Occupational Safety Specialist

An occupational safety specialist Germany, called Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit or SiFa, is the qualified expert that the German Occupational Safety Act for safety experts, the Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz (ASiG), requires every employer to appoint regardless of headcount. § 5 ASiG sets the appointment duty, § 6 ASiG the advisory tasks, and § 8 ASiG the independence of professional judgement. The minimum qualification is set by DGUV Vorschrift 2 and includes an engineering, technician or master craftsman background plus a multi-stage training of around three years that ends with a state-recognised SiFa certificate. The accident insurance carriers, the Berufsgenossenschaften, supervise compliance and operate the recurring further training. Beyond ASiG, § 5 of the Arbeitsschutzgesetz (ArbSchG) obliges the employer to perform and document a workplace risk assessment for every workstation, and § 6 ArbSchG requires the documentation to be kept current and retrievable on request. Since the 2013 amendment of § 5 ArbSchG, the risk assessment must explicitly cover psychological hazards such as work intensity, social relations and emotional demands. DGUV Vorschrift 2 defines the minimum care hours that the SiFa must spend per employee, depending on hazard group: 0.6 hours per year per office employee in group III rises to 2.5 hours in production environments in group I, plus a fixed base care quota. Breaches are sanctioned under § 25 ArbSchG with fines up to 30,000 euros and under § 26 ArbSchG with criminal liability when life or health is endangered.

Every German employer must appoint an occupational safety specialist under § 5 ASiG, irrespective of size, starting with the first employee. The required scope of services is calibrated by DGUV Vorschrift 2 and depends on hazard group and headcount. Companies with up to 50 employees can choose between the entrepreneur-care model, where the owner is trained personally, and the regular care model with a SiFa. From 51 employees the regular care model is mandatory, with a fixed base care quota of around 0.2 hours per employee per year plus an event-driven quota for projects, accidents and inspections. Hazard groups follow the WZ-2008 classification: group I covers high-risk industries such as construction, chemicals and metalworking, group II covers wholesale, logistics and skilled trades, group III covers offices and services. The qualification under § 7 ASiG requires an engineering, technician or master craftsman background plus the SiFa training accredited by the relevant Berufsgenossenschaft. For the mid-market the typical solution is an external SiFa engaged on a contract that documents care hours, accident statistics and risk assessment updates. Hourly rates for an external SiFa in Germany sit between 95 and 160 euros net.