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

"It's good that we talked about it ...?!" - Methodological challenges in the assessment of risk of psychological stress in SMEs

Article 2018

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

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Adequate data in REACH exposure scenarios for successful workplace risk assessment

Article 2020

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Consideration of psychosocial factors in workplace risk assessments: findings from a company survey in Germany

Article 2019

Purpose: Work-related psychosocial risks are an increasingly important issue in occupational safety and health (OSH) policy. In …

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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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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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Methodological Approaches to Identify and Evaluate Psychosocial Risks in Business Practice

Article 2018

In Germany, psychosocial risk assessments (PRA) are legally required. However, German legislation does not specify how PRA …

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Occupational exposure to hazardous substances & risk management measures - information obligations under REACH: An assessment of data availability & supply chain communication in chemical safety reports and safety data sheets

Article 2020

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Pretesting of new Key Indicator Methods in Germany using techniques of qualitative research

Article 2016

The complete article "Pretesting of new Key Indicator Methods in Germany using techniques of qualitative research" is a chapter …

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Prevalence and quality of workplace risk assessments - Findings from a representative company survey in Germany

Article 2016

Although Workplace Risk Assessments (WRA) are legally required in all EU member states and widely considered to be a core …

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Psychosocial risk management in company practice

baua: Report brief 2020

The German Occupational Health and Safety Act obliges employers to design work in a way that risks to physical and mental health …

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