Occupational safety

The purpose of occupational health and safety law is to ensure the safety and health of employees at work by preventing accidents at work and work-related health hazards. Occupational health and safety measures also include measures for the humane organization of work. This protection covers all areas of activity, i.e. all jobs in the private and public sectors.

Important foundations for occupational health and safety are the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the c . According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the employer must assess health hazards in the workplace and implement the necessary implement necessary protective measures . The Occupational Health and Safety Act regulates the employer's obligations to appointment of company doctors and occupational safety specialists. for occupational safety. Occupational health and safety ordinances have been issued on the basis of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which set out the obligations of employers and company doctors in more detail.

Occupational Health and Safety Act

Employers have the following basic obligations:

Occupational health and safety organization

The employer must ensure a functioning occupational health and safety organization in the company. This means that he is responsible for ensuring that occupational health and safety is integrated into operational processes and that suitable contact persons in the company ensure that employers, supervisors and authorized persons comply with occupational health and safety requirements. The Occupational Health and Safety Act contains provisions relating to support from occupational health and safety specialists and company doctors (see below).

Risk assessment

Determination of risk factors

The employer must carry out a risk assessment, i.e. he must assess the working conditions in his company in terms of evaluate occupational health and safety aspects . The purpose of the risk assessment is to become aware of the existing hazards so that the "right" protective measures can be taken.

The procedure is ideally based on the operating mode and the size of the company with the risk factors that arise in each case, for example workplace-related, work equipment-related and activity-related risks. The employer is also obliged to take mental stress factors into account in occupational health and safety activities.

Aims of the risk assessment

Once the risk factors have been identified, the aim of the risk assessment is to determine sensible and necessary protective measures . These can be technical and organizational measures, known as proportional prevention, or personal measures, known as behavioural prevention.

Priority is given to measures of situational prevention . The employer must take into account special risks for particularly vulnerable groups of employees, such as young people and disabled employees.

When implementing the occupational health and safety measures, the employer has room for maneuver in order to take into account the different circumstances of the company. The protective measures must be effectiveness and adapted to new findings if necessary.

To support employers in carrying out the risk assessment, there are industry- and activity-specific instructions for action for evaluating the possible risk factors and the protective measures to be taken, for example the "Risk assessment" from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) ".

Documentation of the risk assessment

The employer must document the result of the risk assessment and the necessary occupational health and safety measures taken in documents . This applies to all companies regardless of their size. For SMEs with 10 or fewer employees, there are simplifications in the fulfillment of the documentation obligation, see "Guideline on risk assessment and documentation", Annex 3 ( Download PDF document ).

Occupational health precautions

Depending on the hazardous activity, the employer is obliged to regularly require employees to participation in an occupational health screening depending on the hazardous activity. This serves to assess the individual interactions of work and physical and mental health, in particular information and advice. It is also about early detection and prevention of work-related illnesses and maintaining employability.

In the event of certain hazards in the workplace, the employer must offer employees offer employees occupational health care e.g. when working with display screen equipment. If the risks are particularly high, mandatory preventive care is prescribed, e.g. for activities involving biological agents, see the following Ordinance on Occupational Health Care. The costs of occupational health care must not be not be imposed on the employees .

Instruction

The employer must instruct employees so that they can recognize accident and health hazards as such and are able to react appropriately. The prerequisite for such instruction is tailored to the respective work situation in the company. Some occupational health and safety regulations, such as the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances and the Ordinance on Biological Substances, require general occupational health advice as part of the instruction.

Special hazards and emergency measures

The employer must ensure that only employees have access who have been instructed accordingly. He must also take special protective measures for employees who are or may be directly exposed to a significant hazard. He is also obliged to take measures to take the necessary measures for first aid, firefighting and evacuation in emergencies.

Accident report (IVa4)

The employer must report accidents to the statutory accident insurance institution and the occupational health and safety authority of employees in his company if employees are killed or injured in such a way that they are unable to work for more than three days.

Occupational health and safety regulations

The Occupational Health and Safety Act is substantiated with regard to certain hazards in the hazards in the workplace by a series of occupational health and safety ordinances.

Workplace Ordinance

The Workplace Ordinance contains employers for setting up and operating workplaces and for working with display screen equipment.

Industrial Safety Ordinance

The Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health contains requirements for the safe use of work equipment to ensure the safety and health protection of employees. It provides employers with a comprehensive protection concept for all hazards arising from work equipment.

Hazardous Substances Ordinance

The Hazardous Substances Ordinance specifies occupational health and safety requirements when employees carry out activities involving perform activities involving hazardous substances or when employees' activities hazardous substances are produced or are released.

Ordinance on Biological Agents

The Biological Agents Ordinance requires employers to take the necessary protective measures for employees and other persons if their work involves biological agents occur, are used or released during their work.

Ordinance on occupational health precautions

This ordinance contains requirements for employers and company doctors regarding occupational health precautions, see above. At the same time, it fulfills a task for occupational physicians under the Occupational Safety Act, see below.

Ordinance on safety and health protection when using personal protective equipment at work

This ordinance specifies the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the event that employers provide their employees with personal protective equipment to their employees if this is necessary to protect their health and safety at work.

Ordinance on the protection of employees from noise and vibration hazards

This ordinance obliges employers whose employees exposed to noise or vibrations to take the necessary measures to protect against damage to health.

Ordinance on the protection of employees from hazards caused by artificial optical radiation

This ordinance lays down for employers requirements to protect employees from harmful artificial optical radiation. optical radiation such as laser applications.

Ordinance on the protection of employees from hazards due to electromagnetic fields

This ordinance lays down requirements for the protection of employees at work against risks to their health and safety from exposure to electromagnetic fields are laid down.

Load Handling Ordinance

This ordinance obliges employers to take protective measures when carrying and lifting loads which, for example, can be hazardous to employees' health due to their weight, particularly with regard to their lumbar spine.

Construction site ordinance

The Construction Site Ordinance contains requirements for the safety and health protection of employees on construction sites. In contrast to other occupational health and safety legislation, the addressee of the Construction Site Ordinance is primarily the client. The building owner as the initiator of the construction project is obliged to take coordination measures obliged . In particular, this is intended to ensure that measures to avoid cross-trade hazards and the corresponding responsibilities are defined.

Occupational Safety Act

According to the Occupational Safety Act, the employer must appoint company doctors and occupational safety specialists to advise and support them in occupational health and safety and accident prevention, for example in carrying out risk assessments. Company doctors and occupational safety specialists are obliged to work together. They are not bound by instructions when applying their expertise.

The requirements of the Occupational Safety Act are implemented by the accident prevention regulation "Company doctors and occupational safety specialists" ( DGUV Regulation 2 ) of the statutory accident insurance institutions.

The accident insurance institutions have the prevention mandate to ensure the prevention of occupational accidents, work-related health hazards and occupational illnesses by all appropriate means. In order to fulfill this mandate, they have the authority, in particular, to develop independent industry-specific accident prevention regulations to issue industry-specific accident prevention regulations. The legal basis for this is the Seventh Book of the Social Code (SGB VII).

Authorities

The task of inspecting companies, checking compliance with occupational health and safety regulations and ensuring compliance through suitable measures is the responsibility of the health and safety authorities of the federal states. The federal states coordinate their administrative actions in the Länder Committee for Occupational Health and Safety and Safety Technology (LASI).

The accident insurance institutions also monitor the implementation of occupational health and safety in companies on the basis of their prevention mandate under SGB VII. In particular, they monitor compliance with the accident prevention regulations issued by them. accident prevention regulations .

The federal states and accident insurance institutions as well as the federal government as legislator work together in the Joint German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy (GDA) to optimize occupational health and safety to ensure the health and safety of employees. A key element of the strategy is the commitment of those involved to common occupational health and safety goals and fields of action. The GDA members are to base their actions on common principles and coordinated programs.

Working Hours Act

The Working Hours Act health protection of employees by limiting the maximum daily working hours and minimum rest breaks during work and minimum minimum rest periods at the end of the working day.

At the same time, the law provides a framework for agreeing flexible working hours . Night workers are particularly protected. Rest on Sundays and public holidays is protected by a fundamental ban on employment. Work on these days is only permitted in exceptional cases.

Youth Employment Protection Act

The Youth Employment Protection Act protects young people under the age of 18 regardless of whether they are employed as trainees or as employees. In principle prohibited according to the law is the employment of children i.e. young people under the age of 15 and young people of equal status who are required to attend school full-time. Occupational health and safety is even more important for children and adolescents than occupational health and safety for adults, as they are less resilient and therefore must not be exposed to the same stresses. The Youth Employment Protection Act and the Child Labor Protection Ordinance therefore children and young people from work that starts too early, lasts too long, is too heavy, endangers them or is unsuitable for them.

Authorities

The control of compliance with the provisions of the Working Hours Act and the Youth Employment Protection Act is the responsibility of the health and safety authorities of the federal states. Employees have the right to contact these authorities if they have problems in the company. They can also submit complaints via the online portals of the federal states, for example Contact and advice on occupational health and safety from the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia .

• Occupational Health and Safety Act
• https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbschg/
• "Risk assessment" of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
• Guideline on risk assessment and documentation
• DGUV Regulation 2
• Seventh Book of the German Social Code
• Youth Employment Protection Act
• Contact and advice on occupational health and safety from the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia