Protective measures

The measures to be taken in the event of violation of the permissible values are defined in the German Ordinance on electromagnetic fields (EMFV), Section 6 (in German). Comprehensive examples of protective and preventive measures can also be found in the European Commission's guide to good practice concerning electromagnetic fields. Besides technical measures such as shielding, guarding and interlocks, the guide also describes organizational measures such as delimitation, marking, and the adjustment of working conditions and procedures.

Whether and how well shielding against an electromagnetic field is possible depends upon its type and frequency: shielding against static and low-frequency electric fields and high-frequency electromagnetic fields is relatively effective; static and low-frequency magnetic fields penetrate the majority of materials largely unhindered. Shielding against them therefore presents major difficulties.

Since the field strength decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the field source however, exposure can be reduced most easily and effectively by increasing this distance.