Dr Iff studied medicine at the Universities of Bern, Zürich and Sydney and is a specialist in public health and occupational medicine. After leaving university he worked as a clinical epidemiologist in medical research, before becoming an occupational physician at the State Secretary for Economic Affairs of Switzerland. For ten years he has been responsible for the occupational health aspects of health protection in the workplace and serves as the medical backbone of the labour law. His areas of expertise include motherhood protection, protection of apprentices, the organisation of first aid and also protection against psychosocial stress.