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

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

Essay 2019

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

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

Essay 2018

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

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Psychosocial Safety Climate and its Assessment in Germany - Preliminary Results

Essay 2018

The complete article "Psychosocial Safety Climate and its Assessment in Germany - Preliminary Results" is a chapter of the Book …

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Methodological Approaches to Identify and Evaluate Psychosocial Risks in Business Practice

Essay 2018

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

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Risk assessment of handling rigid carbon nanotubes at a technical centre in Berlin

Essay 2017

The complete article can be purchased in German at the website of the Journal "Gefahrstoffe - Reinhaltung der Luft", 77(2017) …

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Psychosocial risk management in company practice

Essay 2017

The German Occupational Safety and Health Act obliges employers to ensure that psychosocial risks of work are identified and …

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Psychosocial risk management in more and less favourable workplace conditions

Essay 2017

The complete article "Psychosocial risk management in more and less favourable workplace conditions" can be downloaded at the …

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Risk assessment of manual handling operations at work with the key indicator method (KIM-MHO)

Essay 2017

Note: Key indicator method for assessing physical workload during manual handling operations, version 2011. New version from …

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Psychosocial Risk Management in a European Comparison

baua: Report 2017

The project "psychosocial risk management in the EU. Context, strategies and implementation at establishment level - a …

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

Essay 2016

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

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