Team HF

Team HF is a German research, training and consulting practice based in Ludwigsburg. According to its own website, the organisation conducts research, runs seminars and offers training and consulting services. Its work is organised around a set of applied safety and human-factors themes: staff work (Stabsarbeit), psychology in civil protection, visitor safety, human factors and fire protection, human factors in crisis management and emergency planning, control centres (Leitstellen), patient safety, and research and teaching methods. The team is deliberately interdisciplinary. The professional backgrounds of its members span psychology, political and communication science, philosophy, medicine and hazard defence, and the practice works with a network of experts from various industries. Named partners include Prof. Dr. Gesine Hofinger, Dr. Laura Künzer and Dr. Mareike Mähler, supported by scientific staff and freelance associates. A substantial part of Team HF's work concerns how people actually behave in emergencies. In the field of human factors and fire protection, the organisation researches, advises and lectures on human behaviour during evacuations and clearances, and examines the psychological aspects of inter-organisational cooperation between fire services, police and emergency medical services as well as between different crisis staffs. Topics include shared mental models, cooperation, teamwork, decision-making and communication, and the practice also engages with accessibility in fire protection, including escape and rescue route design. Team HF publishes on these subjects, offers continuing education for people working in fire protection, and maintains a quarterly newsletter covering its events, seminars and current projects. The organisation presents itself as a knowledge partner that bridges research and operational practice rather than as a product manufacturer.

Team HF is a German research, training and consulting practice located in Ludwigsburg. Public structured data describes it simply as a company in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and its own website presents it as an organisation that researches, runs seminars and offers training and consulting. The practice has built its profile around applied human factors and safety topics. Its stated thematic overview covers staff work (Stabsarbeit), psychology in civil protection, visitor safety, human factors and fire protection, human factors in crisis management and emergency planning, control centres (Leitstellen), patient safety, and research and teaching methods. This combination places the organisation at the intersection of psychology, emergency management and fire protection rather than in a single academic discipline. A central strand of its work is the behaviour of people in emergencies. Team HF researches, advises and lectures on how people behave during clearances and evacuations, asking what determines whether and when people follow instructions to leave a site. It also studies the psychological aspects of inter-organisational cooperation between organisations such as fire services, police and emergency medical services, and between different crisis staffs, looking at shared mental models, cooperation, teamwork, decision-making and communication, and at both success factors and challenges. The practice has also engaged with accessibility in fire protection, a topic it notes has only been addressed for a number of years. Team HF states that it works to promote barrier-free fire protection and offers continuing education on these themes for everyone working in fire protection. Its work in this area includes communication such as alerting and warnings, dynamic and adaptive escape route guidance, human behaviour in exceptional situations, people and smoke, fire protection and accessibility, panic, field trials, and cooperation with fire services. Team HF publishes on its subjects; its website lists selected publications, including a 2021 article by Hofinger and Künzer on barrier-free evacuation in the journal Brandschutzbeauftragter. The organisation also maintains a quarterly newsletter for its events, seminars and current projects, and provides literature references and downloads alongside its seminar offerings. The team is interdisciplinary by design. Members' professional backgrounds include psychology, political and communication science, philosophy, medicine and hazard defence, and the practice collaborates with a network of experts from various industries. Named partners are Prof. Dr. Gesine Hofinger, Dr. Laura Künzer and Dr. Mareike Mähler, supported by scientific staff and freelance associates. The website carries a 2026 copyright notice, indicating that the practice remains active.

• 2021

  Hofinger and Künzer publish an article on barrier-free evacuation in Brandschutzbeauftragter.

An interdisciplinary research, training and consulting practice that translates human-factors and safety science into operational practice for emergency, fire-protection and healthcare organisations.

• Research on human behaviour in evacuations and clearances

• Consulting on human factors and fire protection

• Seminars and continuing education for fire-protection practitioners

• Training on staff work (Stabsarbeit)

• Crisis management and emergency planning services

• Quarterly newsletter

1. 1Team HF official websiteteam-hf.de
2. 2Unser Team – Team HFteam-hf.de
3. 3Human Factors und Brandschutz – Team HFteam-hf.de
4. 4Team HF – Wikidatawikidata.org