Trade inspection

The trade supervisory authority is a supervisory authority that is responsible for monitoring the legal norms of trade law as well as labor , environmental and consumer protection. It must not be confused with the public order office or the trade office .

General

The function of the trade supervisory authority is carried out by the trade supervisory authorities (or regionally also the Office for Occupational Safety and Health or the Environment Office ), which, as part of the state economic monitoring, monitor compliance with trade law and other regulations. The other regulations include youth protection , maternity protection , the Working Hours Act and the Shop Closing Act .

history

A systematic trade inspection only came into being at the time of industrialization , when the risks from technical progress and innovations increased. The first coke oven was built in Upper Silesia in 1796 , and its operational danger threatened the workers who served it . This also applied to the metal lathe, a machine tool, invented by Henry Maudsley in 1797 . The patenting of the steam engine by James Watt in 1769 increased the risk of occupational accidents from steam boiler explosions on the railroad and in shipping .

In England therefore 1833 established factory inspector ( English factory inspector ), the control of increasingly larger and more dangerous nascent industrial production took over. Prussia introduced freedom of trade in 1845 , which led to the founding of many small businesses . The resulting increased child and women's labor took place under partially inhumane working conditions. Following on from this, the Prussian Occupational Safety and Health Act of May 1853 provided for so-called factory inspections “as organs of the state authorities” in the district governments . These are considered to be the origin of today's trade supervisory authority, which the police were allowed to ask for administrative assistance . The North German Confederation adopted this regulation in June 1869 in its trade regulations. Since July 1878 it has been called the “state trade supervisory authority”, which, in addition to protecting minors, also took over protection of hazards throughout the Reich. In Bavaria, the first factory inspector for Upper Palatinate and Franconia was hired in 1879. The current organization of the trade inspectorate was established in Prussia in April 1891. Since then, companies with at least 10 employees and from 1925 with at least five employees have been subject to supervision.

Legal issues

The trade supervision begins with the official permit required for many types of trade , for example for private hospitals ( Section 30 (1) GewO ), gaming machines with the possibility of making a profit ( Section 33c (1) GewO), gaming halls ( Section 33i (1) GewO), pawn shops ( Section 34 para. 1 GewO), security trade ( § 34a para. 1 GewO), auctioning trade ( § 34b para. 1 GewO), real estate brokers , loan brokers , property developers , construction supervisors , residential property managers ( § 34c para. 1 GewO), insurance brokers and insurance advisors ( § 34d para. 1 GewO) or financial investment broker ( § 34f para. 1 GewO).

According to Section 139b (1) GewO, the trade supervisory authorities have all the official powers of the local police authorities when exercising this supervision, in particular the right to inspect and inspect the facilities at any time . Within the framework of the intervention administration, you can carry out orders and coercive measures against commercial operations that extend up to a commercial prohibition according to Section 35 (1) GewO.

Trade supervisory law is state law :

In Baden-Württemberg , as part of the administrative reform, the state trade supervisory offices were dissolved on January 1, 2005 and incorporated into the four regional councils and into 44 rural and urban districts.

In Bavaria , the seven labor inspectorates were incorporated into the district governments in 2005 .

In Berlin , the State Office for Occupational Safety, Health Protection and Technical Safety (LAGetSi) has been the state occupational safety authority since 1998. It monitors the protection of health and safety at work for Berlin employees, the technical safety of Berlin companies and plants and the technical consumer protection for Berlin consumers.

In Hesse , the state trade supervisory offices were dissolved with effect from April 1, 1993 and state offices for occupational safety and security technology were established in their place . With effect from July 1, 2002, these were initially incorporated into the three regional councils of the state and dissolved as independent authorities with effect from December 22, 2007. Today, the tasks according to the trade regulations in Hesse are shared by several authorities, u. a. the communities (parish council), the independent cities and counties (magistrates and district committees), the regional councils and the chambers of commerce .

The Lower Saxony trade supervisory administration, with its ten state trade supervisory offices, performs tasks in the field of labor, hazard, environmental and consumer protection. As part of the dissolution of the district governments on January 1, 2005, these offices are now directly subordinate to the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection and the Ministry for Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health and Integration .

In North Rhine-Westphalia , the state offices for occupational safety and the state environmental offices were dissolved on January 1, 2007 and incorporated into the five district governments .

In Rhineland-Palatinate , the tasks of the labor inspectorate are carried out by the structure and approval departments.

In Schleswig-Holstein , the state occupational health and safety authority at the Unfallkasse Nord has been informing and advising companies and their employees on occupational health and safety legislation since 2008 and monitors compliance with them. As a state authority, it is integrated into an accident insurance fund .

Differentiation from the professional associations

The professional associations , which are also active in the field of occupational health and safety , deal primarily with the interests of the employees insured with them and their working conditions . In contrast, the field of work of the trade inspection also covers the protection of the general public .

In Germany there is a dual system of occupational safety. On the one hand, the trade supervisory offices (or offices for occupational safety) and, on the other hand, the employers' liability insurance association assume sovereign tasks in occupational safety. In the last few decades there have been repeated efforts to unite this “dual performance of tasks” in just one authority. However, this has so far failed due to the different structure and financing.

As an alternative, the "joint German occupational safety strategy (GDA)" was launched, which also has a responsible institution in the form of the National Occupational Safety and Health Conference. The GDA provides for joint actions in the field of occupational safety, some of which are mandatory and some of which are voluntary. There are regulations to avoid double checks (by employers' liability insurance associations and state labor protection authorities) and agreements on data exchange, which are not yet fully effective.

The BGs put federally predominantly industry-specific professional association rules and regulations to (z. B. Assessment of a sausage slicer), while the labor inspectorates state OSH at provincial level take place (eg. As labor protection law , industrial safety regulations , Maternity Protection Act , youth employment law , Working Time Act ). In principle, however, deficits in occupational safety can be objected to by both the employers' liability insurance association and the trade supervisory authority.

International

In Austria the trade inspectorate is called the Labor Inspectorate . The Labor Inspectorate is part of the Federal Ministry for Labor, Family and Youth and has the task of monitoring compliance with the legal provisions for the protection of the life and health of working people in the companies.

In Switzerland the relevant organization is called the Federal Labor Inspectorate. It supervises, coordinates and supports the implementation of the regulations for employee protection by the cantons , especially in health protection at work (according to the Labor Act ) and in occupational accident prevention (according to the Accident Insurance Act; UVG).

The English equivalent is the Health and Safety Executive .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Rolf Stober / Sven Eisenmenger, trade supervisory office , in: Carl-Christian Freidank (ed.), Vahlens Großes Auditing-Lexikon , 2007, p. 555
↑ Lydia Buck-Heilig, The Trade Inspectorate: Origin and Development , 1989, p. 23
↑ Michael Karl, Factory Inspectors in Prussia , 1993, p. 1
↑ Lydia Buck-Heilig, The Trade Inspectorate: Origin and Development , 1989, p. 32 f.
^ Adolf Gottstein / Arthur Schloßmann / Ludwig Teleky, Industrial Hygiene and Industrial Diseases , 1926, p. 66
↑ On the factory inspection in the 19th century, see the collection of sources on the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , Section I: From the time when the Empire was founded to the Imperial Social Message (1867–1881), Volume 3: Workers' protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Stuttgart / Jena / New York, 1996; Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914, Section II: From the Imperial Social Message to the February decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890), Volume 3: Workers' protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 1998; Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914, III. Department: Expansion and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904), Volume 3, worker protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2005.
↑ Art. 1 and 2 of the law on the reorganization of the trade inspection administration in Hesse of February 25, 1993 (GVBl. I p. 49).
↑ Art. 2 of the First Act on Administrative Structural Reform of June 20, 2002 (GVBl. I p. 342).
↑ Art. 9 No. 24 of the law on the repeal of legal provisions and on the dissolution of the Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Brokers of December 17, 2007 (GVBl. I p. 911).
↑ In detail cf. Ordinance on responsibilities under the Trade Regulations and the Restaurant Act as well as on the operation of ostrich farms of June 20, 2002 (GVBl. I p. 395).
↑ Austrian Labor Inspectorate
↑ Federal Labor Inspectorate

[1] Rolf Stober / Sven Eisenmenger, trade supervisory office , in: Carl-Christian Freidank (ed.), Vahlens Großes Auditing-Lexikon , 2007, p. 555

[2] Lydia Buck-Heilig, The Trade Inspectorate: Origin and Development , 1989, p. 23

[3] Michael Karl, Factory Inspectors in Prussia , 1993, p. 1

[4] Lydia Buck-Heilig, The Trade Inspectorate: Origin and Development , 1989, p. 32 f.

[5] Adolf Gottstein / Arthur Schloßmann / Ludwig Teleky, Industrial Hygiene and Industrial Diseases , 1926, p. 66

[6] On the factory inspection in the 19th century, see the collection of sources on the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , Section I: From the time when the Empire was founded to the Imperial Social Message (1867–1881), Volume 3: Workers' protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Stuttgart / Jena / New York, 1996; Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914, Section II: From the Imperial Social Message to the February decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890), Volume 3: Workers' protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 1998; Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914, III. Department: Expansion and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904), Volume 3, worker protection, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2005.

[7] Art. 1 and 2 of the law on the reorganization of the trade inspection administration in Hesse of February 25, 1993 (GVBl. I p. 49).

[8] Art. 2 of the First Act on Administrative Structural Reform of June 20, 2002 (GVBl. I p. 342).

[9] Art. 9 No. 24 of the law on the repeal of legal provisions and on the dissolution of the Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Brokers of December 17, 2007 (GVBl. I p. 911).

[10] In detail cf. Ordinance on responsibilities under the Trade Regulations and the Restaurant Act as well as on the operation of ostrich farms of June 20, 2002 (GVBl. I p. 395).

[11] Austrian Labor Inspectorate

[12] Federal Labor Inspectorate