KANBrief 3/23
Germany's state committee for safety and health at work (ASGA) was added to the existing occupational safety and health committees at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) in 2021. What are the ASGA's tasks, and why was it created?
In Germany, the state committees (in German) are responsible for drawing up technical rules supporting the general objectives of protection of the individual regulations under the German Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG). This work is coordinated by the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), and addresses potential hazard factors in the work system such as hazardous substances, biological substances, workplace premises and equipment. The rules describe process and design-related requirements to be met by employers in order for the provisions of the individual regulations under the ArbSchG to be satisfied (presumption of conformity).
Owing to the diversification of forms of work, the digital transformation and climate-related influences on the working environment, the existing, systematically vertical regulatory process is no longer adequate for comprehensive assessment of current and future impacts on employees and for the formulation of suitable measures. For familiar topics such as risk assessment and the provision of instruction, too, the requirements are independent of specific risk factors and should therefore also be considered from multiple perspectives (horizontally).
This need became particularly apparent during the Covid-19 crisis and the challenges it presented for the safety and health of workers at work. The SARS-CoV Rule was the first rule to be purposefully drawn up with consideration for all factors. The success with which this rule was applied in companies clearly demonstrated the benefit of considering other subject areas for which it would be expedient to develop horizontal rules for the safety and health of workers at work.
For this reason, the amendment to Section 24(a) of the ArbSchG published in December 2020 enshrined the ASGA directly within the act. The new committee's tasks include formulating rules and observations by which the requirements set out in the ArbSchG can be met, except where they fall within the responsibility of another state committee.
A second reason for creation of the new committee is the lack of coherence in the existing regulatory framework. This failing is related to the strictly vertical orientation of the established committees. As early as 2011, the guideline paper on the reorganization of the body of occupational safety and health rules and regulations set out the intention of reconciling the content of the state body of rules and regulations and that of regulations under the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions' autonomous charter, both within each of the two regulatory spheres, and between them. In key areas of activity, such as risk assessment, virtually no progress has as yet been made in this area. A consensus exists within the ASGA that this objective should be pursued systematically.
The composition of the ASGA resembles that of other German occupational safety and health committees. It includes experts appointed by the BMAS from public and private sector employers, the trade unions, the regional administrations, the German Social Accident Insurance and the research community. The committee comprises 15 members and 15 proxies.
Besides heading the ASGA, the committee Chair coordinates, in a steering committee, the work performed jointly by all the occupational safety and health committees. The steering committee assumes a key function in the development of interdisciplinary, horizontal rules. The individual occupational safety and health committees contribute their specialist expertise directly to the respective project groups through appointed representatives. They are thus involved directly, from production of the project's draft through to the new rule's adoption. This approach is new.
The ASGA meets twice a year. The steering committee formulates its arguments and votes in the form of recommendations and presents them to the ASGA coordinating committee. The coordinating committee sounds out the topical issues and tasks and prepares draft resolutions for ASGA meetings.
Like the other committees, the ASGA has set itself a work programme for its current term. Core topics include risk assessment, mental stresses, efficient provision of up-to-date instruction, screen work at changing locations outside work premises, and the impact of climate change on occupational safety and health. The goal is to develop state rules that can be added cohesively to the existing body of regulations.
Since processes of change are never entirely smooth, numerous challenges exist at present. The aim is to create a positive committee culture based on mutual esteem, with which the ambitious work programme can be completed by consensus. The ASGA Chair must also promote the development of suitable and transparent processes and tools that support development of this culture.
The "Risk Assessment" project group is already working on the concept and content of an ASGA rule. The "Mental Stress" project group is expected to assume its work before the end of the year.
Professor Dr Anke Kahl
Department of occupational safety at the University of Wuppertal
Chair of the ASGA