Introduction
In Germany, "occupational safety and health" is considered a broad concept, which covers prevention of occupational accidents, occupational diseases and work-related health risks. It includes measures to design work in a human-friendlier way, questions of working time (e.g. working on Sundays or public holidays) and protection of persons requiring a particularly high level of protection (e.g. young persons and pregnant women). Occupational safety and health does not include questions to do with employment (e.g. employment contracts) or payment (e.g. wage agreements). The following constitute fundamental legislation in the field of OSH:
Employer responsibility
Employers are responsible for their employees' safety and health at work. They have a duty to implement the necessary OSH measures, taking into account the circumstances which affect employees' safety and health at work. Employers must review the effectiveness of the measures and, if needs be, adjust them to changes in the prevailing conditions. It is also part of their duty to strive to improve employees' safety and the protection of their health. Employers must appoint safety specialists and company physicians to support them and advise them on OSH questions.
Federalism
Germany is a federal republic comprised of independent federal states and that structure is reflected in the OSH system. The lion's share of OSH legislation is "federal law" (i.e. national law), enacted by the "Bundestag" (Germany's lower house of parliament) with, if necessary, the approval of the "Bundesrat" (the upper house of parliament). Ordinances, on the other hand, are mainly adopted by the federal government and also usually require the Bundesrat's approval in order to be made law with final effect. The following are extensively involved from an early stage in the acts and ordinances prepared by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (abbreviated to BMAS in German) in the field of safety and health at the workplace:
The BMAS is supported in its work by experts at the "Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin" (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, BAuA). The job of monitoring adherence to this federal legislation is entrusted to the federal states. Each federal state has thus installed its own OSH inspectorate (referred to as a "Gewerbeaufsichtsamt" or "Staatliches Amt für Arbeitsschutz"), the tasks of which include the following:
- monitoring adherence to legislation
- advising employers
- in specific cases, ordering the implementation of measures needed to ensure employees' safety and health
Dualism
The German OSH system rests on two pillars - state-provided OSH activities and those performed by the statutory accident insurance institutions. The latter are the
Membership is compulsory for all enterprises and public authorities, which means that all employed persons in Germany have insurance cover for occupational accidents and diseases. The accident insurance institutions, and thus the insurance benefits paid in the event of an occupational accident or disease, are financed by means of employer contributions. The accident insurance institutions' tasks range from employing all suitable means to prevent occupational accidents and diseases as well as work-related health risks to ensuring effective first aid is in place. To this end, meetings of representatives of the accident insurance institutions adopt accident-prevention regulations (abbreviated to "UVV" in German), which have to be approved by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour. Compliance with the UVVs is monitored by the "Technische Aufsichtsdienste" (Technical Inspection Services, TADs) of the relevant accident insurance institution. Another primary task of the TADs is to advise employers and employees. The following chart illustrates this concept of dualism in the German OSH system, where both state-provided OSH activities and the accident insurance institutions have their place.
Information/coordination/cooperation
To make sure that there is no duplication in the OSH inspection work performed by the state institutions and the Berufsgenossenschafts, the two sides have to work closely together and exchange knowledge. They notify each other about company inspections they have carried out and the main findings of such inspections. Various bodies exist for them to pass on information, coordinate activities and agree cooperation projects.
