External occupational safety service provider in comparison: selection without gut feeling

According to Section 5 of the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) and DGUV Regulation 2, employers in Germany must ensure safety-related and occupational health care, documented and consistent. Whoever has responsibility for one employee or more is confronted with the specific question: How many hours of occupational safety specialist, how many hours of company doctor, with what qualifications and under what contract model. The internal model (own SiFa, own company doctor) is only worthwhile for around 1,000 employees and in highly specialised industries with their own occupational medicine. For medium-sized companies with between 10 and 800 employees, the external service provider is the usual economic and organisational answer, with the consequence that the selection must be made reliably and not decided by a recommendation from the industry association.

This article provides a structured comparison methodology for external occupational safety service providers, arranged according to seven criteria: operating times according to DGUV regulation 2, qualifications of the people employed, accessibility and response time, documentation and audit suitability, Interfaces to fire protection, hazardous substances and the environment, contractual SLA and pricing model. You will receive a decision matrix, a sample text for the tender and instructions for the appointment certificate in accordance with Section 5 ASiG. In the end, you know which service provider suits your company size, industry and risk situation and how CIVAC, as a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service, simplifies the model, with a documented SLA and audit-proof files.

The obligation to provide safety-related and occupational health care is based on three pillars. Firstly, the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG), which defines the obligation to appoint company doctors and occupational safety specialists in Sections 2, 5 and 6. Secondly, DGUV regulation 2 (accident prevention regulations for company doctors and occupational safety specialists), which regulates the specific deployment times for basic care and company-specific care, depending on the care group (I to III, staggered according to risk potential) and the number of employees. Thirdly, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ArbSchG), which regulates the general obligations of the employer, the risk assessment according to § 5 ArbSchG and the instruction according to § 12 ArbSchG.

From these three pillars it follows: The appointment of SiFa and company doctor is mandatory, the number of hours is non-negotiable, and the tasks are listed conclusively in § 6 ASiG and Annex 1 DGUV Regulation 2. An external service provider carries out these tasks against contract, but the appointment certificate remains with the company, which means: you formally order the person, the service provider provides the person. Anyone who does not properly document this separation risks a complaint at the next inspection by the professional association or the state trade inspectorate. CIVAC delivers the appointment certificates for all 25 representative roles prepared in the workspace. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable. An effective appointment requires the company to be announced, to inform the works council in accordance with Section 9 ASiG and to report the matter to the relevant professional association. Anyone who fails to make the announcement has a contract, but not an appointed person in the legal sense, which is viewed as a formal deficiency when inspected. The announcement will be made on the bulletin board, on the intranet and in the onboarding material for new employees.

DGUV regulation 2 distinguishes between three care groups. Group I (high risk potential, e.g. construction companies, chemicals, forestry): Basic care 2.5 hours per employee per year for SiFa and company doctor together. Group II (medium risk potential, e.g. metal processing industry, warehouse and logistics, commercial kitchens): Basic care 1.5 hours. Group III (low risk potential, e.g. office, consulting, administration): Basic care 0.5 hours. The division of basic care between SiFa and company doctor is at least 0.2 hours per employee for each of the two roles, the rest can be freely distributed.

In addition, there is company-specific care, which is derived individually from 16 task areas according to Appendix 2 DGUV Regulation 2 (e.g. workplace design, procurement, maternity protection, addiction prevention, psychological stress). The employer makes the selection together with SiFa and the company doctor. A typical medium-sized company with 150 employees in Group II needs 150 times 1.5 = 225 hours of basic care plus around 60 to 120 hours of company-specific care per year. Anyone who finds a flat rate of 80 hours on offer has an impermissibly tight contract. CIVAC provides the hourly calculator in the workspace so that contract negotiations are based on the correct numbers. Others run compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software. The calculation is checked once a year and adjusted immediately whenever there are major changes to the workforce or when new activities are started. A written justification for the chosen care group should be included in the compliance directory so that the professional association can understand the logic of the hourly calculation during an inspection without having to ask new questions. For seasonal operations, it is recommended to calculate using the annual average, with documented justification for the chosen reference value.

The occupational safety specialist must have safety-related expertise in accordance with Section 7 ASiG. Permissible qualifications are safety engineer (completed engineering degree plus two years of practical work plus state-recognised training course), safety technician (technician degree plus two years of practice plus course) or safety master (master qualification plus four years of practice plus course). According to DGUV regulation 2, the training requirement is at least 16 hours every three years; in practice we recommend 24 hours per year because the topics (hazardous substances law, machinery directive, ISO 45001) are developing rapidly and medium-sized companies increasingly have audit obligations towards customers.

According to § 4 ASiG, the company doctor must have specialist occupational medicine qualifications. Recognition of a specialist in occupational medicine or the additional designation of occupational medicine are permitted after at least 360 hours of further training plus documented practical work. Pure general practitioners without this additional qualification are not permitted. When selecting a service provider, ask for written proof of qualifications, ideally with copies of certificates, and a list of the specific people employed. A generic statement We employ qualified personnel is not enough. The CIVAC workspace contains sample templates for advertisements and suitability tests, including the relevant clauses for substitution arrangements and personnel changes at the service provider. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable. We also recommend including a clause in the contract for consent by name in the event of personnel changes, so that the service provider does not use a different SiFa or a different company doctor without consultation. The deployment-related person has a significant impact on the quality of the support; an unannounced change in the service provider significantly reduces the audit quality of the next inspection. A brief introduction of the appointed person during onboarding for the entire team significantly increases the actual use of the advice.

Occupational safety is not a quarterly service, but a demand service. In the event of a serious accident at work, a suspected occupational disease or an acute dangerous situation, the SiFa or the company doctor must be reachable promptly. Practice standards: Telephone availability on weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with callback within 60 minutes, on-site appointment for acute incidents within 48 hours, written response to inquiries within 5 working days. These response times belong in the written contract, not in an oral promise. Anyone who does not agree to this will wait several days for a professional response in the event of damage and will be insufficiently documented to the professional association.

In the event of an accident at work that must be reported in accordance with Section 193 SGB VII (death, injury with incapacity for work for more than three days), the report must be made to the professional association within three days. SiFa supports the accident analysis in accordance with Section 6 ASiG. If an occupational disease is suspected, the company doctor has an obligation to report in accordance with Section 202 SGB VII, which must be documented in a legally secure manner. CIVAC provides templates for all reporting channels and integrates them into the SLA of two business days for the order itself, with four-hour response for acute incidents. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives or have our representatives appointed; the reaction chains are identical in both models. Deadline begins as soon as we become aware of it. The reaction time is also a criterion for the insurability of management against D&O risks. Insurers are increasingly demanding written proof that the occupational health and safety organisation is also operational outside of regular office hours, with documented on-call availability and named representation per location. The four-hour response applies to acute incidents that can occur seven days a week and is included as a robust commitment in every appointment certificate.

The trade association and the state trade inspection examine a defined set of documents during occupational safety inspections. Mandatory documents are: appointment certificates for SiFa and company doctor, contract with the external service provider with a clear definition of tasks and hours, activity reports from SiFa and the company doctor (at least annually, often quarterly), minutes of ASA meetings in accordance with Section 11 ASiG (Occupational Safety and Health Committee, at least quarterly for 20 or more employees), risk assessments in accordance with Section 5 ArbSchG with documented measures, proof of training § 12 ArbSchG with date, content, participants and signatures, precautionary index according to ArbMedVV, accident reports and investigation reports on reportable incidents.

The inspection checks whether the documents are complete, consistent and up-to-date. Frequent complaints: incomplete activity reports, missing ASA protocols, outdated risk assessments (older than 24 months without appropriate testing), blanket instructions without demonstrable knowledge transfer. A good external service provider not only delivers the documents, but also stores them in a structured manner. CIVAC offers storage as part of the workspace, with 490 audit templates for the mandatory documents mentioned and automatic reminders of due dates. Anyone who licences the workspace bundles SiFa, company doctor, fire protection and hazardous substances in one file. Audit-proof, documented, § 6 ASiG-proof. The CIVAC FAQ explains the most common complaints from 2024 and 2025 by industry. If there are several locations, the documentation must be kept separately for each location and kept consolidated and evaluable. CIVAC supports this separation with location-related filing structures and central evaluations, so that management receives both the local file situation and the company-wide view in one report. Documents are stamped with expiration dates so that reminders are automatically triggered before an update becomes formally overdue, which is the most common complaint in inspections.

Occupational safety does not stand alone, but is interlinked with at least three other representative roles. Fire protection officer: SiFa coordinates with the fire protection officer on escape and rescue routes, fire protection assistants and emergency drills. Hazardous substances officer: SiFa supports the classification of hazardous substances according to the CLP regulation, the creation of operating instructions according to Section 14 GefStoffV and annual instruction. Environmental officer: in companies with environmentally relevant activities, there are interfaces to waste and water protection documentation. Anyone who obtains these roles from different service providers organises four separate contracts, four separate files, four separate inspection appointments.

CIVAC bundles these roles under one platform and one invoice. You receive fire protection, hazardous materials and environmental support from the same file, with consistent reports and a joint ASA meeting. Bundling not only reduces costs (typically 20 to 35 percent compared to ordering individually from several providers), but also organisational effort. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives or have our representatives order it; the interfaces are prepared in both models. Others run compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software. If you want a uniform ISO/IEC 27001:2022-compliant system, integrate the occupational health and safety documents into the same EU data residency as the rest of the compliance. In this bundling model, the ASA meeting in accordance with Section 11 ASiG becomes the central steering session for all representative roles, with standardised minutes, result-oriented action lists and tracked responsibilities until the next meeting. The bundling has an additional positive effect on compliance with ISO 45001 because the interfaces between the representatives can be verified in a uniform system instead of having to be laboriously compiled from several systems.

Set up a standardised evaluation matrix with seven criteria for each service provider in question, each with a defined award of points. Firstly, working hours: does the contract offer the basic care hours calculated according to DGUV regulation 2 plus appropriate company-specific care, or are flat rates offered without proof of hours. Secondly, qualifications: the service provider provides written evidence of the specific qualifications of the people employed, including training hours from the last three years. Thirdly, accessibility: are there response times defined in writing in the contract, or are there just effort clauses.

Fourth, documentation: does the service provider offer a structured digital file with versioning and an audit trail, or are reports delivered as PDFs via email. Fifth, interfaces: does the provider not only cover SiFa and company doctor but also fire protection, hazardous substances and environmental officers, or do these roles have to be purchased separately. Sixth, SLA: is there a written service level agreement with penalties for non-fulfilment, or just general contractual clauses. Seventh, exit clause: the company can take the documentation with it in machine-readable form if it changes service provider. CIVAC meets all seven criteria as a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service with an SLA of two business days for the order itself and a four-hour response for acute incidents. The auditor calls, the evidence is ready. Assign points from 0 to 5 for each criterion and weight them according to the risk of your business. An office company gives greater importance to documentation and SLA, while a production company gives greater weight to accessibility and qualifications. The matrix remains a permanent part of the selection decision and provides the evaluation standard when the contract is renewed. We recommend briefly checking the matrix in every ASA meeting and recording changes to the provider there.

A good tender text comprises six building blocks. First, description of the company: industry, number of employees, locations, shift systems, special hazards, existing certifications (ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO/IEC 27001:2022). Secondly, scope of services: 2 hours calculated according to DGUV regulations for SiFa and company doctor, additional desired roles (fire protection, hazardous substances, environment, ESG). Thirdly, requirements for the people deployed: qualifications, further training, replacement arrangements, language requirements. Fourth, response times and SLA: availability, on-site appointment in the event of an incident, written statements. Fifth, documentation and reporting: format, frequency, storage, audit trail. Sixth, price structure and termination conditions.

The appointment certificate according to § 5 ASiG contains tasks in accordance with § 6 ASiG and Annex 1 DGUV Regulation 2, the planned operating times, the representation regulations, the reporting line to the management, the immediate obligation to report essential findings and the independence of the technical tasks from instructions. This document is signed by the employer, countersigned by the appointed person and included in the personnel file or compliance directory. CIVAC provides the sample templates in the workspace. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives or have our representatives order it; in both cases the appointment certificate is completed within the SLA of two working days and can be reported to the professional association. The order is notified to the professional association using a standardised form for each association (BGN, BGW, BG ETEM, BG RCI, etc.), each of which has its own requirements in terms of content and deadline. CIVAC maintains the current forms in the workspace and displays them if desired. When ordering for multiple locations, a separate ad is required for each location, with clear reference to the respective care group and the associated number of hours.

The decision for an external occupational safety service provider does not end in a list of points, but in a written order. Three steps lead you there. Firstly, a brief analysis of your business (industry, number of employees, locations, existing representatives, audit obligations towards customers) in a 30-minute appointment. Secondly, written offer with hourly calculation according to DGUV regulation 2, personnel proposal, SLA and price structure, together with the prepared appointment certificate. Thirdly, conclusion of the contract with effect from the first of the next month, reporting to the responsible professional association. CIVAC delivers these three steps as a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service in an SLA of two working days, instead of the industry-standard two to six weeks.

If you want to review an existing mandate or are planning an initial order, write to us briefly: industry, number of employees, locations, current lineup. We will respond within one working day with an assessment and a proposal that specifically states the hourly calculation, the interfaces to other representatives and the SLA clauses. Turn reading into a mandate.: info@civac.de or via the contact form on civac.de. You will receive a technical answer, not a sales presentation, and the appointment of the external SiFa and company doctor will be made within the SLA of two working days with an appointment certificate and a list of tasks in accordance with Section 6 ASiG. Audit-proof, documented, § 5 ASiG-proof. Anyone planning a multi-location organisation or rapid scaling will particularly benefit from bundling several representative roles under one platform, because ongoing adaptation to a growing workforce and new locations can be implemented without new contracts. Anyone who already uses the workspace for other representative roles can immediately integrate the external SiFa and company doctor into the same file.