter - DGUV

GESTIS Stoffenmanager®

Not all exposures of hazardous substances can be determined by measurement. With GESTIS-Stoffenmanager®, the group, in cooperation with the Dutch company Cosanta BV, provides a web-based software for quantitative non-measured estimation of inhalation exposures.

GESTIS-Stoffenmanager® supports companies and accident insurance institutions in the risk assessment of activities involving hazardous substances.


More information on

MEGA
Publication directories by substances and industries

GESTIS-Stoffenmanager
Publication list on gestis.stoffenmanager.com

Query of the publication database:

MGU

Contact:

Manuel Kühn

Exposure and risk assessment

Tel: +49 30 13001-3173