The Federal Office for Occupational Safety and Health supports the federal government in exercising its legal supervisory authority over the federal states and helps to monitor and assess the inspection activities of the federal states on the basis of a reliable and robust data set.
On January 1, 2026, a mandatory, nationwide uniform minimum inspection rate of 5 per cent was introduced for the occupational safety and health authorities of the federal states. This means that the inspection authority has to inspect at least 5 per cent of all organizations within their jurisdiction each year.
The implementation of this inspection rate is monitored and evaluated by the Federal Office established at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. To this end, the Federal Office is establishing an impact-oriented federal monitoring system and evaluates the minimum on-site inspection rate (see Work and Research Programme 2026-2029).
The Federal Office compiles the necessary data from the federal states, drawn from annual reports and individual inspection records, into its own database. With this database, the Federal Office provides the federal government and the federal states with a knowledge base to fulfil their reporting obligations on occupational safety and health to the national parliament as well as to international institutions and organizations.