Abstract

In many occupations, physical strain is an integral part of everyday working life. Against this backdrop, it is an important political signal that the current coalition has expressly committed itself in its agreement to ensuring ‘good working conditions for occupational groups subject to high physical strain’. However, in order to formulate measures to improve working conditions in these occupationalal groups, it is first necessary to select or develop suitable methodological approaches that determine which occupational groups are defined as ‘physically straining’. In doing so, it is important to consider not only that there are different types of strain, but also that several types of strain can occur simultaneously in certain occupations. In this project, we want to use the requirements listed in the Federal Employment Agency's BERUFENET under ‘Characteristic physical tasks’ to classify occupations according to whether they are ‘physically straining’. The aim is not only to develop an indicator that measures the absolute ‘intensity’ of physical strain, but also to take into account the “quantity” of multiple strains. For validation purposes, we are investigating the extent to which work in ‘physically straining occupations’ is associated with an increased likelihood of illness.