The Occupational Health and Safety Act applies to practically every employer with staff, regardless of sector. A pure office is not exempt; the scope of measures is simply smaller than in production. Seven duties form the core, and which of them apply depends on three thresholds: the first employee, more than 20, and more than 50.
| Duty | When it applies | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Produce and update the risk assessment | from 1 employee | Section 5 ArbSchG |
| Ensure occupational safety and occupational health support | from 1 employee | Section 2, Section 5 ASiG |
| Train employees | from 1 employee | Section 12 ArbSchG |
| Organise first aid | from 1 employee | Section 10 ArbSchG, DGUV Regulation 1 |
| Keep audit-proof documentation | from 1 employee | Section 6 ArbSchG |
| Set up an occupational safety committee (ASA) | from more than 20 employees | Section 11 ASiG |
| Appoint safety officers | from 50 employees (since May 2026) | Section 22 SGB VII |
| Formally appoint a safety specialist and occupational physician (standard support) | from more than 50 employees | DGUV Regulation 2 |
From the first employee
These five duties apply with no lower threshold at all. As soon as you employ one person, they must be met.
1. Produce and update the risk assessment
The risk assessment is the heart of occupational safety (section 5 ArbSchG). For each workstation or workstation type you identify the hazards, evaluate them and derive measures. In an office these are primarily screen work and ergonomics, traffic and escape routes, electrical equipment, fire safety, and mental stress under section 5 paragraph 3.
It is not a one-off task: it must be updated on relocation, refurbishment, new work equipment, new activities or after an accident. How to go about it is set out in Risk assessment in the office. A first overview of open points comes from the office safety checklist.
2. Appoint an occupational safety specialist and an occupational physician
The Occupational Safety Act requires both: an occupational physician (section 2 ASiG) and an occupational safety specialist (section 5 ASiG). Neither section sets a minimum headcount, and neither role replaces the other.
The scope follows DGUV Regulation 2. Office businesses sit in support group III with 0.5 hours of basic support per employee and year for both roles combined. Up to 50 employees the Unternehmermodell under Annex 3 is an alternative, with no lower limit and no formally appointed specialist. Details in Does an office need an occupational safety specialist? and The occupational physician in the office.
3. Train employees
Every employee must be trained on the hazards at their workstation and the protective measures: on hiring and regularly thereafter, as a rule at least annually (section 12 ArbSchG, section 4 DGUV Regulation 1). Added to that are sessions as occasions arise: new activities, new work equipment, after an accident, or after a long absence.
The training must match the risk assessment in content and be evidenced: date, content, participants, signatures. The training-interval calculator shows when the next one is due; the content is covered in Safety training in the office.
4. Organise first aid
This has four components: enough trained first aiders, reachable and complete first-aid supplies, a working reporting chain with a notice, and documentation of every instance of first aid given.
In administrative businesses at least 5 percent must be trained as first aiders above 20 people present at the same time; below that one person is enough. Training must be refreshed every two years. You can work this out with the first-aider calculator and the first-aid kit calculator. More in First aid in the office.
5. Document everything ready for inspection
Occupational safety must be evidenced (section 6 ArbSchG). What must be documented is the result of the risk assessment, the measures decided and the result of their review, plus training, appointments and support delivered.
That is exactly what the employers' liability insurance association asks about first. What such a letter requires is covered in A letter from the Berufsgenossenschaft; the BG risk check gives a read on how well you are positioned.
Above 20 employees
At 21 employees one organisational duty arrives. This threshold is often missed, because it arrives quietly with the next hire.
6. Set up an occupational safety committee
The committee meets at least once per calendar quarter (section 11 ASiG). Members are the employer, the occupational safety specialist, the occupational physician, any safety officers and works council representatives. The meetings must be minuted, and the minutes are regularly requested during an inspection. Dates can be planned with the ASA planner; details in Occupational safety committee (ASA): from when?.
From 50 employees
7. Appoint safety officers
Since the amendment to section 22 SGB VII on 29 May 2026, safety officers must be appointed in writing only from 50 employees; between 20 and 49 only where there is a special hazard to life and health, so in a classic office usually not. They support day to day on a voluntary basis, but carry no additional responsibility and do not replace the specialist. How many people are needed depends on headcount, the hazards present and how people are distributed. See Safety officers in the office and the safety-officer calculator.
At around this size the Unternehmermodell also ends: from 51 employees, standard support with a formally appointed specialist and physician is mandatory, with a defined number of hours. The switch does not happen automatically; it has to be actively made and documented.
The duties quick-check shows which duties apply at your specific headcount in under a minute.
Who is responsible in the business
Responsibility for occupational safety lies with the employer, meaning company management. This responsibility can be transferred organisationally but never handed over entirely.
Under section 13 ArbSchG, tasks can be transferred in writing to reliable and competent people, for example a site or department manager. For the transfer to hold, it must contain three things: the specific area of responsibility, the authority needed for it, and the corresponding resources. A transfer without a budget and without decision-making authority has no effect.
What remains with company management in every case is the duty to select and supervise: was a suitable person chosen, were they adequately equipped, is it checked that the tasks are actually carried out. That is exactly the question raised after an accident, and it can only be answered with documentation.
The workplace itself: what the ArbStättV requires
Alongside the seven core duties, the Workplace Ordinance sets requirements for the premises themselves. For office businesses these are the most relevant:
- Sufficient floor area and room height per workstation, so that movement space and traffic routes are not restricted.
- Daylight and a view outside, as far as operationally possible, together with adequate artificial lighting.
- Room temperature and ventilation within a range that is not harmful to health.
- Traffic routes and escape routes, sufficiently wide, clear and signed.
- Sanitary facilities and break areas in appropriate number and equipment.
- Protection from tobacco smoke in workplaces.
The Technical Rules for Workplaces (ASR) spell these requirements out. Anyone who complies with them can assume they meet the ordinance. In practice this becomes relevant mainly during a relocation, when workstations are packed more densely, or when desk sharing is introduced, because areas and routes change.
What often gets overlooked
Alongside the seven core duties there are four points regularly missing in office businesses, even though they take little effort:
- Mental stress in the risk assessment. By far the most common substantive shortcoming, see Mental stress in the risk assessment.
- Inspection of portable electrical equipment under DGUV Regulation 3, from the laptop to the power strip. Intervals in the test-interval calculator.
- Fire safety helpers and clear escape routes, see Fire safety in the office.
- Remote and mobile working, as soon as it is practised in the business, see Remote work and telework.
Where the works council has a say
Where a works council exists, it must not only be informed about occupational safety but holds genuine co-determination rights. These cover, among other things, how the risk assessment is designed, the selection of training content, the appointment of safety officers, and health protection measures.
In practice that means involving them early rather than presenting finished results. A risk assessment produced without involvement may have to be redone, and that costs more time than involving them from the start.
The order to follow if you are starting from nothing
Anyone finding that nothing has been documented so far should not start everywhere at once. This order works well:
- Appoint an occupational safety specialist and an occupational physician. Without expertise the risk assessment is laborious, and the appointment is the first document anyone asks for.
- Produce the risk assessment. It is the basis for everything else.
- Organise first aid. Name and train first aiders, check supplies, produce the notice.
- Train and document. Content based on the risk assessment.
- Above 20 employees: set up the occupational safety committee (safety officers only from 50).
Organising these duties individually takes time. Safety Club bundles them for office and administrative businesses into one contract: an occupational safety specialist on site plus digital, audit-proof documentation. How getting started works is set out in the four-step process.
This article is general guidance and does not replace legal advice on your individual case. What governs is the current version of the regulations mentioned, together with how your employers' liability insurance association (Berufsgenossenschaft, BG) interprets it.
