Our Approach
There are particular challenges in occupational medicine that arise from the demands of the modern working world. The key issues include:
- An ageing population: One of the biggest challenges is to keep an ageing workforce, which is often affected by diseases of civilisation such as diabetes, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases, healthy at work or to bring them back. This requires new approaches to prevention, workplace health promotion and overarching occupational health management.
- Occupational health concepts: Traditional occupational health concepts are no longer sufficient. While limit values and hazardous substances are still important, new methods must also be developed in order to fulfil the complex health requirements.
- Research and development in occupational health management (OHM): There is a considerable need for research and development in the field of OHM. Professor Broding and his institution are committed to developing sustainable prevention concepts and promoting innovative teaching approaches for the training of young medical professionals.
- Digitalisation: The increasing digitalisation and flexibilisation of today's working world brings with it new health risks and challenges for science. In this context, it is important to establish standards for digital work and to incorporate occupational health expertise into the design of these forms of work.
Innovative approaches to the early detection of health effects caused by occupational exposure and associated methods and topics include:
Raman spectroscopy: The use of this technique in occupational dermatology makes it possible to analyse the skin penetration of hazardous substances. This enables a more precise assessment of exposure to harmful substances, both via the skin and via the respiratory tract, e.g. by analysing exhaled breath condensate
Early detection of subclinical effects: Professor Broding focuses on the identification of adverse health effects that may not yet be clinically manifest but are caused by occupational exposure. This is particularly relevant for the prevention of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
Evaluation of workplace health promotion (WHP): We work on the development and evaluation of health promotion programmes in companies in order to increase their effectiveness and identify health risks at an early stage
Research into the effects of hazardous substances: Another focus is on investigating the health effects of hazardous substances in the workplace in order to optimise preventive measures