Workplace risk assessment: a duty for every workplace in your business

As soon as you employ a member of staff, you are legally required to check every workplace in your business for possible hazards and to record the result in writing. This duty applies no matter how small your company is.

In brief: The risk assessment (Gefährdungsbeurteilung) is a statutory duty under §§ 5, 6 of the German Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG): employers must systematically check every workplace for physical, psychological and organisational hazards, derive protective measures and document everything. All businesses are affected from the first employee – the documentation duty expressly applies to businesses with fewer than 10 employees as well. Breaches can lead to fines of up to €25,000 and liability risks in the event of workplace accidents.

Who is affected by the risk assessment duty?

Every employer is affected, regardless of company size. The duty to assess the relevant workplace arises with the very first hire. A common misconception is that small businesses are exempt from documentation – in fact, the documentation duty under §§ 5, 6 ArbSchG expressly applies to businesses with fewer than 10 employees too. All workplaces and activities in the business must be covered, including home-office workplaces. This applies to office workplaces just as much as to workshops, warehouses or sales areas – every activity carried out as part of the business must be recorded and assessed.

What do you need to do in practice?

Implementation follows five steps, which you should work through in order and then review regularly. What matters is that the assessment is understood not as a one-off compliance exercise but as an ongoing process.

1. Record all workplaces and activities in the business (including home-office workplaces).
2. Systematically identify the hazards at each workplace (physical, psychological, ergonomic, organisational).
3. Derive protective measures and implement them in order of priority.
4. Document the assessment in writing.
5. Update the assessment when things change (new work equipment, new premises, new processes).

To get started you do not have to begin from scratch: templates from the statutory accident insurance bodies (Berufsgenossenschaften) make the work considerably easier and cover the usual types of hazard by industry. They serve as a basic framework and can be adapted to the specific workplaces in your business. If you are unsure which of the many business obligations actually apply in your own company, it is best to get an overview first. Which of these and other business obligations apply specifically to your company is shown by a tool such as Company Audit.

Why does psychological stress count too?

For some years now, employers have had to expressly include psychological stress at work in the risk assessment – for example factors such as work intensity, scope for action or social relations within the team. In practice this aspect is often underestimated, because it is less obvious than, say, missing protective equipment on a machine. In practice, psychological stress can often be assessed through anonymous employee surveys, without exposing individual employees. The results then feed into the derivation of concrete protective measures, as with other types of hazard.

By when and how often must the assessment be carried out?

The initial assessment must be in place before employees start work – if it is still missing, you should catch up immediately. The law does not prescribe a fixed repetition interval. The assessment must, however, be updated whenever something changes in the business: new work equipment, new premises or new work processes make an update necessary. Even if nothing has visibly changed, it makes sense to review existing assessments at regular intervals to keep them up to date.

What happens if you breach the risk assessment duty?

Anyone who cannot show a risk assessment, or only an incomplete one, risks a fine of up to €25,000 under §§ 5, 6 ArbSchG. Liability risks come on top: if a workplace accident occurs and the documentation is missing, this can considerably weaken the employer's position towards authorities, the statutory accident insurer and those affected. In practice, supervisory authorities and accident insurers quite often examine the risk assessment only after an accident – that is when it becomes clear whether the duty was taken seriously.

Frequently asked questions

As a small business with two employees, do I also have to prepare a risk assessment?

Yes. The duty under §§ 5, 6 ArbSchG applies regardless of company size and expressly also to businesses with fewer than 10 employees – the documentation duty exists in these cases just as in larger companies. A small workforce therefore does not protect you from a possible fine.

Does a home-office workplace count too?

Yes. Home-office workplaces must expressly be included when recording all workplaces and activities and must be assessed just like workplaces on the business premises. This covers ergonomic aspects as well as organisational ones, such as availability or working hours.

Is a one-off assessment enough forever?

No. The assessment is an ongoing process: as soon as work equipment, premises or processes change, it must be updated accordingly. An assessment prepared once is therefore not a closed document but a living basis for occupational health and safety in the business.

How do I sensibly include psychological stress in the assessment?

A practical approach is anonymous employee surveys that capture factors such as work intensity or scope for action without naming individual employees. The protective measures derived from them are documented as with other types of hazard.

Who is liable if there was no risk assessment when a workplace accident occurred?

In this case the employer carries an increased liability risk, because the documentation duty under §§ 5, 6 ArbSchG was breached; fines of up to €25,000 are also possible. A current risk assessment on file, by contrast, is important evidence that the employer has met its obligations.

Source: §§ 5, 6 ArbSchG. This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case. As of: July 2026.