Employer duty under § 3 BetrSichV (German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health). Identifies hazards in the use of work equipment, sets protective measures and determines the type, scope and intervals of inspections.
The risk assessment (Gefährdungsbeurteilung) is the written analysis of which hazards arise when a piece of work equipment is used and which protective measures follow from it. § 3 BetrSichV requires it before first use. It has to cover hazards from the equipment itself, from the working environment and from the objects being worked on, as well as foreseeable malfunctions and the hazards involved in fixing them. A CE mark does not replace the assessment. Only competent persons may carry it out, and an employer who lacks the knowledge must get expert advice.
One part matters especially for service work. The risk assessment sets the type, scope and intervals of inspections, as far as the Ordinance does not already prescribe them. It also states what qualifications the inspecting person needs. For installations subject to monitoring and for the equipment listed in Annex 3, maximum intervals apply that you may not exceed. The documentation must contain at least the hazards, the protective measures, and the type, scope and intervals of the inspections (§ 3(8)).
It is not a one-time document. The employer has to review it regularly and update it without delay when working conditions or equipment change in a way that affects safety, when new findings emerge, or when protective measures turn out to be insufficient (§ 3(7)). When an installation is converted, the assessment is therefore back on the table. An assessment that is missing, wrong or late is an administrative offense (§ 22). Anyone who sets inspection intervals without an assessment cannot explain in a dispute why the interval was chosen as it was.
What matters
- Check that a current risk assessment exists for every asset and that it names the type, scope and intervals of inspections.
- Have a competent person prepare or review the assessment if you lack the knowledge yourself.
- Use manufacturer documents as a starting point, but adopt them only where they fit your equipment and conditions.
- Note every review with a date, even if nothing has to change.
- Update the assessment after conversions, accidents and inspection reports with defects.
Suppose a plant replaces the controller of a conveyor system and has the light barriers moved in the process. The service company mentions the conversion in its service report. The plant takes this as the cue to update the risk assessment. It records that an inspection by a competent person is needed before the system restarts, and enters the new inspection scope.
In the original wording
“Before work equipment is used, the employer must assess the hazards that arise (risk assessment) and derive necessary and suitable protective measures from that assessment.”
Unofficial translation
“The employer must determine and specify the type and scope of required inspections of work equipment and the intervals for periodic inspections under sections 14 and 16, unless this Ordinance already contains corresponding requirements.”
Unofficial translation
Related regulations
In vi
- Deadlines & calendar: Every inspection, every maintenance, every cancellation has a date