Occupational Safety Act
The German law on company doctors, safety engineers and other specialists for occupational safety - in short, the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) - of December 12, 1973, last amended by Article 226 of the ordinance of October 31, 2006, regulates the obligations of employers to appoint company doctors , safety engineers and other specialists for occupational safety , defines their tasks and operational position and calls for operational cooperation in occupational safety and accident prevention, e.g. B. in the occupational safety committee . It is intended to ensure that employers are given expert advice.
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on company doctors, safety engineers and other occupational safety specialists |
| Short title: | Occupational Safety Act (not official) |
| Abbreviation: | ASiG (not official) |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Employment Law |
| References : | 805-2 |
| Issued on: | December 12, 1973 ( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1885 ) |
| Entry into force on: | 1st December 1974 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 3 para. 5 G of April 20, 2013 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 868, 914 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
August 1, 2013 (Art. 7 Paragraph 1 G of April 20, 2013) |
| GESTA : | G048 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The guiding principle of the law is prevention in occupational health and safety. § 1 ASiG states:
“In accordance with this law, the employer must appoint company doctors and occupational safety specialists . These are intended to support him in occupational safety and accident prevention. This is to achieve that
- the regulations for occupational safety and accident prevention are applied in accordance with the special operating conditions,
- secure occupational medical and safety knowledge to improve occupational health and safety and accident prevention can be implemented,
- the measures serving occupational safety and accident prevention achieve the highest possible degree of effectiveness. "
Specific requirements for occupational health and safety care are regulated separately in the accident prevention regulation of the German statutory accident insurance (DGUV regulation 2, replaced the professional association regulation BGV A2 on January 1, 2011). This is the autonomous law of the accident insurance carriers.
criticism
On the one hand, as part of a resolution by the German Federal Council on the reduction of bureaucracy on November 26, 2004, a revision and relaxation of the law was called for.
On the other hand, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was repeatedly criticized for the lack of certain specific regulations, for example the lack of authority to control the quality of work and the equipment of external services; or the lack of an obligation to certify with regard to binding quality standards.
From the point of view of company co-determination , the general form of the ASiG proved to be an advantage, because wherever there is scope for decision-making in occupational health and safety, full co-determination applies in companies with a works council (Section 87 (1) No. 7 BetrVG ). This results in extensive design options for employee representatives who regulate occupational health and safety issues, for example with company agreements.
The ASiG has proven itself in use. In its conception, it already corresponds to the modern occupational health and safety legislation based on EC law : The framework regulations contained in it are relatively broad and enable adaptation to company conditions. The implementation of the ASiG is now common practice in all larger companies.
swell
- ↑ Information on regulation 2 of the German statutory accident insurance (DGUV regulation 2) HTML ( Memento from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Michael Kittner, Ralf Pieper: Industrial safety law. 2006, ISBN 3-7663-3607-X .
- ↑ Jens Gäbert, Brigitte Maschmann-Schulz: Codetermination in health protection. 2008, ISBN 978-3-7663-3498-5 .
literature
- Rudolf Aufhauser, Hanna Brunhöber u. a .: Occupational Safety Act . 3. Edition. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2004, ISBN 3-8329-0428-X .
- Rudolf Anzinger, Hans-Jürgen Bieneck: Commentary on the Occupational Safety Act . Verlag Recht und Wirtschaft, Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-8005-3039-2 .
