Effective internal supervision to ensure the success of standardisation work

To fulfil its mandate within the sphere of standardisation, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) does not only second experts to the standards committees. Through the position of standardisation officers, it has created internal structures which reinforce its effectiveness, both at the technical and administrative level.

Participation by the various stakeholder groups in standardisation activity is becoming increasingly relevant, as technical standards are growing in number and significance across all sectors. The field of occupational safety and health is no exception. On the one hand, the number of topics and sub-topics being standardised continues to rise. The need for further standards is not driven solely by new technologies and products; existing topics are also being expanded, giving rise for example to whole series of standards. At the same time, issues of technical policy and strategy are becoming increasingly important in standardisation. This is evident, for example, in Germany’s national standardisation road maps – numbering around a dozen – on future-oriented topics such as AI, the circular economy and Industry 4.0.

The administrative overhead is also increasing, as participation in the development of standards not only requires a strategic overview of which topics are relevant and on which committees participation is justified. Membership of standards committees requires financial and human resources to be allocated. For example, secondment to a standards committee entails more than merely filling out an authorisation form. An assessment must first be performed of whether the relevance of the topic justifies an additional appointment. Based on an internally maintained register of all secondments, the German Social Accident Insurance subsequently checks the invoice for all memberships on standards committees for factual and numerical accuracy. The DGUV currently seconds experts to around 800 roles on German standards committees alone; further personnel are seconded by the individual accident insurance institutions.

Furthermore, the DGUV procures DIN standards for itself and its member institutions and organises their use. The purpose here is for the DGUV to take account of technical standards relevant to and useful for occupational safety and health, as part of its statutory prevention mandate. One means by which the DGUV achieves this is by incorporating discrete provisions contained in standards into its body of regulations. This requires the DGUV and DIN to reach agreements to this effect and manage their outcomes.

Standardisation officers are indispensable for the DGUV’s standardisation activities

For tasks in standardisation activity to be addressed, internal structures must be put in place for the individuals involved in standards development. As a key stakeholder in standardisation, the DGUV has therefore supplemented the existing administrative structures of its expert committees with creation of the position of standardisation officer. The standardisation officers of the expert committees (15 in total) perform both technical and administrative tasks. They have become an indispensable part of the DGUV’s standardisation activities.

The tasks of the standardisation officers particularly include:

• Coordinating standardisation work on their respective DGUV expert committees
  Serving as internal points of contact for standardisation work
• Providing regular feedback to the DGUV’s administration on the authorisation of personnel on standards committees
• Contributing to a harmonised body of rules and regulations within German occupational safety and health, 
• in accordance with the policy paper on the role of standardisation in the safety and health of workers at work

These varied and sometimes time-consuming tasks are conducted by the standardisation officers in addition to their other duties. Furthermore, when external requirements change, the tasks demand a certain degree of flexibility. For example, the comprehensive new funding model for standardisation work, introduced by DIN in 2025, requires administrative processes to be restructured and expanded. The standardisation officers work closely with the DGUV’s administration on this and many other issues, and are in regular dialogue with each other. The standardisation officers’ role is purely internal.

The German Social Accident Insurance is convinced that standards can make an important contribution to safety and health at work and that involvement in standardisation activity is worthwhile. The contribution visible to the outside world, i.e. participation on standards committees, is only one part of this commitment, and must always be underpinned by internal structures.