Occupational safety for kindergartens and childcare
The Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Occupational Safety Act and DGUV Regulation 2 apply to every business. What differs for kindergartens and childcare is where the risk assessment puts its focus.
- Kindergartens & childcare
Important: A nursery is not an office business. Support group III applies to the provider's administration, not to the childcare groups themselves. The two areas have to be assessed separately, and the classification of your business is decided by your accident insurance institution, not by an assumption about your sector.
What is different here
The workplace is designed for children, not for adults. Low tables and chairs, working while sitting on the floor and frequent lifting create awkward postures that simply do not occur in an office.
The four points that matter
- Awkward postures and lifting. Child-height furniture means permanently unfavourable postures for adults, plus lifting and carrying children. Both belong in the assessment as musculoskeletal strain, together with adult furniture at every position where people work for longer periods.
- Risk of infection. Working with children brings an increased risk of infection. It has to be assessed under the Biological Agents Ordinance and feeds directly into the hygiene plan and occupational health provision.
- Maternity protection. For pregnant and breastfeeding employees, restrictions regularly apply in childcare. The standing risk assessment under the Maternity Protection Act is not a formality here; it is the point at which things become practical.
- Noise and voice. A permanent noise level in group rooms and constant loud speaking are a real strain. Room acoustics here are an occupational safety measure, not just a question of fit-out.
What a walkthrough typically turns up
The same points come up almost every time: no adult furniture where staff work for longer periods; material stored above head height that becomes a falling-object question when taken down; and traffic routes restricted by play equipment. On paper, what is usually missing is the biological agents assessment and the standing assessment under the Maternity Protection Act.
What that means for safety training
Training follows the activity, not an office standard: lifting and carrying children, working near floor level without straining the back, the hygiene plan and infection control, what to do when a child or a member of staff is injured, supervision in the outdoor area. The provider's administration is trained separately, because different hazards apply there.
Related
- External occupational safety specialist: the scope under section 6 ASiG, the three support models compared and how the number of hours is calculated.
- Regions: an occupational safety specialist on site in eight regions across Germany, with the responsible VBG district office for each.
- Occupational safety by sector: what sets law firms, IT, agencies, real estate, associations, financial services and other business types apart.
- Duties quick-check: which duties apply at your headcount, from the occupational safety committee through safety officers to the end of the Unternehmermodell.
- Support-hours calculator: your support hours under DGUV Regulation 2, including the split between specialist and physician. The cost logic is explained in What does a safety specialist cost?
- Risk assessment in the office and safety training in the office: the two duties that apply to every office business from the first employee.
- Services overview: the complete scope required by the ASiG and DGUV Regulation 2 in one contract, with every sector and location we cover.
Frequently asked questions
Do different rules apply to kindergartens and childcare?
Do we need a separate risk assessment per location?
From when do we need an occupational safety specialist?
What does support cost for a business our size?
Other business types
Worry-free occupational safety in 4 steps
A simple path from the first conversation to audit-proof documentation.
Free initial consultation
We set out what the law requires, what you don't need and what we deliver. Clarity from day one.
Contract signed
One contract, predictable annual costs, booked directly with us. First contact to signature: five working days at most.
Occupational safety specialist on site
Your specialist visits for the walkthrough, produces the risk assessment and checks: what is there, what is missing?
Audit-proof documentation in the portal
Every record sits in the client portal: digital, complete, current, easy to share.
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