Lesson 4.2 · 7 min

AUVAsicher, your own specialists or the Unternehmermodell

Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz

At a glance

Three routes up to 50 workers. Safety care can come from appointed safety specialists, from a prevention centre of the accident insurance, or from the employer themselves.
Free for small businesses. Through AUVAsicher, the AUVA offers businesses with up to 50 staff free care. The employer may have no more than 250 workers in total.
Provide the documents. Prevention centres may refuse care if the employer doesn't provide the necessary information and documents, and they report that to the inspectorate.
The Unternehmermodell. With up to 25 workers, the employer can take on the safety specialist's tasks themselves, after at least 72 lessons of training and refresher courses every three years.
Consult the workers. Before choosing a prevention centre or the Unternehmermodell, the safety representatives, the works council or all workers must be informed.

In detail

The routes

Safety care in workplaces with up to 50 workers can be provided § 78(1) ASchG:

by appointing safety specialists;
by using a prevention centre of the responsible accident insurer, provided the employer has no more than 250 workers in total and no qualified staff for in-house safety specialists;
by the employer, under the Unternehmermodell ("owner model").

Occupational health care is provided by appointed occupational physicians or, under the same conditions, by a prevention centre § 78(2) ASchG. The Unternehmermodell exists only for the safety side.

AUVAsicher

The prevention centres are set up by the AUVA and by the insurance institution for public servants, railways and mining § 78a(1) ASchG. The AUVA calls its service AUVAsicher: free, continuous care for businesses with up to 50 staff, with experts who come to the business (AUVA).

The prevention centres must respond to an employer's request for visits and care as soon as possible, and at once if there is imminent danger § 78a(2) ASchG.
They may refuse care if the employer doesn't provide the necessary information and documents, and then notify the inspectorate within two weeks.
An employer who uses a prevention centre must also request it and involve it; breaching that duty is an offence § 130(1) no. 27a ASchG.

The Unternehmermodell

Employers can carry out the safety specialists' tasks themselves if they § 78b(1) ASchG:

have no more than 50 workers in total and prove a safety specialist's qualifications, or
have no more than 25 workers in total and prove sufficient knowledge for their workplace.

That knowledge must cover in particular the organisation and methods of worker protection in a business, ergonomics, the safety of work systems, hazardous substances and the identification and assessment of hazards, certified by a recognised training institution § 78b(2) ASchG. It requires training of at least 72 lessons of 50 minutes and refresher courses of at least 14 lessons at intervals of no more than three years § 78b(3) ASchG. An employer fined twice with final effect for not carrying out the tasks properly under the Unternehmermodell can no longer use it § 78(3) ASchG.

Consult first

An employer who intends to use a prevention centre or to provide safety care themselves must inform and consult the safety representatives and the works council or, if there are neither, all workers § 78(4) ASchG.

Checklist

We know who provides our safety care and our occupational health care.
If we use AUVAsicher: we have requested care and provided the documents.
If we use the Unternehmermodell: training and refreshers are documented and current.
The workers were informed about the form of care we chose.

Quiz

Up to how many workers can the employer take on the safety specialist's tasks after at least 72 lessons of training?

Show the answer

The answer is B: 25. § 78b(1) no. 2 and (3) ASchG: with no more than 25 workers in total, after at least 72 lessons and refresher courses at intervals of no more than three years.

Sources

This lesson's statements rest on:

Not legal advice. What counts is the Workers Protection Act (ASchG) and its regulations in the Federal Legal Information System (read on 4 October 2026). Rules for areas outside the ASchG, such as agriculture and forestry or the public service, and special rules for particular substances or sectors are not covered. Not an offer of the Labour Inspectorate, the AUVA or the Chamber of Commerce.