In order to protect employees, each company must identify all hazards and risks associated with its activities and working environment, as well as possible interactions with other work systems.
According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG) and the accident prevention regulation "Principles of Prevention" (DGUV regulation 1), all employers - irrespective of the number of employees - are obliged to carry out a risk assessment.

§ 5 ArbSchG regulates an employer's obligation to determine and assess the hazards and specifies possible causes of danger and objects of the risk assessment.
§ 6 obliges employers to document the outcome of the risk assessment, the occupational safety measures defined and the result of their verification.
An employer can carry out a risk assessment itself or assign it to other competent persons, e. g. managers, occupational safety specialists or company physicians, whereby the responsibility for carrying out a risk assessment as well as the implementation of the results always remains with an employer.

A large number of legal bases, e. g. Work Protection Act (ArbSchG), the Chemicals Act (ChemG, the Industrial Safety Ordinance (BetrSichV), or in particular the Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV) etc., require a sustainable risk assessment, which must be carried out explicitly by experts.
Risk assessment is the central element in occupational health and safety. It is the basis for systematic and successful health and safety management. The ArbStättV does not contain any provisions on the protection of the workforce. The objective of preventing or minimising work-related risks to the health and safety of employees cannot be planned. If the state of the art changes, the workplace has to adapt.

The basis for this remains the risk assessment, i. e. alternative measures that guarantee an equal level of safety and health protection are generally permissible.
In connection with the working environment, potentially hazardous substances, machinery and plant and the work carried out by the employees, all hazards and risk-favoring factors must be identified, assessed and suitable measures taken against the identified hazards and benefiting factors must be determined in accordance with the STOP principle and also regularly checked for effectiveness and, if necessary, optimized on a regular basis.

Our QHSE engineers use a status analysis to identify the potential hazards of individual work systems, e. g. with regard to activity, environment, interaction with other work systems, load handling or hazardous substances used, including an evaluation of the duration of exposure as well as the likelihood of occurrence and their specific risks.
The order in which measures are implemented is determined on the basis of defined risk criteria. At the same time, it also determines the interface to implement the measures effectively in your company. For example, if new or modified instructions are required, the training concept for managers can be developed and training plans adapted (required ISO audit action)

The following aspects are taken into account in the risk assessment:

• the design and interaction of the working system
• the use of work equipment, working materials, machines and equipment
• working methods, workflows and their interaction with other systems
• physical, chemical and biological properties and hazards of the substances used
• Qualification of employees

The handling of hazardous substances at the workplace requires sustainable management of hazardous substances and effective protective measures. The Ordinance on Hazardous Substances is one of the most important regulations for handling hazardous substances. The regulations of the Global Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labelling of chemicals and their mixtures have been in force since June 2015.
The following receivables are derived from GHS:

• documentation-obligatory, expert risk assessment
• Reason for waiving documentation in case of low hazard
• Effectiveness test of the implemented measures
• Expert knowledge of the persons responsible
• maintain a registerof hazardous substances

Article 14 of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV) lays down the following requirements within the framework of the information and instruction of employees:

• Written operating instructions
• Updating the operating instructions for changes
• Employees must have access to the operating instructions
• Information on safety-relevant methods and procedures
• direct personal training of the work procedures by supervisors (TRGS 555 Abs 5.3)
• Occupational medical-toxicological consultation
• Informing workers in the event of increased exposure (CMR substances)

In many companies there is a clear need for information on toxic or corrosive substances, flammable liquids, harmful effects on health, on certain regulations for CMR substances and on the legally compliant execution of instructions as well as on the storage of hazardous substances.
Safe handling of hazardous substances requires sustainable management for the procurement, storage and handling of hazardous substances as well as preventive protective measures at the workplace and comprehensive employee qualification.

Obligatory duties of the corporate officers:

• Definition of hazardous substances in the company
• Preparation of a register of hazardous substances
• Assessment of hazards caused by hazardous substances and their interaction
• Design of appropriate hierarchical protective measures (STOP)
• Determination of exposure levels to comply with occupational exposure limits when handling hazardous substances
• Substitution testing of the substances used
• Instruction of employees
• Preparation of operating instructions
• Occupational medical precautions and advice

According to Section 11 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ASiG), an employer in companies with more than 20 employees must set up an occupational safety committee. In determining the relevant minimum number of persons employed, part-time workers are counted pro rata. In order to discuss occupational health and safety and accident prevention concerns, an occupational safety committee is obligatory once a quarter.

The legislature does not allow an exception to the quarterly meeting.

An employer may appoint a permanent representative, or also for individual binding meetings, if he/she is represented on the health and safety committee. Representation by appointment of company doctors, occupational safety specialists or safety officers is excluded.
The absence of an employer or his representative is not permitted. If the statutory requirements are met, a competent supervisory authority may request the formation of an ASA. If an employer violates the order, it commits an administrative offence (ASiG § 12 Abs. 1, § 20 Abs. 1), which can be punished with a fine of up to 25,000 EUR.
Exemplary illustration of tasks of the Health and Safety Committee, if applicable:

• Analysis of accidents, discussion of near-accidents and work-related hazards
• Evaluation and updating of risk assessments
• Discussions on work equipment or hazardous materials lists
• Evaluation and updating of biosubstance assessments, explosion protection documents
• Preview of the annual safety program (review from DGUV §5 Annual Report SiFa and company medical service)
• Evaluations of site inspections or findings made
• Assessment / discussion of the safety work carried out by the occupational safety and health specialist
• Evaluation of programme measures such as behavior-based safety or BGM actions (health days)
• Evaluation of completed qualifications, initial and continuing education and training plan, as well as presentation of required educational requirements
• Assessments of occupational health and safety relevant qualifications, evaluation of seminar providers
• Mapping of new working methods, e. g. when changing the state of the art
• Mapping of shift plan models, e. g. for new work-scientific findings
• Advice on the praise of employees for their commitment to occupational safety and health protection
• Structural modification measures within the companies (e. g. accessibility, traffic management...)
• Measures and coordination for prevention, emergency care, fire protection and company health care
• Advice on the labour management system
• Discussions on nonconformities in occupational safety audits

Binding participants:

• management
• works council
• company medical service
• occupational safety specialist

Non-binding participants:

• Data protection officer
• Fire protection officer, radiation protection officer, first aid worker
• Representatives of the BG / health insurance companies, authorities
• Company representatives, e. g. for hazardous substances, dangerous goods, immission etc. expert
• Representation of severely handicapped persons
• Trainee representation
• Safety warden(how many safety officers participate in the ASA is decided by an employer (ASiG § 1)

Companies with branches (site-management)

A consistent organizational unit, within which the persons responsible for the organization instruct certain technical work measures and are responsible for them as process owners, is to be regarded as a company. An establishment may consist of several sites. A company's individual sites can only be classified as independent if they are located in the following locations employ a sufficient number of employees who are required to elect their own works council and are located at a clear geographical distance from the main plant, which is not connected.

or

pursue an independent area of responsibility and a self-governing organisational structure through independent management
For example, if a company is made up of three branches with one central management and two management boards, each with a central works council, the two branches are located in different federal states and each has an average of 15 employees, a health and safety committee is to be set up in a wholly controlled company due to the total number of on average more than 20 employees.

If a organisations workforce handles with or its facilities are expected to contain flammable liquids, gases, vapors or dusts which could lead to explosions, the legislator requires the responsible organization to draw up an explosion protection documentation.

In doing so, it must be determined whether the substances, mixtures and products used, taking into account the equipment used, the procedures and the possible interactions, can lead to a risk of fire or explosion.

The formation of explosive atmospheres can not be prevented explicitly. This is especially true for non-routine operating conditions such as Maintenance, malfunction, sabotage, operator error etc.
As part of a risk assessment, the explosion hazards in all operating conditions must be evaluated for the relevant operating equipment and an explosion protection concept must be drawn up. The explosion protection documents to be created for this must be kept up to date. When changing, expanding or redesigning work systems, operating equipment or work processes, a revision of the relevant documentation is generally required.

Examples of potentially explosive potential installations include:

•     Storage / filling stations for flammable liquids
•     Biogas Plants
•     Recycling and waste Operations
•     Wood and Metalworking Companies
•     Mills
•     Spray-Painting

Irrespective of the number of employees, a risk assessment must always be documented prior to starting the activity.

Frequently Reporting

According to § 5 of DGUV regulation 2 "Company doctors and occupational safety specialists", company doctors and occupational safety specialists are required to regularly report in writing on the tasks ordered about the fulfillment of the assigned tasks. However, there is no legally binding form or deadline, to what extent this regularity, e.g. in the form of an annual report or the documentation is continuously presented in the form of activity reports.

§ 5 DGUV
The entrepreneur must oblige the company doctors and specialists for occupational safety appointed in accordance with § 2 of this accident prevention regulation to report regularly in writing on the fulfillment of the tasks assigned. The reports should also provide information on the cooperation of company doctors and occupational safety experts.

It follows that a mandatory reporting system therefore also takes the form of, e.g. Counseling documents, inspection protocols or in a continuous documentation of activity protocols.
The purpose of this documentation is to reproduce conformity or conformity requirements in a sustainable manner and to provide lasting information about the cooperation of company doctors and occupational safety experts. A regular report should make weak points in the company recognizable, and also serves the ASA to assess the need for action of occupational safety measures. A written illustration serves as proof of activity for the ordered DGUV 2 basic care.

  

Essential components of the aspects to be documented in occupational health and safety care are in the form of an annual report, for example:
  

General information on the annual report

• • Name and position of company doctors and occupational safety specialists in the company or in external services. Client and contractor
• • Illustration of the locations of multi-site Organisation
  

Differentiated quality and quantity of hours worked by the occupational safety specialist and the occupational health service

• • Operation hours for inspections
• • Hours for ASA sessions
• • Working hours for consulting or preparing risk assessments
• • Working hours for instructions
• • Preparation and provision of instruction documents as well as differentiated information on education and training of those involved in the organization, such as executives or safety officers, and the like.
• • Details of the special occupational health check-ups carried out for the operation

Documentation on meetings of the Health and Safety Committee (ASA)

• • Information on the conformity of the meetings, i. binding number and participants, compliant cargo and implementation.

Number of counts and results of site inspections

Results of the analysis and assessment, proposed occupational safety measures and statements on their implementation and effectiveness

Results of the analysis and assessment occupational medical measures as well as statements on their implementation and effectiveness

Conclusions on accidents at work, evaluation of accident statistics

 

An employer must keep documentation for the written documentation required in §5 of the DGUV 2. A copy of the respective report form is to be forwarded to a works council / staff council