Incident and valuable assets: Who represents the incident representative on sabbatical

According to Section 9 of the Twelfth Ordinance for the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act (12th BImSchV, Major Accident Ordinance), operators of major incident operations must appoint a major incident officer and his representative in writing and keep them permanently available. At the same time, more and more companies are using credit models in accordance with Section 7b SGB IV to enable employees to take sabbaticals, care periods or early retirement. If the previous incident representative uses a credit, a gap in representation arises which, without proper advance planning, violates both the Major Incident Ordinance and the management's duty of supervision in accordance with Section 130 OWiG. In upper-class companies, there are additional licensing consequences if the safety management system is violated, including restrictive requirements for ongoing plant operations.

This article explains how incident companies set up their representative organisation in such a way that even longer absences are covered by credit models. You will find out what legal requirements the 12th BImSchV places on appointments and representation, what the interaction with the works council, the human resources department and the authorities looks like and what role external representatives play as a bridging solution. You will also receive a practical example and a checklist of lead times. For this purpose, CIVAC offers a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service with an appointment certificate, representation regulations and reporting line, which is ready for use within 2 working days.

The Major Accident Ordinance (12th BImSchV) implements the Seveso III Directive (Directive 2012/18/EU) into German law. It applies to operating areas in which dangerous substances may be present in quantities above certain threshold values, depending on the quantity as a basic duty operation or as an upper class operation. § 9 requires the operator to appoint an incident representative, provided there are further requirements under § 58a BImSchG, as well as a suitable representative with their own expertise. Both orders must be in writing and reported to the responsible authority, usually the lower or upper pollution control authority depending on state law.

The availability of the incident officer is not limited to office hours. Section 6 of the 12th BImSchV requires the creation and maintenance of a safety management system that ensures the prevention and limitation of incidents. In concrete terms, this means: In the event of an actual or impending incident, a qualified contact person must be available within a short time, usually within a few hours, and around the clock for upper-class companies. As part of the inspection obligation according to Section 16 of the 12th BImSchV, the authority checks whether this accessibility is permanently ensured and can be verified on a random basis.

This requirement expressly includes vacation and sick leave, as well as longer absences due to credit, parental leave, care leave or sabbatical. Anyone who appoints the incident representative must name the representative in the appointment certificate, anchor it in the operating area manual and incorporate it into the internal emergency plan. CIVAC maps this requirement in the workspace and offers a consistent appointment certificate file as a compliance platform and officer-as-a-service. Others run compliance like a filing cabinet. We run it like software., with a seamless connection between the personnel processes and the representative organisation.

The credit balance according to Section 7b SGB IV is a labour law instrument that allows employees to save wages or working hours in a long-term account and use them for a longer period of leave at a later date. Typical occasions include sabbaticals, early retirement, family time or further training. The valuable assets are protected against insolvency in accordance with Section 7e SGB IV and are clearly regulated under social security law. Building up over several years and later using it over several months are also common constellations, often in the transition to retirement.

It is relevant for the commissioning organisation that a use of credit typically takes three to twelve months and is usually announced several months in advance, often with a lead time of six months to two years. In contrast to cases of illness, the credit balance can be planned, which enables orderly replacement planning. Collective agreements in many industries also specify minimum terms, start and return regulations, which provide clarity for the human resources department. According to Section 87 BetrVG, the works council must also be involved if the credit affects aspects of collective law or there is a framework agreement for this.

If the incident representative or the fire protection officer uses a credit, a predictable but long representation gap arises. This must be addressed in the appointment certificate: either by specifying a permanently qualified representative with their own expertise, by ordering externally as a bridge solution, or by combining both models. The fire protection officers and incident officers often overlap in terms of organisation and reporting obligations to management. A well-coordinated representation arrangement explicitly takes these overlaps into account and avoids duplicate reporting channels or unclear responsibilities in crisis communication. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable.

In practice, three representation models have proven successful for credit phases. Model one is the internal double staffing with two fully qualified incident officers who represent each other. Advantage: The representative is familiar with all operational processes, knows the safety management system in detail and can step in at any time without extensive training. Disadvantage: The requirements for expertise, courses and professional experience must be met by both people, which often fails in smaller companies due to staff capacity and budget.

Model two is the external bridging solution. During the entire credit phase, an external incident representative takes over the function with an appointment certificate and notification to the authorities. After the internal representative returns, the order returns. This variant is particularly common among medium-sized companies and companies that only have one location or where internal double staffing would be uneconomical. The external order is placed via CIVAC with an SLA of 2 working days instead of the classic 2 to 6 weeks, including training, a handover meeting lasting several days with the internal representative and the establishment of a documented on-call line.

Model three is the hybrid solution. Here, an internal deputy remains on site as the main contact person, supplemented by an external representative who carries the formal appointment and reporting line to the management. This solution is particularly suitable for complex, upper-class operational areas where on-site presence as well as technical depth and communication with authorities are required. The distribution of tasks is documented in detail in the appointment certificate, including the respective escalation paths, the weekly on-site appointments and the monthly reporting cadence. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it.

The expertise of the incident officer is regulated in Section 7 of the 5th BImSchV in conjunction with Section 8 of the 12th BImSchV. Training as an engineer or a comparable qualification is required, supplemented by at least two years of practical work in the area of ​​responsibility that corresponds to the future field of activity. In addition, there is successful participation in officially recognised courses with a final examination. These requirements apply equally to the replacement, because in the case of replacement the authority expects the full range of functions and unrestricted professional ability to act.

Proof of further training must be provided regularly, usually at least every two years. Anyone who does not complete the course formally loses their expertise, which the authorities will complain about during an inspection or a routine test and, if repeated, can impose fines. In the case of credit phases, the relevant question is whether the expertise will be continued during the absence or whether it will be dormant. As a rule, it is recommended to refresh the course before entering the credit phase and, in the event of a longer absence, to complete it again shortly before returning, so that the role can be taken over seamlessly and the authority does not raise any complaints.

For external representatives, CIVAC provides the required expertise with proof of training courses, professional experience and an appointment certificate template with representation regulations. The evidence is stored in the workspace and provided with automatic reminders about refreshment periods. You can find out more about the specific design in the CIVAC FAQ. The evidence of the main representative is also maintained in parallel in the workspace so that both people are documented and ready for inspection at any time. Audit-proof, documented, § 9-BImSchV-proof, can be checked at any time, with a clear escalation cascade to the responsible officer-as-a-service provider.

The appointment document for the incident representative contains several critical elements in the event of replacement. Firstly, the name and qualifications of the main representative and the representative, each with proof of expertise and course confirmation as well as a current CV. Secondly, the exact task description with reference to Section 9 of the 12th BImSchV, the safety management system according to Section 6 and the internal emergency plan according to Section 10. Thirdly, the availability regulation with clear handover times, ideally documented on a daily basis and with a designated on-call line. Fourthly, the reporting line to the management with frequency, format and addressees as well as a defined escalation path in crisis situations.

Fifth and particularly important for credit phases: the exact time from which the representative is solely responsible, as well as the formal notification of this representative phase to the responsible authority. Some federal states require notification even if the representative is named in the original appointment document because it triggers a separate administrative procedure. If you want to be on the safe side, ask the responsible lower emissions control authority in writing, file their answer in the appointment certificate file and reference it in the respective notification letter so that the administrative procedure is documented in a legally secure manner.

Sixthly, the representation regulations for the representation, i.e. the third-party contact person in the event that the representation is not available for a short time (vacation, illness, business trip). In practice, a written escalation cascade that also identifies the external CIVAC officer as the final contact and includes telephone numbers, representative numbers and a central on-call line has proven to be effective. This means that availability is permanently ensured even in double absence scenarios, even if the main and primary substitute are unavailable at the same time, for example due to parallel illness or vacation in the summer. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable.

Emergency companies are often also operators of critical infrastructures according to BSI-KritisV or direct NIS 2 addressees according to EU Directive 2022/2555. The incident officer therefore works closely with the information security officer because a cyber incident can trigger a physical incident and vice versa, for example by manipulating a process control in a chemical plant. For NIS 2 addressees, the 24-hour early warning and 72-hour follow-up reporting path also applies, which must run synchronously with the incident officer's on-site crisis communication, with joint situation assessment and coordinated external communication.

At the operational level, this also applies to emergency and hazard prevention planning as well as crisis communication. Section 10 of the 12th BImSchV requires an internal emergency plan for upper class companies, which must be coordinated with the external emergency plan of the disaster control authority. The emergency plan must be reviewed at least every three years and updated after each incident, with documented exercises, evaluations and lessons learned sessions. During a credit phase, responsibility for this update must be clearly assigned and explicitly stated in the appointment certificate, otherwise the plan will lose its currentness and thus its legal binding vis-à-vis the disaster control authority.

CIVAC bundles these interfaces in the workspace. The incident officer, the information security officer and the fire protection officer share the incident module, the reporting line to management and the audit templates. This does not create isolated data silos, but rather a uniform, searchable compliance file with a clear version history and consistent access rights. The auditor calls, the evidence is ready. Six of the 25 representative roles in the CIVAC platform are directly linked to the incident organisation and automatically exchange incidents, measures and training so that in the event of a crisis, all relevant functions have the same data status, crisis communication remains consistent and double entries are eliminated.

The responsible authority, depending on state law usually the lower emissions control authority, expects a timely notification of any change in the appointment of the incident officer. Valid credit phases, sabbaticals and long-term absences are among these changes because they change the staffing of the function over weeks or months. A written notification at least four weeks before the start of the phase is common in most federal states, some state regulations even require longer lead times, some federal states up to eight weeks.

The content of the notification should be the start and expected end of the replacement phase, the data and qualifications of the person replacing the person, confirmation that availability is permanent, and confirmation that the responsibilities in the emergency plan have been updated accordingly. For external representations, the external officer's appointment certificate is added, supplemented by the CV and proof of expertise with course confirmations. The authority can refuse representation in individual cases, for example if there is insufficient expertise, if there are doubts about accessibility, if the intended person is working as a representative at the same time or if the geographical distance is too great.

In practice, the report is often forgotten or only sent informally by email to the wrong recipient. Both are risky because in the event of an inspection the authority expects a written, dated, correctly addressed and complete process. CIVAC automatically creates a notification letter from the appointment certificate, sends it to the responsible authority via documented delivery and files the confirmation of receipt in the appointment certificate file, with the date, file number and clerk. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. Audit-proof, documented, § 9-BImSchV-proof.

A medium-sized chemical company from Rhineland-Palatinate with 320 employees and an upper-class operating area planned a six-month sabbatical for its long-time incident representative in 2024, financed by a credit in accordance with Section 7b SGB IV. The management recognised in good time that an internal double staffing was not realistic because no second person with complete expertise was available and a new course would have taken several months. An external bridge solution via CIVAC was the only viable option that simultaneously covered the requirements of the lower emissions control authority, the schedule of the sabbatical, the management budget and the expectations of the works council.

The company appointed an external incident representative via CIVAC for the six-month bridge phase. The appointment certificate was issued within 2 working days, and the notification to the lower emissions control authority was made six weeks before the start of the sabbatical. The external representative held a two-day handover meeting with the internal representative four weeks before the start of the sabbatical, took over the safety management system, checked the internal emergency plan and ensured continuous availability via a 24/7 on-call line, supplemented by a weekly on-site presence and monthly reporting to the management.

A routine inspection of the authority took place during the six months. The inspector checked, among other things, the appointment certificate, the display of the replacement phase, the accessibility via the 24/7 line and the up-to-dateness of the internal emergency plan. No complaints were found. After the internal representative returned, the external appointment was terminated, the function changed back, and the notification to the authority was completed on time and in full. The appointment certificate, signed, filed, verifiable, verifiable at any time, traceable over several years and versioned in the workspace.

CIVAC bundles compliance platform and officer-as-a-service for incident operations. In the workspace you manage appointment certificates, certificates of expertise, emergency plans, audit templates and the reporting line to management in one system. Interfaces to the information security officer, the fire protection officer and the environmental protection officer are created natively, so that incidents and training are automatically reflected in all relevant roles without having to record data twice. The EU data residence and the ISO/IEC 27001:2022-certified ISMS with 93 controls ensure that security documentation that is particularly worthy of protection is stored in an audit-proof manner, with clearly defined authorizations and traceable versioning.

If you plan a credit phase, a sabbatical, parental leave or a longer break for the incident officer, use the officer model as a bridge solution with an SLA of 2 working days instead of 2 to 6 weeks classic. The appointment certificate is issued, the notification to the authorities is accepted, the handover meeting is carried out and accessibility is ensured via a 24/7 line. Licence the workspace for your internal representatives, or have our representatives order it. Both methods comply with Section 9 of the 12th BImSchV and can be reciprocally converted during and after the replacement phase, for example when changing from a bridging phase to a permanent solution.

If you would like to specifically check how your current representative organisation would cover a planned credit phase and what lead times your responsible authority requires, arrange a 30-minute conversation with a CIVAC representative. You will receive an initial assessment of the representation cascade, the notification to the authorities and the handover meeting, as well as a recommendation as to whether the workspace licence, the external bridge or the hybrid model would be the right choice in your case. Turn reading into an assignment. Write to info@civac.de or use the contact form on civac.de.