A safety inspection walk (Begehung Arbeitssicherheit) is the regular round of the occupational safety specialist through the workplace under section 6 sentence 2 no. 3 (a) ASiG. In an office the specialist checks workstations, traffic and escape routes, first aid, fire safety, electrical equipment and break rooms, reports defects to the employer, proposes measures and records everything in an inspection report.
The inspection walk is one of the core tasks of every external occupational safety specialist. This article shows what the law requires, what is checked in an office and how the walk becomes a report that holds up.
What is a safety inspection walk?
A safety inspection walk, also called an occupational safety site inspection, is the on-site observation of occupational safety. Section 6 ASiG obliges the occupational safety specialist to inspect the workplaces at regular intervals, report identified defects to the employer, propose measures to remedy them and work towards their implementation.
The company doctor has the same duty under section 3 (1) no. 3 (a) ASiG. Section 10 ASiG expressly requires the two to cooperate and names joint site inspections as an example. In small offices the specialist often carries out the inspection alone and involves the company doctor on occupational health questions.
The occupational safety specialist advises and has no authority to give instructions; responsibility for implementation remains with the employer under section 3 ArbSchG. The report therefore proves that the employer was informed and what they then arranged.
Specialist's inspection vs. visit by the accident insurance institution: the specialist inspects on behalf of the business and advises, while the inspector of the Berufsgenossenschaft visits under sections 17 to 19 SGB VII and can issue orders. The questions asked at such an appointment are covered in 5 questions the accident insurer asks on site.
How often must an inspection take place?
The ASiG requires inspections "at regular intervals" but sets no fixed interval. In office and administrative businesses at least one inspection per calendar year has become customary, supplemented by inspections for a specific reason. The actual interval belongs in writing in the specialist's appointment or the service contract, so that the service is measurable.
A reason for an additional inspection is anything that affects the risk assessment under section 5 ArbSchG:
- a move to new premises or the refurbishment of existing space
- new workstations, for example due to growth or desk sharing
- an accident at work or a near miss
- new activities, for example storage areas or a kitchenette with new appliances
- complaints from employees about indoor climate, noise or lighting
The time for the inspection, the report and the follow-up comes out of the service time set for the business under DGUV Regulation 2. For businesses with more than 20 employees, basic care in an office (care group III) amounts to 0.5 hours per employee per year for the occupational safety specialist and the company doctor together, with at least 20 percent for each of them.
| Employees | Basic care in total | of which at least specialist (20 percent) | of which at least company doctor (20 percent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 15 hours | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| 80 | 40 hours | 8 hours | 8 hours |
| 200 | 100 hours | 20 hours | 20 hours |
Besides the inspection, these hours also cover the risk assessment, advice, support with safety training and the meetings of the occupational safety committee. The service time calculator works out how many hours apply to your business.
What does the specialist check during an office inspection?
During an office inspection the occupational safety specialist checks six areas: display screen workstations, room conditions, traffic and escape routes, fire safety, first aid and electrical equipment. The yardstick is the Workplaces Ordinance with its Technical Rules (ASR), DGUV Regulation 1 and DGUV Regulation 3. Every finding is assigned to one of these areas.
| Area | Typical check points | Yardstick |
|---|---|---|
| Display screen workstation | screen height and distance, chair, desk height, glare from windows | ArbStättV Annex no. 6 |
| Room conditions | floor area per workstation, lighting, air temperature, ventilation | ASR A1.2, A3.4, A3.5, A3.6 |
| Traffic and escape routes | clear routes, trip hazards, cables, emergency exits, escape and rescue plan | ASR A1.8, A2.3 |
| Fire safety | fire extinguishers present, marked, accessible and tested | ASR A2.2 |
| First aid | first-aid kit complete, notice up to date, first aiders named | DGUV Regulation 1 sections 24 to 26, ASR A4.3 |
| Electrical equipment | test labels, damaged cables, daisy-chained power strips | DGUV Regulation 3 |
Some values can be measured on site. Under ASR A1.2 the minimum floor area of an office is 8 square metres for the first and 6 square metres for each additional workstation. For writing, reading and data processing ASR A3.4 requires an illuminance of at least 500 lux at the workstation. For light seated work ASR A3.5 requires an air temperature of at least 20 degrees Celsius.
For tests, the specialist does not test personally but looks at the record. Portable electrical equipment in offices is tested under DGUV Regulation 3 as a rule every 24 months, and fire extinguishers as a rule every two years by a competent person. A missing label or test record is a finding. The DGUV Regulation 3 test interval calculator shows the intervals per equipment group.
Organisation is part of the inspection too: have new employees been trained, are the first aiders still with the business, does the risk assessment match the rooms? Home office and psychological stress cannot be read off a desk, only learned in conversation with employees.
Who takes part in the inspection?
An inspection involves at least the occupational safety specialist and a person who can take decisions for the business, such as management, office management or an appointed manager. If there is a works council, the employer must involve it under section 89 (2) BetrVG. The company doctor and safety representatives join where they exist.
Many office defects can be resolved during the walk: a box in front of an emergency exit, a power strip under a desk. Whoever may decide and is present decides on the spot.
Safety representatives under section 22 SGB VII, mandatory from 50 regular employees, know the weak spots in daily work and should come along (more in Safety representative in the office).
How an office inspection works
An office inspection follows five steps: set the date, prepare the records, walk the site, hold a closing meeting, and file the report and follow up. The walk itself is only one part. Without preparation the inspection starts with searching for records, and without follow-up the same defects remain until the next inspection.
- Set the date and participants. Agree the date with the occupational safety specialist, name management or a responsible person and, where they exist, invite the works council, the company doctor and the safety representatives.
- Prepare the records. Send the risk assessment, the last inspection report with open measures, test records and a current list of rooms to the specialist in advance.
- Walk through every area. Cover workstations, traffic and escape routes, break rooms, technical and storage areas, and first aid and fire safety equipment one after another, not just the representative rooms.
- Hold a closing meeting. Go through the findings with the responsible person on the same day and set priorities, owners and deadlines.
- File the report and follow up. File the report with date, participants, findings and measures, and work through the open points before the next inspection or safety committee meeting.
In step 3 it pays to look into rooms that rarely anyone enters: server room, archive, copy room, basement. With more than 20 employees the inspection results also belong on the agenda of the occupational safety committee, which under section 11 ASiG meets at least once per calendar quarter.
What belongs in the inspection report?
An inspection report contains the date, participants, areas inspected, each finding with its location, the proposed measure, the responsible person, a deadline and the completion status. Only these details turn the walk into evidence. A report saying "no significant defects" without a list of the rooms inspected proves little in an audit.
| Item | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
| Date and participants | proves the regular inspection under section 6 ASiG and the involvement of the works council |
| Areas inspected | shows that all rooms were covered, not just a selection |
| Finding with location, ideally with photo | makes the defect traceable and verifiable later |
| Measure, responsible person, deadline | turns the advice into a task for the employer |
| Completion status | proves that the employer responded |
The report is also working material for the risk assessment, which must be documented under section 6 ArbSchG. Findings that reveal a hazard belong there as a measure. An inspection whose results appear nowhere in the risk assessment is a typical contradiction that stands out when the Berufsgenossenschaft checks.
The documentation duty lies with the employer, not the service provider. Reports therefore belong to the business and must remain available after a change of specialist.
Preparing the inspection: what the business can do itself
With an hour of preparation a business can make the inspection far more productive. Fixing obvious defects beforehand, ticking off open measures from the last report and having test records ready saves service time, which is then free for advice on refurbishment, home office or psychological stress.
The office checklist filters the check points by number of employees and is well suited to preparation; the background is explained in the office occupational safety checklist. The preliminary round does not replace the inspection, because an outside view sees what the team has grown used to.
Safety Club provides office and administrative businesses with an occupational safety specialist on site plus digital, audit-proof documentation. Inspection reports, measures and deadlines sit in the customer portal and belong to the business. We clarify what that looks like for your business in an initial consultation.
This article is general guidance and does not replace legal advice on your individual case. What governs is the current version of the ASiG, ArbSchG, ArbStättV with the ASR, BetrVG and DGUV Regulations 1, 2 and 3, together with how the accident insurance institution that covers you interprets it.
