Occupational safety specialist for offices in Berlin and eastern Germany
Safety Club supports office and administrative businesses in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with an occupational safety specialist on site. The duties are the same everywhere, the responsible bodies are not: six states with six occupational safety authorities and four VBG district offices.
Safety Club provides the external occupational safety specialist for office businesses in Berlin and eastern Germany: 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.
Berlin
Leipzig
Dresden
Chemnitz
Potsdam
Halle (Saale)
Magdeburg
Erfurt
Rostock
Jena
and more
Who is responsible in which state
Alongside the employers' liability insurance association, a state occupational safety authority supervises businesses in every state. Which VBG district office is responsible is decided by the postcode of your site, not by the state.
State
State occupational safety authority
VBG district office for
Berlin
Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Gesundheitsschutz und technische Sicherheit (LAGetSi)
Berlin: Berlin district office
Brandenburg
Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Verbraucherschutz und Gesundheit (LAVG), occupational safety department in Potsdam
Potsdam: Berlin district office
Saxony
Landesdirektion Sachsen, occupational safety department
Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz: Dresden district office
Saxony-Anhalt
Landesamt für Verbraucherschutz Sachsen-Anhalt, occupational safety division
Halle (Saale), Magdeburg: Erfurt district office
Thuringia
Thüringer Landesamt für Verbraucherschutz, occupational safety department
Erfurt, Jena: Erfurt district office
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales, department of occupational safety and technical safety
Rostock: Hamburg district office
Both work independently of each other and may inspect businesses. The state authority supervises state law such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Workplaces Ordinance and the Working Hours Act; the employers' liability insurance association supervises its accident prevention regulations such as DGUV Regulation 2. What to do when a letter arrives is covered in A letter from the Berufsgenossenschaft: what to do now.
What typically matters for offices in Berlin
Startups and agencies grow fast and regularly miss the threshold of more than 20 employees. From then on an occupational safety committee has to be set up, meeting once per calendar quarter. How a meeting runs is set out in ASA meeting: participants, agenda and minutes.
Many teams work in English. Safety training only does its job if everyone understands it, which in international teams often means English. Whether it may run online is covered in Online safety training and home office.
Associations and organisations close to politics and public administration often work with changing project staff and volunteers. The training duty applies regardless of how long someone is employed.
Businesses in a coworking space remain responsible for the risk assessment of their own employees. Escape routes, first aid and fire safety have to be coordinated with the operator, because several employers work at the same location (section 8 ArbSchG).
Several sites in the region
An office in Berlin and one in Leipzig means two district offices and two state authorities. The risk assessment is produced per site, because premises and routes differ. Contract and point of contact stay the same, and each inspection is handled by a specialist close to the site.
Which authority supervises occupational safety in Berlin?
The Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Gesundheitsschutz und technische Sicherheit (LAGetSi). It inspects workplaces, checks compliance with working-hours rules among other things, and works independently of the employers' liability insurance association.
Is the VBG's Berlin district office also responsible for Potsdam?
Yes, Potsdam is covered by the Berlin district office. For other places in Brandenburg the postcode decides; the VBG states the responsible office through its location search.
We are a Berlin startup with 25 employees. What applies to us?
Above 20 employees, the occupational safety committee with one meeting per quarter is added to the risk assessment, safety training and first-aid organisation. Up to 50 employees the Unternehmermodell is still permitted; from 50, safety officers are added.
