Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is the key element in workplace occupational safety and health (OSH) provision. It forms the basis for successful, systematic safety and health management.

A woman and a man with a laptop carry out a risk assessment in a warehouse
© iStock | AnnaStills

Since 1996 the German Occupational Safety and Health Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz, ArbSchG) has placed a duty on all employers to conduct assessments of working conditions and the risks associated with them in order to identify the measures necessary for the protection of their employees.

These pages supply information about the factors that have to be taken into consideration in risk assessments, as well as offering practical guidance.

BAuA makes the online version of its Handbook on Risk Assessment (Handbuch Gefährdungsbeurteilung) available free of charge. A Key Indicator Method developed at BAuA can also be used for the risk assessment of physical workload.

Research Projects

Project numberF 2498 StatusOngoing Project Consideration of psychosocial risks in Occupational Safety and Health. Fundamental revision of the BAuA specialist book

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Research ongoing

Project numberF 2483 StatusCompleted Project Simplified risk assessment of incoherent high-power spotlights

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Research completed

Project numberF 2399 StatusOngoing Project Project cluster: Physical inactivity in the workplace - etiology, risk assessment & prevention, Project 1a Scoping review; Project 1b Systematic review

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Research ongoing

Project numberF 2391 StatusCompleted Project Interactive guidance for the measurement of physical agents within the scope of risk assessment

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Research completed

Project numberF 2358 StatusCompleted Project Psychosocial risk management in company practice

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Research completed

Project numberF 2339 StatusCompleted Project Psychosocial risk management in the EU: Context, strategies and implementation at establishment level - a comparative European study

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Research completed

Publications

Search results

Information overload at the workplace - Health complaints in a longitudinal analysis of the BAuA working time survey

Article 2022

Background: Mental stress is of great importance in our working world as it can have an impact on strain and thus also on …

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Key workplace OSH players in managing psychosocial risks

Article 2022

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Fachzeitschrift ARBEIT, Zeitschrift für …

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Designing Work to Reduce Time and Performance Pressures. Challenges and Approaches in the Context of Psychosocial Risk Management

Article 2022

High work intensity (WI) is experienced by employees as time and performance pressure (TPP). It is considered a key psychosocial …

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Psychosocial Risk Management in Company Practice

Article 2022

The complete article "Psychosocial Risk Management in Company Practice" can be downloaded at the website of the Journal "

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Psychosocial Safety Climate - Psychosocial Safety Climate: Validating the German Questionnaire

Article 2022

To date, there is no German translation of an instrument to assess psychosocial safety climate (PSC) - a specific component of …

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BAuA recommendations for action on SARS-CoV-2

baua: Focus 2022

The BAuA recommendations for action on SARS-CoV-2 are intended to provide guidance on when infection protection measures should …

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EMKG - Workplace and Chemicals

baua: Guidance brief 2022

The Easy-to-use Workplace Control Scheme for Hazardous Substances (EMKG) is offered by the ederal Institute for Occupational …

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Risk communication for protection against hazardous substances in the workplace

Article 2022

Hazardous substances are ubiquitous in the world of work. Employees from all sectors are exposed to different risks when working …

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Manual lifting, holding, and carrying

baua: Guidance 2022

The manual lifting, holding, and carrying of loads weighing ≥ 3 kg is a frequently occurring type of workload to which the human …

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Manual work processes

baua: Guidance 2022

Manual work processes are a type of physical workload characterised by uniform, repetitive movements and applications of force …

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