Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is the key element in workplace occupational safety and health (OSH) provision. It forms the basis for successful, systematic safety and health management.

A woman and a man with a laptop carry out a risk assessment in a warehouse
© iStock | AnnaStills

Since 1996 the German Occupational Safety and Health Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz, ArbSchG) has placed a duty on all employers to conduct assessments of working conditions and the risks associated with them in order to identify the measures necessary for the protection of their employees.

These pages supply information about the factors that have to be taken into consideration in risk assessments, as well as offering practical guidance.

BAuA makes the online version of its Handbook on Risk Assessment (Handbuch Gefährdungsbeurteilung) available free of charge. A Key Indicator Method developed at BAuA can also be used for the risk assessment of physical workload.

Research Projects

Project numberF 2498 StatusOngoing Project Consideration of psychosocial risks in Occupational Safety and Health. Fundamental revision of the BAuA specialist book

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Research ongoing

Project numberF 2483 StatusCompleted Project Simplified risk assessment of incoherent high-power spotlights

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Research completed

Project numberF 2399 StatusOngoing Project Project cluster: Physical inactivity in the workplace - etiology, risk assessment & prevention, Project 1a Scoping review; Project 1b Systematic review

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Research ongoing

Project numberF 2391 StatusCompleted Project Interactive guidance for the measurement of physical agents within the scope of risk assessment

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Research completed

Project numberF 2358 StatusCompleted Project Psychosocial risk management in company practice

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Research completed

Project numberF 2339 StatusCompleted Project Psychosocial risk management in the EU: Context, strategies and implementation at establishment level - a comparative European study

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Research completed

Publications

Search results

Interaction Design for Hybrid Intelligence: The Case of Work Place Risk Assessment

Article 2023

The complete article "Interaction Design for Hybrid Intelligence: The Case of Work Place Risk Assessment" is a chapter of the …

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Interactive Work - Consideration of Specific Psychosocial Factors in Workplace Risk Assessments

Article 2023

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Arbeitsmedizin, Sozialmedizin, Umweltmedizin", …

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Interventions as the centrepiece of psychosocial risk assessment - why so difficult?

Article 2020

Purpose: Due to the "European Union Framework Directive on Safety and Health at work" (Directive 89/391/EEC, 1989), every …

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Key workplace OSH players in managing psychosocial risks

Article 2022

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Fachzeitschrift ARBEIT, Zeitschrift für …

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Leadership in the Focus of Interest - Special Requirements for the Practice of Leadership and Recommendations for Risk Assessment of Psychosocial Stress

Article 2023

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Arbeitsmedizin, Sozialmedizin, Umweltmedizin", …

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Manual lifting, holding, and carrying

baua: Guidance 2022

The manual lifting, holding, and carrying of loads weighing ≥ 3 kg is a frequently occurring type of workload to which the human …

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Manual Pushing and Pulling of Loads

baua: Guidance 2024

The manual pushing and pulling of loads is a type of physical workload commonly experienced by workers. Usually, especially when …

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Manual work processes

baua: Guidance 2022

Manual work processes are a type of physical workload characterised by uniform, repetitive movements and applications of force …

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MEGAPHYS - Multilevel risk assessment of physical workload

baua: Report 2019

Musculoskeletal disorders and diseases are the most common reasons for sick leave in Germany. High physical workload causes and …

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Mental Stress: New Recommendations of the GDA

Article 2023

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Arbeitsmedizin, Sozialmedizin, Umweltmedizin", …

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