Why do I have to draw up a documentation?

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act every employer must have a documentation.

Companies with more than ten employees

In companies with more than 10 employees documentation is mandatory under the Occupational Safety and Health Act section 6 subs. 1. According to this the employer must have documents which document the result of the risk assessment, the occupational safety and health measures based on it and the result of the check, where his establishment has more than 10 employees or the competent authority has ordered this in individual cases on account of the special hazard situation.

Companies with up to ten employees

For companies with up to ten employees the documentation obligation arises from other statutory regulations; for example, from the Hazardous Substances Ordinance, the Biological Agents Ordinances, the Noise and Vibrations Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Accident Prevention Regulation BGV A2.

Representatives of the Committee of the Laender for Occupational Safety and Health (LASI), the public accident insurance institutions and the competent federal ministry (formerly BMWA, now BMAS) have also made an agreement which says:

"Small establishments with 10 or fewer employees fulfil the requirements regarding documentation if the employer,

1. in order to meet his obligation to conduct a risk assessment according to section 5 ArbSchG at least uses an aid for the risk assessment which his accident insurer or the competent government occupational safety and health authority provides, or
2. to fulfil his obligations under the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) and the accident prevention regulations which give concrete form to this act
   1. participates in the structured support and the specialists for occupational safety and health, company doctors or ex-company services advising him provide him with documents on the risk assessment, or
   2. participates in an alternative structured support model (e.g. an employer model) of his accident insurance institutions and he applies the instruments provided for in the context of this model for the risk assessment."

Further reasons for a documentation

Regardless of the statutory specification, there are a series of other reasons which support the documentation of the risk assessment:

• The documentation makes it easier for you to record measures, the persons responsible and the deadlines for the implementation of the occupational safety and health measures.
• It helps to inform the workers about existing hazards and to give them instruction in safety-related and health-related action.
• It is the basis for the work of the specialist for occupational safety and health, the company doctor and the safety officer, as well as the occupational safety and health committee.
• It is the basis for the right to information of the works or staff council.
• It counts as evidence of the fulfilment of obligations in relation to the inspecting government authorities and your Berufsgenossenschaft (institution for statutory accident insurance and prevention).
• It gives your legal security. Should an accident occur, you can demonstrate with your documentation that the risk assessment was performed.

If you implement and document the seven steps of the risk assessment as described, you have satisfied the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act!

What must the documentation contain?

The documents you have to draw up must cover the following subjects:

1. the results of your risk assessment (hazards found),
2. the stipulated occupational safety and health measures,
3. the result of the check of the implementation and effectiveness of the measures taken.

The nature of the documentation is not laid down in the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

It makes sense to document the overall concept of the risk assessment. You can thus also supplement, for example, on-site inspection records, survey sheets, measuring records, instruction materials or legal references on which the documentation is based.

The documentation is normally a written document. If you use the electronic forms of documentation, it must be ensured that the documents are available at all times and are protected to prevent unauthorised modifications.