A fine for breaching occupational safety rules in Germany can reach €10,000 when the Berufsgenossenschaft acts under section 209 SGB VII, and €30,000 when the state occupational safety authority sanctions a disregarded order under section 25 ArbSchG. An inspection report and an order with a deadline almost always come first. Criminal law only applies to endangerment, persistent repetition or an accident causing injury.
This article sets out the sanctions plainly, because public debate tends to mix things up: fines and criminal penalties, the Berufsgenossenschaft and the trade inspectorate, orders and "warnings". How to respond to a specific letter is covered in A letter from the Berufsgenossenschaft: what to do now.
The stages: from inspection report to criminal law
Occupational safety sanctions follow a sequence in practice: advice and an inspection report, then an order with a deadline, then a fine, and only in serious cases criminal law. Businesses that respond at the first stage rarely reach the second. Most office businesses never get beyond an inspection report.
- Inspection report. An inspection report (Revisionsschreiben) is the written summary of a visit by the inspector of the Berufsgenossenschaft or the authority, listing the defects found and a deadline for remedying them. It is not yet a sanction.
- Order. An order (Anordnung) is an administrative act in which the supervisory body specifies which measure the employer must take and by when. The Berufsgenossenschaft bases it on section 19(1) SGB VII, the state authority on section 22(3) ArbSchG and, for appointing a safety specialist and company doctor, on section 12 ASiG.
- Fine. A fine (Bußgeld) is the monetary penalty for an administrative offence, imposed by a penalty notice. The typical trigger is a disregarded, enforceable order.
- Criminal penalty. Only a court imposes a criminal penalty, as a fine or imprisonment, after an investigation by the public prosecutor.
The stages are not automatic. Where there is imminent danger, the inspector may issue immediately enforceable orders under section 19(1) sentence 2 SGB VII, and the authority can prohibit the affected work under section 22(3) ArbSchG if an order is not implemented on time.
Who acts, on what basis, up to what amount
Two bodies impose occupational safety fines in Germany: the accident insurance institution, for office businesses usually the VBG, and the state occupational safety authority. Maximum amounts range from €500 for refusing information under the ASiG to €30,000 for a disregarded order under the ArbSchG. A fine is not a criminal penalty and does not create a criminal record.
| Who acts | Breach | Legal basis | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berufsgenossenschaft | Breach of an accident prevention regulation that refers to the fining provision | Section 209(1) no. 1 SGB VII | €10,000 |
| Berufsgenossenschaft | Enforceable order under section 19 SGB VII disregarded | Section 209(1) no. 2 SGB VII | €10,000 |
| Berufsgenossenschaft | Safety representatives not appointed | Section 209(1) no. 3a SGB VII | €10,000 |
| Berufsgenossenschaft | Accident report not filed or filed late | Section 209(1) no. 9 SGB VII | €2,500 |
| Safety authority | Enforceable order under section 22(3) ArbSchG disregarded | Section 25(2) ArbSchG | €30,000 |
| Safety authority | Breach of an ordinance that refers to the fining provision, such as ArbStättV | Section 25(2) ArbSchG | €5,000 |
| Safety authority | Order to appoint a safety specialist or company doctor disregarded | Section 20(2) ASiG | €25,000 |
| Safety authority | Information refused or inspection not tolerated | Section 20(2) ASiG | €500 |
| Criminal court | Order persistently disregarded or health deliberately endangered | Section 26 ArbSchG | 1 year imprisonment |
| Criminal court | Negligent bodily harm | Section 229 StGB | 3 years imprisonment |
| Criminal court | Negligent homicide | Section 222 StGB | 5 years imprisonment |
Under section 210 SGB VII, the accident insurance institution is itself the fining authority for breaches under section 209 SGB VII. Both supervisory tracks operate independently.
Fines without a prior order: the direct offences
Some duties carry a fine directly, without any prior order. For office businesses these are mainly the offences listed in section 9 ArbStättV and section 32 of DGUV Regulation 1. Businesses that are careless here risk fining proceedings at the first inspection, even though in practice the supervisory body usually sets a deadline first.
Under section 9(1) ArbStättV, an administrative offence is committed by anyone who, among other things:
- does not document the risk assessment correctly, completely or on time (no. 1),
- does not keep traffic routes, escape routes and emergency exits clear (no. 7),
- does not provide first aid supplies and facilities (no. 8),
- does not instruct employees before they start work (no. 9).
A breach of section 9 ArbStättV can be fined up to €5,000 via section 25(1) no. 1 ArbSchG. DGUV Regulation 1, an accident prevention regulation, likewise refers directly to section 209 SGB VII in its section 32, among other things for the number of first aiders (section 26(1)), first aid facilities (section 25(1)) and the five-year documentation of every first aid intervention (section 24(6)). These carry a maximum of €10,000.
A risk assessment in the office that is undocumented or has not been updated for years is therefore not a cosmetic flaw but an offence in its own right. The VBG risk check shows where your business stands on these points in a few minutes.
Negligent or deliberate: worked examples
The statutory maximum applies only to deliberate conduct. Under section 17(2) OWiG, the maximum is halved for negligence unless the law expressly distinguishes, and neither section 209 SGB VII nor section 25 ArbSchG does. The fine is set according to the significance of the breach, the degree of fault and the financial situation of the offender (section 17(3) OWiG).
Three typical situations from office businesses show how far apart the ranges are. The amounts are statutory ceilings, not empirical values for fines actually imposed:
| Case | Legal route | Maximum, deliberate | Maximum, negligent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency with 12 employees, escape route permanently blocked with boxes | Section 9(1) no. 7 ArbStättV, section 25 ArbSchG | €5,000 | €2,500 |
| Law firm with 35 employees ignores a VBG order to appoint an occupational safety specialist | Section 19 SGB VII, section 209(1) no. 2 SGB VII | €10,000 | €5,000 |
| Administration with 140 employees fails to implement an authority order on the risk assessment | Section 22(3) ArbSchG, section 25(2) ArbSchG | €30,000 | €15,000 |
Two factors shift these ranges. First, under section 17(4) OWiG, the fine should exceed the economic benefit derived from the breach and may even exceed the statutory maximum to do so. Saved safety support costs are such a benefit. Second, fines can accumulate when several offences are committed. In the third case, a persistently repeated breach also becomes a criminal offence under section 26 no. 1 ArbSchG.
When occupational safety becomes a criminal matter
Criminal law applies in two situations: under section 26 ArbSchG, anyone who persistently disregards an enforceable order or endangers the life or health of an employee through a deliberate breach is liable to prosecution. After an accident causing injury or death, sections 229 and 222 StGB also apply, even where the conduct was merely negligent.
Fine vs. criminal penalty is the key distinction in this topic. A fine is imposed by an administrative authority, it sanctions an administrative offence and does not create a criminal record. A criminal penalty is imposed by a court, it requires a criminal offence and can lead to a criminal record.
For negligent bodily harm or homicide, it does not matter whether an order was issued beforehand. The public prosecutor asks whether a duty of care was breached and whether the accident would have been avoided had the duty been met. Risk assessments, training records and appointments are used precisely for this. Training that took place but was never recorded offers little help in such proceedings. What a robust record looks like is covered in Occupational safety training in the office.
Who is liable: management, supervisors, the company
Under section 13(1) ArbSchG, responsibility for occupational safety lies with the employer and its authorised representative body, which for a GmbH means the managing directors. Fines and criminal penalties target natural persons. A corporate fine under section 30 OWiG can additionally be imposed on the company itself.
Managing directors should know three provisions:
- Section 13(2) ArbSchG: The employer can delegate tasks in writing to reliable and competent persons, such as site or team leads. Delegation shifts the execution, while the duty to select and supervise remains with management.
- Section 130 OWiG: An owner who fails to take the necessary supervisory measures commits an administrative offence in their own right if a breach is committed in the business as a result.
- Section 30 OWiG: The corporate fine follows the maximum for the administrative offence; for a negligent criminal offence by a management person, the range extends to €5 million.
Alongside fines and criminal penalties, there is recourse by the accident insurance. Under section 110 SGB VII, anyone who caused an insured event deliberately or through gross negligence is liable to the social insurance institutions for their expenses.
Three persistent misconceptions
Three errors keep surfacing in discussions about occupational safety sanctions: the "warning" from the Berufsgenossenschaft, equating fines with criminal penalties, and the assumption that occupational safety duties only start above a certain company size. All three lead to wrong decisions.
- "The BG issues a warning." There is no Abmahnung in occupational safety law. The supervisory body sends an inspection report or issues an order with a deadline. The Abmahnung comes from employment and competition law.
- "A fine is a criminal penalty." A fine sanctions an administrative offence, a criminal penalty sanctions a criminal offence. The maximum amount of a fine says nothing about the criminal sentence, and vice versa.
- "Small businesses are exempt." The duty to obtain safety support under the ASiG and DGUV Regulation 2 applies from the first employee. Thresholds such as more than 20 or 50 and more employees concern individual duties, such as the occupational safety committee or safety representatives, not occupational safety as a whole.
Which duties apply at your headcount is listed by the duties check.
What protects office businesses from sanctions
What protects against fines and criminal penalties is above all a documented organisation: an appointed occupational safety specialist and company doctor, a documented and current risk assessment, recorded training and a first aid organisation that matches the headcount. Businesses that can present these four items usually end the sequence at the inspection report.
Safety Club does exactly that for office and administrative businesses: an occupational safety specialist on site plus digital, audit-ready documentation. If you already have an inspection report or an order on your desk, get in touch before the deadline runs out.
This article provides general guidance and does not replace individual legal advice. The current versions of the regulations cited and the interpretation of your responsible Berufsgenossenschaft and occupational safety authority are authoritative.
