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MEGA is the chemical workplace exposure database of the Institute for Occupational Safety (BIA) of the German Berufsgenossenschaften (BG) (statutory accident institutions for insurance and prevention). On the legal basis of the social insurance law the inspectorates of the BGs conduct workplace measurements of chemical and biological agents. The BGs have cooperated with BIA within the Berufsgenossenschaftliches Messsystem Gefahrstoffe--BGMG since 1972: measurements are done by the BGs, analyses and data processing are the tasks of BIA. In 1999 31,000 measurements with 68,000 analyses were taken in 4,000 enterprises. All data are stored in the MEGA-database with up to 150 pieces of information (describing type of workplace, working conditions, measured substances, sampling strategy, sampling duration, sampling and analytical method etc.), for each result. MEGA contains today about 1,000,000 measurements of more than 400 substances starting in 1972. MEGA is used by BIA and the BGs for the following purposes: prevention (e.g., identification of hazards, efficiency of exposure reducing measures, determination of technical criteria for exposure limit values), epidemiological questions, and investigations of occupational diseases. In the framework of the measuring and inspection activities and tasks of the inspectorates of the BGs the locations for measurements are not randomly selected, but are based on criteria such as supposed critical exposure situations or testing the efficiency of exposure reducing measures. Nevertheless, a statistical appraisal of the data is possible for different purposes considering the specific determinants of the results, as, for example, classification of enterprises (sectors), workplaces (activities, tasks), used materials, and products. The MEGA-database will be further developed into a multifactorial exposure database with additional data on biological exposure to bacteria and funghi, but also noise and other data.

The aim of this study was to estimate average occupational exposure to inhalable nickel (Ni) using the German exposure database MEGA. This database contains 8052 personal measurements of Ni collected between 1990 and 2009 in adjunct with information on the measurement and workplace conditions. The median of all Ni concentrations was 9 μg/m and the 95th percentile was 460 μg/m. We predicted geometric means (GMs) for welders and other occupations centered to 1999. Exposure to Ni in welders is strongly influenced by the welding process applied and the Ni content of the used welding materials. Welding with consumable electrodes of high Ni content (>30%) was associated with 10-fold higher concentrations compared with those with a low content (<5%). The highest exposure levels (GMs ≥20 μg/m) were observed in gas metal and shielded metal arc welders using welding materials with high Ni content, in metal sprayers, grinders and forging-press operators, and in the manufacture of batteries and accumulators. The exposure profiles are useful for exposure assessment in epidemiologic studies as well as in industrial hygiene. Therefore, we recommend to collect additional exposure-specific information in addition to the job title in community-based studies when estimating the health risks of Ni exposure.

Call centre workplaces are in many ways a challenge to occupational health and safety. The occupation itself can be described as an IT information technology-supported, communication-intensive form of work with often unusual working hours and a high rate of part-time employment. Data on the employee turnover as well as absenteeism related to occupational disability is quite contradictory. Occupational safety and its proponents still have to find new ways into the corporate structures and cultures of this relatively new and rapidly growing branch of industry. In a 2-year research and development project, using a holistic approach and under consideration of all the relevant disciplines, call centre workplaces were studied, and organisational measures were developed and field tested by putting them into practice. Practical help was developed for a sustainable strategy for successful and healthy work in call centres.