Who must assess risks, and what that means

In detail

Who must carry out an assessment

The Workers Protection Act (ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz, ASchG) applies to the employment of workers § 1(1) ASchG. Employers must identify and assess the hazards to their safety and health § 4(1) ASchG. § 4 sets no minimum size: the duty starts with the first employee. The size of the business changes how detailed the documentation is § 5 ASchG, not whether there is one.

Where the ASchG doesn't apply

It does not apply to the employment of § 1(2) ASchG:

• staff of the Länder, municipalities and municipal associations who are not employed in businesses;
• federal staff in offices covered by the Federal Employee Protection Act;
• workers in agricultural and forestry businesses within the meaning of the Agricultural Labour Act;
• domestic helpers and staff in private households;
• home workers within the meaning of the Home Work Act.

Separate rules apply to them, which this course doesn't cover.

What "hazards" are

Hazards in the sense of the act are "work-related physical and psychological strains that lead to harmful stress" § 2(7) ASchG; health means physical and psychological health § 2(7a) ASchG. Psychological strain is therefore not an add-on but part of every assessment. The Labour Inspectorate notes that the ASchG has stressed this explicitly since 2013 (Labour Inspectorate).

The three steps

1. Identify which hazards exist, in particular in seven areas from the workplace to work organisation § 4(1) ASchG;
2. assess them, including for workers who are particularly at risk or in need of protection § 4(2) ASchG;
3. set measures to prevent them, including arrangements for foreseeable disruptions and for emergency and rescue measures § 4(3) ASchG.

The results and the measures must be put in writing, "in a manner suited to the number of employees and the hazards" § 5 ASchG. Section 3 shows what goes into this safety and health document.

Who may do it

The employer is responsible. Where needed, suitable experts must be brought in; the work can be given to safety specialists, occupational physicians and other experts such as chemists, toxicologists, ergonomists and in particular occupational psychologists § 4(6) ASchG.