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Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161) - Germany (RATIFICATION: 1994)

The Committee notes the information provided regarding effect given to Articles 7(2), 8 and 12 of the Convention.

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided indicating that the reform regarding standard occupational health service (OHS) provisions for larger enterprises has been delayed due to the proposed accident prevention provisions being too diverse, but that the Government expects the new rules to come into force on 1 January 2011. The Committees requests the Government to continue to provide information on legislative measures taken or envisaged to ensure the application of the Convention and to provide copies of legislative enactments.

Article 5. The functions of the occupational health services. The Committee notes the information provided indication that a non-exhaustive list of OHS functions are given under section 3 of the Safety at Work Act 2003 (ASiG). The Committee further notes that the draft proposal for the standard occupational health services provisions for larger enterprises, that is due to come into force on 1 January 2011, will describe in greater detail the basic provisions to be made in all enterprises in addition to the enterprise-specific component. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the functions of OHS under section 3 of the ASiG in practice.

Part VI of the report form. Labour inspections. The Committee notes the information that according to national statistics, some 350,000 inspections per year were carried out between 2006 and 2008, and that during this period an average of some 140,000 enterprises were inspected. It also notes that according to the 2008 federal Government report on the status of OHS, and the incidence of occupational accidents and diseases in Germany, all official insurers conducted a total of 690,658 inspections in a total of 384,914 enterprises. With reference to the information provided regarding the inspections services in the country, the Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the findings of the inspections carried out, including on contraventions relevant to the application of the present Convention.