Here you can find the starting signal for the 16th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award and information on the winners of the 13th - 15th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award.

Starting signal for the 16th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award

Application possible from November 1, 2025.

Under the motto "Sicher. Besser. Arbeiten (Safe. Better. Work)", the German Hazardous Substances Protection Award is looking for initiatives and practical solutions that protect employees from hazardous substances in the workplace. The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) is inviting entries for the prize, which is worth a total of 10,000 euros, for the 16th time. From November 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, individuals, groups of people, companies and organizations (only from Germany) can apply.

With the next Hazardous Substances Protection Award, the BMAS is honoring practical solutions and initiatives that protect employees from hazardous substances.

The solution should fit into the hierarchy of measures of the "STOP principle" (see TRGS 500 (in German)); specifically, only S, T, and O. P, as personal protective measures, is the last step in the hierarchy of measures and is not considered the best solution.

1. Substitution, for example, replacing a hazardous substance with another substance or a technical process that leads to a lower overall risk;
2. Technical protective measures, for example, working in a closed system or extracting hazardous substances;
3. Organizational protective measures, for example, initiatives in the area of training and instruction or the establishment of maintenance plans.

Applications for the award are being accepted by the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) until March 31, 2026. Details can be found at www.gefahrstoffschutzpreis.de (in German). The award ceremony will take place in the fall of 2026. The winning entries will be shown publicly by means of films and posters and presented at the DASA Working World exhibition in Dortmund. There is no right of appeal.

For further information, please contact Judith kleine Balderhaar by phone at 0231 9071-2594 or by e-mail at gefahrstoffschutzpreis@baua.bund.de .

15th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award

The winners of the 15th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award were announced in Stuttgart on September 26, 2024. The prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, and awarded by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) under the motto "Safe. Better. Work - 2024 in focus: Protection against carcinogenic hazardous substances" was awarded to the Directorate General of Customs (Generalzolldirektion), Bonn, in the category "Technical solution, management and training" for the contribution "Identification of contaminated freight and overseas containers using the GDA-F gas warning device".

In addition, Ms. Jacqueline Tolg, occupational safety specialist, received a commendation in the category "Training" for the contribution "Workshop 'Working with hazardous substances' - switching roles today?".

Jury

The award was decided on June 21, 2024 by an independent jury composed as follows:

• Frau Dr. Adelheid NIESERT, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
• Herr Prof. Dr. Thomas KUHLBUSCH (Moderator), Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
• Herr Thomas VON DER HEYDEN, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health - IFA
• Frau Angela CRONE, Hessian Ministry of Labour, Integration, Youth and Social Affairs
• Frau Annika WÖRSDÖRFER, DGB
• Herr Dr. Martin WIESKE, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Metalle e. V. (WV Metalle)

Award ceremony

The award ceremony took place on Sept. 26, 2024, as part of the 18th Occupational Safety and Health Forum of the Joint German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy (GDA) in Stuttgart. The award winners will be given the opportunity to present themselves at relevant events.

14th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award - Good ideas for protection against carcinogenic hazardous substances awarded

The German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) presented for the 14^th time the German Hazardous Substances Protection Award endowed with 10,000 Euro on September 29, 2022. The motto of this year was "STOP cancer at work - 2022 in focus: dusts and fumes". An independent jury of experts from various interest groups selected a technical solution as the award winner in the technical solution category and commended an entry from the management category.

The BOMAG GmbH from Boppard received the award for the development of the ION DUST SHIELD, an innovative solution for the safe handling of carcinogenic substances released during the milling of asphalt.

Ökopol GmbH from Hamburg received a commendation for the European social partner project "Reducing Respirable Crystalline Silica Dust Effectively".

Award ceremony

The award ceremony took place on Sept. 29, 2022, as part of the 16th Occupational Safety and Health Forum of the Joint German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy (GDA) in Berlin. The award winners will be given the opportunity to present themselves at relevant events.

13th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award - Good ideas for protection against carcinogenic hazardous substances awarded

On November 10, 2020, the winners of the 13th German Hazardous Substances Protection Prize were announced in Dortmund. URSA Chemie GmbH, Montabaur, and Sterigenics Germany GmbH, Wiesbaden, share the 10,000 Euro prize awarded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) for their technical solutions for the safe handling of carcinogenic substances. In addition, the FeuerKrebs gUG, Hamburg, received a commendation in the training category for its activities to improve the health protection of fire fighters.

Videos

For further information please refer to our German Website.

Copyright: from top left to bottom right: BAuA, Group 4.4; Mr. Bässler, BG BAU; Uwe Völkner, FOX-Fotoagentur; Tim Langenbuch, Sonnen-Apotheke Wismar, Adobe Stock.