Many associations and clubs have a small paid head office, with volunteers, committee members, project staff and conference guests coming and going around it. Only employees count for support under DGUV Regulation 2. Safety training and emergency arrangements, however, have to reach the others as well.
Associations & clubs
For this type of business Safety Club provides the external occupational safety specialist: one contract with predictable annual costs, a specialist from the network on site, physician, travel, risk assessment and safety briefings in the price, and audit-proof documentation on our platform, the client portal. See in a few clicks what you pay within this full package, in the quote calculator.
Associations and clubs: constant turnover around the head office
Volunteer, project and internship placements often start and end between two annual training dates. The training duty applies to these people just as much, yet in day-to-day practice they are the easiest to overlook.
Volunteers without an employment contract are not employees within the meaning of section 2 (2) ArbSchG, so they do not count towards the thresholds in DGUV Regulation 2. If they are covered by statutory accident insurance, they still have to be trained, because section 4 of DGUV Regulation 1 extends the training duty to all insured persons.
Elected or appointed honorary office holders in non-profit organisations have the option of voluntary insurance with the VBG (section 6 (1) no. 3 SGB VII). This can apply, for example, to a club's volunteer board or to delegates who take on tasks on the board's behalf. People who serve in an honorary capacity on committees of employers' associations or trade unions can also insure themselves voluntarily. The application comes from the organisation, its umbrella body or the person concerned. Before applying, check whether a framework agreement already exists through the umbrella body.
Associations and clubs: accident insurance, economic sector, thresholds
Item
Association or club
Accident insurance institution
Usually the VBG. Its statutes name chambers, business and employers' associations, trade unions, political parties, interest groups, sports clubs and clubs for leisure and social activities. Associations in health care and welfare belong to the BGW.
Economic sector
WZ 94.1 (business and employers' associations, professional organisations). WZ 94.2 (trade unions). WZ 94.9 (religious organisations, political parties and other membership organisations)
Support group under DGUV Regulation 2
III in all three cases. Above 20 employees: 0.5 hours of basic support per employee and year, shared between the specialist and the occupational physician, with at least 20 per cent on each side
From the first employee
Risk assessment, safety training, first-aid organisation, appointment of an occupational safety specialist and an occupational physician
Up to 20 employees
Annex 1 of DGUV Regulation 2 with no fixed support hours
Above 20 employees
Occupational safety committee, meeting once per calendar quarter (section 11 ASiG)
Up to 50 employees
Unternehmermodell permitted as an alternative. More than 50: standard support
From 50 employees in an office
Safety officers (section 22 SGB VII, since 29 May 2026)
Volunteer board members
Voluntary insurance with the VBG possible if the organisation is non-profit and the VBG covers it (section 6 (1) no. 3 SGB VII)
At head office, policy officers, administrative staff, mini-jobbers and working students all count. Part-time staff count proportionally towards the threshold of 20: up to 20 hours a week as 0.5, up to 30 as 0.75. A regional association with its own legal form is an employer in its own right with its own duties, even if the federal association organises the support.
Where an association's risk assessment starts
Volunteers and short-term staff. The training obligation attaches to the engagement, not to its duration. Depending on how it is arranged, volunteers are also covered by statutory accident insurance.
Several small branch offices. First-aid supplies and trained first aiders have to be in place at each site, sized by the people present there at the same time, not only at head office.
Events and meetings. General meetings and conferences fill rooms not designed for them. Escape route widths, seating and lighting have to be checked for each event.
Storage for campaign material. Material moved twice a year gets stacked accordingly. Shelf stability, manual handling and clear routes are the typical findings here.
Where several associations share a building and their employees work at the same workplace, section 8 ArbSchG requires the employers to cooperate. In practice that usually means a shared escape and rescue plan, coordinated first aiders and an agreement on who leads an evacuation. The First-aid kit calculator shows how much first-aid material each site needs.
Inspection at an association: head office, meeting rooms, storage
Two patterns stand out. First, sites with no first-aid supplies and no first aiders of their own, because both are kept only at head office. Second, event rooms whose seating is left in the escape route after the last meeting. Add storage rooms with material above head height. On paper, an overview of who was trained when is usually missing.
Safety training in an association: induction before the first assignment
What works in practice is a short, standardised induction block delivered and documented before the first activity, rather than folding people into the next annual session, which many of them will no longer be there to attend. For events, add a short safety briefing on escape routes and the assembly point; for storage, lifting and shelf use.
A list kept at head office with name, date, topic and signature is enough as a record. The Training-interval calculator works out when the next refresher is due.
Which employers' liability insurance association covers associations and clubs?
In most cases the Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft (VBG). Its statutes cover business and employers' associations, trade unions, political parties, interest groups and clubs. Exceptions include associations in health care and welfare, which belong to the BGW. The membership notice is binding.
Do volunteer board members count towards the headcount?
Not as long as they work without an employment contract. Support hours, the occupational safety committee and safety officers depend on the head-office employees. A board member who is also employed counts as an employee.
Are the volunteer board members of a non-profit club covered by accident insurance?
Not automatically. Elected or appointed honorary office holders in non-profit organisations can, however, take out voluntary insurance (section 6 (1) no. 3 SGB VII) with the VBG, provided it covers the club. The application is made by the club, its umbrella body or the board member.
