Regulations, limits and publications

When assessing working conditions in accordance with Section 5 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employers must first determine whether electromagnetic fields occur or can occur in employees' workplaces. If this is the case, all resulting risks to the health and safety of employees must be assessed. To support you in this task, relevant regulations and information documents are listed below. The IFA offers a web application that can be used to determine permissible values from various regulations: Limit Info Tool for Electromagnetic Fields (EMF-LIT).

Legally binding regulations for employers

Ordinance to protect employees from risks posed by electromagnetic fields (Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance on Electromagnetic Fields, EMFV, in german)

Technical rules for the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance on electromagnetic fields (TREMF, consisting of three parts: low frequency, high frequency and magnetic resonance methods, in german)

You can find a summary guide for how to proceed with risk assessments here: BGHM technical information “Practical help for preparing a risk assessment for electromagnetic fields” (in german)

Information for people with implants

The technical rules for the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance on electromagnetic fields contain information, e.g. Table A2.1 for simplified risk assessment in Part 1, Appendix 2 or limit values in Part 2, Appendix 2, Tab. A1.25 - A1.28 in TREMF NF and HF (in german)

DGUV Information 203-043 "Influence of implants by electromagnetic fields" (June 2009, previously: BGI/GUV-I 5111, in german)

BMAS research report 451 "Electromagnetic fields in the workplace - safety of employees with active and passive physical aids when exposed to electromagnetic fields" (January 2015, in german)

Further regulations and recommendations

EU Directive 2013/35/EU (basis for the German Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance for electromagnetic fields)

Recommendation of the EU Council on limiting the exposure of the population to electromagnetic fields (0 Hz - 300 GHz) (for freely accessible work areas, e.g. in retail; protection for pregnant employees)

Twenty-sixth Ordinance for the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (Ordinance on Electromagnetic Fields - 26th BImSchV, Protection of the general public; the restricted scope of application must be observed)

Since state regulations are available, the following two DGUV documents are planned to be withdrawn:
DGUV regulation 15 accident prevention regulation "Electromagnetic fields" (June 2001, previously: BGV B 11, in german)
DGUV regulation 103-013 "Electromagnetic fields" (June 2001, previously BGR B11, in german)

Informative publications

IFA Report 5/2011 "Electromagnetic fields at systems, machines and devices" (in german)

DGUV report "ndoor workplaces - recommended procedure for investigations into the working environment" (September 2013, in german)

DGUV Information 203-038 "Assessment of magnetic fields on resistance welding equipment" (November 2006, previously: BGI 5011, in german)

Non-binding best practice guide for the implementation of Directive 2013/35/EU - Electromagnetic fields, Volume 1: Practical Guide, European Commission 2015

BMAS research report 400-E "Electromagnetic fields at the workplace" (November 2011)

Publications in journals

Soyka, F.; Tarnaud, T.; Alteköster, C.; Schoeters, R.; Plovie, T.; Joseph, W.; Tanghe, E.: Action potential threshold variability for different electrostimulation models and its potential impact on occupational exposure limit values. Bioelectromagnetics (2024) pp. 1-9

Soyka, F.; Simons, J.: Improving the Understanding of Low Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure with Augmented Reality (PDF, 4.3 MB, non-accessible) . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 17 (2022) https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710564

Jescke, P.; Alteköster, C.; Hansson Mild, K.; Israel, M.; Schiessl, K.; Shalamanova, T.; Soyka, F.; Stam, R.; Wilen, J.: Protection of Workers Exposed to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields: A Perspective on Open Questions in the Context of the New ICNIRP 2020 Guidelines (PDF, 1.6 MB, non-accessible) . Front. Public Health (2022)

Alteköster, C.; Becker, C.; Bömmels, I.; Jeschke, P.; Schiessl, K.: Assessment of electronic article surveillance systems in the retail trade (PDF, 439 kB, non-accessible) . English translation of the article 'Bewertung elektronischer Artikelsicherungssysteme im Einzelhandel'. In: sicher ist sicher (2020) Nr. 7-8

Soyka, F.: Comparison of methods for assessing pulsed magnetic fields (PDF, 1.4 MB, non-accessible) . English translation of the article 'Bewertungsverfahren für gepulste magnetische Felder im Vergleich'. In: sicher ist sicher - Arbeitsschutz aktuell 71 (2020) Nr. 2 & 3