Work Organisation

The world of work is evolving and companies are changing with it. They also have a duty to put suitable forms of occupational safety and health (OSH) provision in place for their employees.

A man looks at planning documents on the screen.
© iStock | AndreyPopov

Human-centred working conditions depend partly on the right organisational arrangements being made in the workplace. Executives and managers in particular play a key role in this respect. At the same time, they are also affected by the changes taking place.

The human-centred design of work is particularly challenging when a job involves a variety of physical and mental demands, such as  in inpatient and outpatient nursing, where the close connection between OSH provision and organisations’ success becomes clear. Only if working conditions are attractive for employees will it be possible to attract enough people to the care professions in future.

Flexible forms of employment such as temporary work, fixed-term contracts and solo self-employment are becoming increasingly important. Mobile working using information and communication technologies outside the premises of an organisation or workplace has also become widespread. This makes it all the more important to recognise the opportunities and risks of these forms of employment and work for people’s health and to take them into account when designing workplaces.

Research Projects

Project numberF 2454 StatusCompleted Project Health-promoting interventions for workers and teams with location- and time-flexible work designs

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2455 StatusCompleted Project Cognitive Ergonomics of using ICT for Mobile Knowledge Work in public transportation

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2519 StatusCompleted Project Working from home and mobile working: Ensuring safety and health holistically

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2555 StatusOngoing Project Hybrid, location-flexible, multi-local working? Science in dialogue

To the Project

Research ongoing

Project numberF 2253 StatusCompleted Project Development and testing of an evaluation tool for ward management for work organization of hospital wards

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2464 StatusCompleted Project Exemplary testing of the guideline-based introduction and implementation of "good ward organisation" in a rehabilitation center

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2521 StatusCompleted Project Good work organisation in home care: Investigation of work stressors and strain

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2541 StatusCompleted Project Interventions focusing on work organisation as a part of pandemic management in inpatient care services

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2340 StatusCompleted Project Development and piloting of training tools for middle managers and employee representatives to support successful restructuring

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2353 StatusCompleted Project Mental health in the working world - determining the current state of scientific evidence

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2372 StatusCompleted Project Learning-relevant characteristics of work design in the service-sector: The role of leadership

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2305 StatusCompleted Project Restructuring in companies in terms of quality and size - a review

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2504 StatusCompleted Project Leadership and Management

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2436 StatusCompleted Project Leadership and organisation in the changing world

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2549 StatusCompleted Project Leader and employee well-being in organisational change

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2371 StatusCompleted Project Demands and resources of self-employment without personnel and multiple job holding

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2532 StatusCompleted Project European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER)

To the Project

Research completed

Project numberF 2505 StatusCompleted Project Technical and organisational occupational safety

To the Project

Research completed

Publications

A Commentary on Choudhury and Maupin (2025): Revisiting the Downsides of Shared Leadership From a Multilevel and Resource-Oriented Perspective

Essay 2025

This article is published in the Journal "Group & Organization Management" (2025).

To the Publication

Daily Leadership Behavior and Leader Well-Being: The Role of Team Identification

Essay 2025

Integrating conservation of resources and social identity theory, this study examines how leader and follower team …

To the Publication

Decent Ward Organisation - A Guide for Nursing Teams in Hospitals

baua: Guidance 2025

More and more people have to cared for by professional nurses every day. Thus, nursing work is an essential cornerstone of our …

To the Publication

Evaluation of the operational application of the INQA company check "Good medium-sized businesses - success is no coincidence"

Report 2025

This report presents the concepts, methods and results of the research project “Evaluation of the operational application of the …

To the Publication

Expert report on cooperation between several companies in occupational health and safety

Report 2025

The report provides a historical overview of legal developments and discusses the current legal basis for cooperation between …

To the Publication

Impact of AI on work in nursing

Essay 2025

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Arbeitsmedizin, Sozialmedizin, Umweltmedizin", …

To the Publication

Job Demands and Resources in Relation to Nurses' Health in Home Care: An Integrative Literature Review

Essay 2025

Home-care nursing is gaining importance because of the increasing number of people requiring care. Home-care nurses are exposed …

To the Publication

Leadership Dynamics in Teams: The Reciprocity of Shared and Empowering Leadership

Essay 2025

Until now, leadership has mostly been considered a unidirectional process centered on leaders influencing their followers. …

To the Publication

Meeting the Challenges of Flexible Work Designs: Effects of an Intervention Based on Self-Regulation on Detachment, Well-being, and Work-Family Conflict

Essay 2025

Self-regulation is important for coping with demands of flexible work designs (FWD) such as telework, remote work, or flextime. …

To the Publication

Organizational interventions and strategies for COVID-19 pandemic management in acute care setting: A qualitative interview study with nurse leaders in German hospitals

Essay 2025

Background: The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 exposed unprepared healthcare systems worldwide. In Germany, acute care …

To the Publication

Strategies and work-organizational interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing service of German hospitals

baua: Focus 2025

The COVID-19 pandemic confronted hospitals, particularly in nursing service, with unprecedented challenges, straining both …

To the Publication

A context-specific analysis of ethical principles relevant for AI-assisted decision-making in health care

Essay 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies may exert a profound impact on social structures and practices in care …

To the Publication

Advanced robots in healthcare and their impact on the health and safety of medical workers

Essay 2024

The complete article "Advanced robots in healthcare and their impact on the health and safety of medical workers" can be …

To the Publication

Authentic leadership - for better and for worse? Leader well-being and inconsistency as moderating factors in the relation between daily authentic leadership and follower well-being

Essay 2024

Despite comprehensive insights on favourable outcomes of authentic leadership for followers, there is a limited understanding …

To the Publication

Burnout, Age, and Cognitive Functioning: A Prospective Study with Nurses in Geriatric Care

Essay 2024

The complete article "Burnout, Age, and Cognitive Functioning: A Prospective Study with Nurses in Geriatric Care" can be …

To the Publication

Cognitive Ergonomics of Mobile Knowledge Work in Public Transport and Activity-Based Office Environments

Report 2024

In Germany, already more than half of the employees occasionally work outside the office, with many commuters and business …

To the Publication

Digital technologies in nursing: An umbrella review

Essay 2024

Background: Digital technologies promise to reduce nurses' workload and increase quality of care. However, considering the …

To the Publication

Empirical Followership Research Since the Publication of the Formal Theory of Followership by Uhl-Bien et al. (2014) - A Systematic Review

Essay 2024

Since Uhl-Bien et al. (2014) presented their Formal Theory of Followership (FTF), followership research has been perceived as an …

To the Publication

Is More Really More? Evidence of a Curvilinear Relationship between the Extent of Telework and Employees' Temporal Alignment of Work and Private Life in Germany

Essay 2024

Studies exploring not only whether, but also to what extent, telework can improve employees' ability to coordinate private and …

To the Publication

Leader-member exchange differentiation and followers' psychological strain: exploring relations on the individual and on the team-level

Essay 2024

Due to social comparison in the team, leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation has been shown to play a crucial role for …

To the Publication

Managing the work stress of inpatient nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of organizational interventions

Essay 2024

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, inpatient nurses faced various work stressors. Little is …

To the Publication

Moral Stress in the Home Care Sector

Faltblatt 2024

Moral stress is the psychological response to morally challenging situations. An interview study conducted by the Federal …

To the Publication

Perceived changes in the workload of home care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of an online survey

Essay 2024

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic posed major challenges to the health care system, particularly to nursing. Intensive care was …

To the Publication

Recovery-related work design: Potential for staff retention in nursing professions

Essay 2024

The postdoctoral thesis can be purchased at the website of the University of Technology Dresden: "Recovery-related work design: …

To the Publication

Relationship between occupational health and safety organization and risk assessment

Essay 2024

Using data of the German subsample of the European survey of enterprises on new and emerging risks (ESENER) 2014 and 2019, this …

To the Publication

Small Enterprises as a Neglected Target Group Regarding Occupational Safety and Health

Essay 2024

The complete article "Small Enterprises as a Neglected Target Group Regarding Occupational Safety and Health" can be downloaded …

To the Publication

Temporal dynamics of shared leadership, team workload, and collective team member well-being: a daily diary study

Essay 2024

In this diary study, we consider shared leadership and team workload as antecedents of team mental health. We draw on …

To the Publication

The analysis of collective orientation and process feedback in relation to coordination and performance in interdependently working teams

Essay 2024

Effective teamwork is not only essential for teams themselves, but also for organizations and our society. To facilitate team …

To the Publication

The Fair Share - Multilevel Distributive Justice as Cross-Level Moderator for the Impact of Restructuring Perceptions

Essay 2024

Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we analyze multilevel restructuring impact perceptions and their …

To the Publication

Trained Managers More Likely to Put Occupational Health on the Agenda: Findings from an Enterprise Survey

baua: Report brief 2024

Location and time-flexible working is becoming ever more significant - both for individual employees and for teams as well. …

To the Publication

results per page: