Basic Occupational Safety Instruction for Office Workplaces — for Employees in Germany

15 modules · about 55 minutes · final test with 20 questions, 14 correct to pass · certificate of participation as PDF

What this course is about

An office is considered a safe workplace — the accident statistics of the German accident insurance institutions say otherwise. Tripping over cables, falls from stairs and chairs, defective electrical appliances, back complaints from wrongly set up display screen workplaces and mental stress are the hazards of administration.

No registration needed. We only ask for your name and e-mail address before the final test – just for your certificate. Your progress is saved in this browser. You can stop at any time and continue later.

Module 1 of 15

The legal framework in one place — occupational safety in the office

An office is considered a safe workplace. The accident statistics of the German accident insurance institutions (Berufsgenossenschaften) say otherwise: slips, trips and falls are the most frequent cause of accidents in administration, plus complaints from one-sided posture and display screen work. That is why occupational safety law applies in the office without exception. Five sets of rules interlock — anyone who has seen them once in context understands the rest of the course faster.

Added to this are the Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Hours Act — breaks), the Lastenhandhabungsverordnung (Manual Handling Ordinance — lifting and carrying), DGUV Vorschrift 3 (electrical installations and equipment) and SGB VII (accident insurance, occupational and commuting accidents, accident report) — each in the following modules.

What Section 12 ArbSchG requires

The instruction must be workplace-related, given in an understandable form and take place during working hours. It is mandatory when hired, after changes in the area of responsibility, with new work equipment or a new technology — and it must be repeated regularly. Section 4 DGUV Vorschrift 1 turns “regularly” into a clear figure: at least once a year. For young workers, Section 29 JArbSchG (Youth Employment Protection Act) requires a six-monthly rhythm.

What it is all for

An instruction conveys knowledge, abilities and skills for safe and healthy work — and the motivation to apply them. The benefit is not an end in itself: undisturbed operations, less downtime and therefore lower costs, responsible handling of equipment and facilities, lasting quality of work, higher job satisfaction, safer workplaces — and compliance with laws and regulations, which protects the company from fines and recourse.

Remember

The instruction must be repeated every year and documented — that is not a recommendation but Section 4 DGUV Vorschrift 1. This course is the general part. What applies in your company — first aiders, assembly point, occupational safety specialist — is in the module “Procedure in our company”.

Module 2 of 15

Duties of the employer — duties and rights of employees

Occupational safety is not a one-way street. The employer bears the responsibility and the costs — the employees bear the duty to cooperate. Both sides are in the law.

Basic duties of the employer (Section 3 ArbSchG, Section 2 DGUV Vorschrift 1)

• create a suitable organisation and provide the means
• set up premises safely, procure safe work equipment
• draw up a risk assessment (Section 5) and document it (Section 6) — since 2013 from the first employee; the former exception for small companies with up to ten employees no longer exists
• give instructions for safe operations, inform about safety regulations (Section 12)
• select suitable managers and reliably delegate tasks (Section 13)
• ensure effective first aid, appoint first aiders (Section 10)
• appoint an occupational safety specialist and company doctor (ASiG), train fire safety assistants

Legal regulations are not recommendations. Anyone who disregards them risks fines, in case of accidents also criminal liability and recourse by the Berufsgenossenschaft.

Duties of employees (Sections 15, 16 ArbSchG, Sections 15–17 DGUV Vorschrift 1)

Employees are not responsible for the risk assessment — that is the employer's duty. But they are consulted and involved, and their knowledge of their own workplace is what makes the assessment usable in the first place.

Rights of employees (Section 17 ArbSchG)

Employees may make suggestions on safety and health. If a justified complaint is not remedied in the company, they may turn to the competent authority (trade supervisory office, Berufsgenossenschaft) — without having to fear disadvantages.

Remember

The employer organises, assesses, instructs and provides. The employees use things as intended, report defects and endanger nobody. If one side is missing, occupational safety does not work.

Module 3 of 15

What hazards are there in the office?

Nobody expects an occupational accident in the office — that is exactly the problem. The risk assessment under Section 5 ArbSchG names the factors the employer must consider. In the office they are above all these:

Mental stress is a mandatory topic

Since 2013 it has been expressly in the law: Section 5(3) No. 6 ArbSchG requires that the risk assessment includes mental stress at work — i.e. work content, work organisation, social relationships and working environment. This applies in the office just as in production.

What you can do yourself

Most office accidents can be prevented with little effort: route cables instead of stretching them across, close drawers, keep traffic routes clear, step stool instead of chair, report defects, take breaks. The following modules take up these points one by one.

Remember

In the office nobody gets injured at a machine — you fall over a cable, off a chair or on the stairs. Anyone who takes this seriously has already prevented half of all office accidents.

Module 4 of 15

Setting up the display screen workplace correctly

The requirements for display screen workplaces are in Annex No. 6 of the Arbeitsstättenverordnung (Workplace Ordinance); the formerly separate Display Screen Work Ordinance was merged into it in 2016. DGUV Information 215-410 translates the requirements into dimensions you can check at your own desk.

The screen

• Set it up stably, freely tiltable and swivelling, without flicker, with a sufficiently large, sharp font.
• Line of sight parallel to the window. If the window is behind you, it is reflected in the screen. If it is in front of you, the eye must constantly adjust between the bright window and the darker screen — both tire. Side-on to the window is right; blinds or louvres against direct sun are part of it.
• Height: the top line of the screen is slightly below eye level, the gaze falls slightly downwards (about 35°, relaxed neck). A screen with its top edge above eye level forces the head back — a common mistake with monitors set high.
• Viewing distance 50 to 70 cm, more for large screens.
• Avoid reflections: arrange lights so that they are not reflected in the screen; no light directly in front of or behind the screen.
• Screen, keyboard and chair on one axis — no twisted spine.

Keyboard and mouse

The keyboard is separate from the screen and stands 10 to 15 cm from the desk edge so that the heels of the hands can rest. The mouse lies directly next to the keyboard at the same height. A laptop alone is not a display screen workplace for permanent work: external keyboard, mouse and screen or laptop stand are part of it.

Chair and desk

Sit dynamically: change posture often, get up in between, phone standing up, put the printer further away. The best chair does not replace movement.

Eyes and check-ups

Under the ArbMedVV (German Ordinance on Occupational Medical Check-ups, Annex Part 4), the employer must regularly offer employees working at display screen devices an occupational medical check-up — an examination of the eyes and eyesight. If it shows that normal glasses are not sufficient, special screen glasses must be provided; the employer bears the costs.

Remember

Side-on to the window, top line below eye level, 50 to 70 cm distance, keyboard 10 to 15 cm from the edge. Four dimensions you can check at your desk today.

Module 5 of 15

Slips, trips and falls — traffic routes, stairs, tidiness

Around a third of all reportable occupational accidents in administration are slip, trip and fall accidents — and almost all of them happen on level floors or on the stairs, not at a machine.

The causes

On the one side the person: stress, rushing, tiredness, distraction by the smartphone, convenience (“I'll clear that away later”), unsuitable shoes. On the other side the workplace: cables across the path, open drawers and cabinet doors, boxes and files on the floor, spilled liquids, wet entrance area in rain and snow, damaged doormats, unmarked steps, poor lighting.

Rules of conduct

Defects: remedy or report

Recognising a trip hazard and saying nothing is not an option — Section 16 ArbSchG obliges every employee to report hazards. Small things you remedy yourself: secure the cable, wipe up the puddle, clear away the box. What you cannot remedy yourself — loose doormat, defective step, flickering lighting — you report immediately to your supervisor or the responsible office. “Every department is responsible for its own area” does not apply: a hazard is a hazard, whoever's corridor it is.

Remember

Cleanliness + tidiness = safety. Traffic routes clear, drawers closed, use the handrail, step stool instead of chair — and a trip hazard is reported by whoever sees it.

Module 6 of 15

Work equipment and electrical appliances in the office

Copier, shredder, guillotine, laminator, coffee machine, chargers, power strips — an office is full of work equipment. The Betriebssicherheitsverordnung (Ordinance on Industrial Safety) requires that they are safe and that you have been briefed in their use.

Handling work equipment

• Observe the operating manual, have yourself briefed on devices such as the shredder or guillotine before you use them for the first time.
• Never remove or bypass safety guards — the cover of the guillotine, the feed guard of the shredder, the interlock of the copier flap are there for a good reason.
• Keep long hair, jewellery, ties and loose clothing away from the shredder.
• Set headsets and headphones so that hearing is not endangered and nobody is disturbed; warning signals and announcements must remain audible.

Electrical appliances

Reporting defects — without detours

If you discover a safety defect — for example damaged insulation on the mains plug of your computer — take the appliance out of use (pull the plug if this is safe), mark it (“Defective — do not use”) and report it immediately to your supervisor or the responsible office in the company. Repairs to electrical appliances are exclusively the job of qualified electricians.

Remember

One strip, 3,500 watts, no cascade, no fan heaters. And a defective appliance is not carefully used further but taken out of use and reported.

Module 7 of 15

Lifting and carrying loads

Lifting happens in the office too: file boxes, packs of paper, crates of water, printers, moving boxes. The Lastenhandhabungsverordnung (Manual Handling Ordinance) obliges the employer to avoid heavy manual loads where possible or to make them easier with aids — and to instruct employees in correct lifting.

The technique

1. Step close to the load, feet about shoulder-width apart, stable stance.
2. Squat down, the back stays straight — do not reach down with straight knees and a bent-forward upper body.
3. Grasp the load close to the body, with both hands, firm grip.
4. Lift from the legs, evenly — never jerkily, never with a hollow back.
5. Do not twist while carrying: change direction with the feet, not with the trunk. Distribute the load on both sides if possible (two smaller bags instead of one heavy one).
6. Set down again from a squat, keep the view of the path clear.

Limits and aids

There is no statutory kilogram limit, but clear empirical values: what you cannot lift comfortably and with a straight back is too heavy for one person. Then: use a trolley, sack truck, file cart — or carry in pairs and coordinate (who gives the command, when to lift). Several small trips are better than one heavy one. Pregnant women, young workers and employees with back conditions do not lift heavy loads.

Planning helps when buying paper: five packs of copier paper weigh around twelve kilograms — the box belongs on the trolley and on the shelf at grip height, not on the floor and not on top of the cabinet.

Remember

Squat instead of rounded back, close to the body, not jerkily, not twisted. And if it is heavy: trolley or in pairs — never “however seems most convenient at the moment”.

Module 8 of 15

Mental stress, breaks and mobile work

Not every hazard in the office is visible. Time pressure, constant interruptions, unclear responsibilities, conflicts, constant availability and monotonous display screen work are stressful — and anyone who is exhausted makes mistakes, overlooks the trip hazard and is more likely to argue. That is why mental stress has expressly been part of the risk assessment since 2013 (Section 5(3) No. 6 ArbSchG).

What the employer does — and what you can do

The employer assesses work content, work organisation, social relationships and working environment and derives measures: clear responsibilities, realistic deadlines, retreat options in the open-plan office, rules on availability. You yourself: really take breaks, raise overload early (Section 17 ArbSchG gives you the right to make suggestions), bundle interruptions, switch off after work.

Breaks — the figures

Short breaks are no luxury: five minutes per hour away from the screen — get up, look into the distance, loosen the shoulders — measurably reduce eye and neck complaints. The break at the screen with private surfing is no rest for the eyes.

Mobile work and home office — in brief

• The Occupational Safety and Health Act also applies at home. The employer must assess the hazards for mobile work too and instruct you; a fixed teleworking workplace under Section 2(7) ArbStättV is set up completely by the employer (furniture, screen, keyboard).
• Set up your place according to the same rules as in the office: screen side-on to the window, external keyboard, seat height, legroom free, no cables across the path, no power strip cascades. The kitchen chair with a laptop at the dining table is a makeshift, not a permanent state.
• Accident insurance: since June 2021, Section 8(1) sentence 3 SGB VII makes clear that for insured activity at home the same accident insurance cover applies as in the company. The route from your own home to childcare and back is also insured from the home office (Section 8(2) No. 2a SGB VII). Purely private activities at home remain uninsured — borderline cases are decided by the courts.
• Working hours and availability apply unchanged: breaks, rest period, maximum working hours. Working mobile does not mean being constantly available.

Remember

30 minutes from 6 hours, 45 from 9, interrupt screen work regularly. And at home the same occupational safety applies as in the office — including the accident insurance.

Module 9 of 15

Alcohol, drugs and medication

Alcohol and work do not go together — in the office too, even with the glass of sparkling wine for a birthday. The Berufsgenossenschaften have laid this down in Section 15(2) DGUV Vorschrift 1: insured persons must not put themselves, through the consumption of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicating substances, into a state in which they could endanger themselves or others. Paragraph 3 extends this to medication. And Section 7(2) obliges the employer not to employ anyone who is visibly no longer able to do their work without danger — he must have the person taken home, not let them drive.

The company rule: 0.0 per mille

For the workplace the law names no blood alcohol figure but the dangerous state. In road traffic, 0.5 per mille is by law an administrative offence (Section 24a StVG), from 0.3 per mille relative unfitness to drive with signs of impairment (Section 316 StGB), and for novice drivers in the probationary period and under 21 years 0.0 per mille (Section 24c StVG).

Many companies — and this course — therefore set 0.0 per mille as the company rule: no alcohol before and during work and on journeys made for the company, regardless of what road traffic law would still tolerate. This is an instruction by the employer that you must follow (Section 15 ArbSchG), not a law — you will find your company rule in the module “Procedure in our company”.

Company parties

The Christmas party is covered by the accident insurance — the alcohol at it is not. Anyone who drives home drunk after the party or falls risks the insurance cover. “At parties in the company you may always drink during working hours” is wrong; the employer decides whether and when alcohol is served and ensures a safe way home.

Medication

Painkillers, sedatives, allergy tablets, some blood pressure and cold remedies impair reaction and concentration. The leaflet says so: “May impair the ability to react”. Ask your doctor or pharmacist, inform your supervisor if necessary — without having to name the diagnosis — and do not drive on business under such medicines.

Cannabis has been partially legalised for adults in Germany since April 2024; at the workplace Section 15(2) DGUV Vorschrift 1 still applies, in road traffic the limit of 3.5 ng/ml THC (Section 24a StVG).

Remember

Company rule: 0.0 per mille at work and on business trips. Alcohol and drugs increase the risk of accidents, cost the insurance cover in an emergency — and nobody may drink “as they like” before work.

Module 10 of 15

First aid and the first-aid logbook

A paper cut, a twisted ankle on the stairs, a colleague who suddenly turns pale and complains of chest pain — first aid in the office is usually minor and sometimes vital. The course of healing depends substantially on how quickly and effectively the first help comes. Even minor injuries can become infected and lead to complications — blood poisoning starts with a scratch nobody took seriously. After serious accidents — a fall from a ladder, heart attack, unconsciousness — survival often depends on what is done in the first minutes: emergency call, recovery position, chest compressions until the ambulance service takes over. In an emergency your supervisor or the first aider tells you what to do — and the notice board tells you who that is.

What the company must provide

The emergency call 112

The W questions: Where did it happen? What happened? How many injured? Which injuries or symptoms? Wait for questions — do not hang up until the control centre ends the call. Then fetch the first aider, do not leave the injured person alone, guide the rescue services in (keep the lift free, open the door).

First-aid logbook or reporting pad — enter every injury

Every injury is documented — not only serious accidents, also the paper cut, the knock against the drawer, the twisted ankle without a visit to the doctor. The entry contains: time and place, what happened, type and extent of the injury, time and type of the first-aid measure, names of the injured person, the witnesses and the first aider.

Why so precisely? If the trifle turns into an infection, an incapacity for work or permanent damage days later, the entry is the proof of the occupational accident towards the Berufsgenossenschaft. Without an entry, the difficulty of proof begins.

Data protection: injury data are health data (Art. 9 GDPR). The classic first-aid logbook in which everyone can read the entries of the others no longer satisfies this. The Berufsgenossenschaften recommend the reporting pad (DGUV Information 204-021): one sheet per incident, detached and kept under lock at a designated office — HR department, occupational safety specialist or supervisor.

Remember

112 with the W questions, first aiders are on the notice board, every injury into the first-aid logbook, keep for 5 years. The entry takes one minute — and in case of doubt saves the recognition as an occupational accident.

Module 11 of 15

Occupational accident, commuting accident and accident report

Anyone who has an accident at work or on the way there is covered by the statutory accident insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft or Unfallkasse): medical treatment without co-payment, injury benefit, a pension for permanent damage. The condition is that the accident is recognised as an occupational or commuting accident — and that it has been reported.

Occupational accident (Section 8(1) SGB VII)

Accident during the insured activity — at the desk, in the corridor, on a business trip, during a business journey, during company sports, at the company party or company outing organised by the company, and since 2021 expressly also in the home office. Decisive: the activity serves the company, not private purposes. The private shopping during the lunch break is not insured, the way to the canteen in the building is.

Commuting accident (Section 8(2) SGB VII)

Insured is the direct route between home and workplace — from leaving the front door to reaching the company premises, there and back, by any means of transport.

The two-hour limit: according to the settled case law of the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht), the insurance cover revives after a private interruption when the route is continued — but not if the interruption lasted longer than two hours. Then the rest of the way home is also uninsured.

What you do after an accident

1. First aid, 112 if necessary.
2. Inform the company immediately — supervisor, HR department — and help to clarify what happened (name witnesses). This also applies to commuting accidents, even if you go straight to the doctor: “go to the doctor, no need to notify the company” is wrong.
3. Have an entry made in the first-aid logbook.
4. See the accident insurance consultant (Durchgangsarzt) if you are unfit for work beyond the day of the accident or the treatment is expected to last longer than a week — not your GP. Tell the doctor that it was an occupational or commuting accident.
5. Report the incapacity for work to your employer as usual; since 2023 the certificate runs electronically via the health insurance fund (eAU). You send nothing to the Berufsgenossenschaft yourself — the employer does that.

The accident report (Section 193 SGB VII)

The employer must report to the Berufsgenossenschaft every accident in which an employee is unfit for work for more than three days or is killed — within three days of learning of it. The works council receives a copy, the injured person may inspect it. That is why the employer needs your report immediately: without it he cannot meet his deadline.

Remember

Insured are the direct route and the business purpose. Private interruption: cover suspended — over two hours: cover gone. After every accident: report immediately, first-aid logbook, accident insurance consultant. The accident report from the fourth day of incapacity for work is made by the employer.

Module 12 of 15

Behaviour in case of fire — escape routes and assembly point

Fires in the office are rare — but when they happen, there is a lot of paper, plastic and cables, and the danger is not the flame but the smoke: a few breaths of fire smoke cause unconsciousness. That is why every second counts in case of fire, and that is why the procedure is fixed.

The order

1. Raise the alarm — press the fire alarm (manual call point), warn colleagues.
2. Emergency call 112 with the W questions: where, what, how many injured, which injuries, wait for questions.
3. Self-protection comes first. Extinguish an incipient fire (waste-paper basket, coffee machine) only if this is possible without danger to yourself — fire extinguishers are at marked places, fire safety assistants (usually 5 % of employees, ASR A2.2) are trained for this. Never water into burning electrical appliances.
4. Close windows and doors, do not lock them — slows down smoke and fire, leaves the rescue route open.
5. Leave the building via the marked escape route. Take nothing with you, search for nothing, take visitors and colleagues who need help with you. Not into smoke-filled areas; move bent low in smoke.
6. Go to the assembly point and stay there.
7. Wait for instructions, keep the access for rescue services clear, guide the fire brigade: who is missing, where is it burning, where are hazardous substances.

Escape routes and emergency exits (ASR A2.3)

Escape routes must be kept permanently clear — no copier, no box, no Christmas tree in the corridor, no bicycles in the stairwell. Emergency exits must be able to be opened from the inside at any time without aids; they must not be obstructed, locked or wedged. The escape and rescue plan hangs at central places; look at it on a quiet day, not only when it is burning. Where is the second escape route, where is the assembly point?

The lift is taboo in case of fire

In a power failure the lift gets stuck — possibly on a smoke-filled floor. Light barriers and smoke detectors can open the door exactly where the smoke is. Never use lifts in case of fire — always the stairs; the sign “Do not use lift in case of fire” hangs everywhere for a good reason.

Why the assembly point is so important

At the assembly point it is established whether someone is still in the building — the supervisor or the fire safety assistant checks that everyone is present and tells the fire brigade whom it must search for. Anyone who goes home instead or waits in the café triggers a search in the burning building that nobody needs. Therefore: to the assembly point, report, stay until the all-clear comes.

Remember

Alarm, 112, self-protection, doors closed, escape route, stairs instead of lift, assembly point, stay. And escape routes are clear — always, not only during the inspection.

Module 13 of 15

Case study: the charging cable in the corridor

The situation: Tuesday, 2:20 p.m. Ms M. from accounting walks through the corridor to the copier with a stack of files. A colleague has connected his notebook at the meeting table in the corridor — the charging cable lies across the path to the socket on the wall. Ms M. catches her foot, falls, twists her right ankle and hits her hand. The ankle swells immediately, she cannot put weight on it.

The decision path

1. Is this an occupational accident? Yes — an accident during the insured activity in the company (Section 8(1) SGB VII). The fact that a colleague laid the cable changes nothing; the accident insurance does not ask the question of blame.

2. What happens in the first minutes — and what does not?

3. Which doctor? Ms M. cannot put weight on her foot — she will be unfit for work beyond the day of the accident. So accident insurance consultant (Durchgangsarzt), not the GP. She or the first aider says there: occupational accident, company, time, what happened. The D-Arzt reports the case to the Berufsgenossenschaft himself.

4. What must the employer do? The diagnosis is a torn ligament, Ms M. is unfit for work for two weeks — i.e. more than three days. The employer files the accident report under Section 193 SGB VII within three days of learning of the incapacity for work; the works council receives a copy, Ms M. may inspect it. Had she been back the next day, the entry in the first-aid logbook would have been sufficient.

5. What does the company change? An accident is an indication that the risk assessment has a gap. Consequences here: retrofit sockets at the meeting table or lay a cable duct across the path, repeat the rule “no cables across traffic routes” in the next instruction, update the risk assessment for the corridor (Section 3(1) sentence 2, Section 5 ArbSchG). The colleague gets no reproach but the socket he would have needed.

Variant: the seemingly harmless case

Suppose Ms M. gets up again, it “only hurts a bit”, she carries on working — and three days later the foot is thick and blue, the doctor diagnoses a partially torn ligament. Now the entry in the first-aid logbook from Tuesday decides whether the Berufsgenossenschaft recognises the occupational accident. Without an entry and without witnesses, Ms M. faces difficulty of proof. Therefore: enter every injury, immediately.

What decided the case

Not the cable — it had lain there before. What decided it were the first ten minutes: first aider, entry, report, cable gone. And the consequence that turns an accident into an improvement instead of a file.

Module 14 of 15

Procedure in our company

Your company completes this module. The general part of this instruction ends here — what follows, only your company knows. Section 12 ArbSchG requires a workplace-related instruction; only with these details is it complete.

These details belong here:

For management

The assembly point and the first aiders are the two points everyone in the building must know without thinking in an emergency. Anyone who names them in this instruction and repeats them once a year has completed the company-specific part — and the record with it.

Module 15 of 15

Keeping records

Finally, what turns this instruction into a record.

Repetition: the instruction must be given before starting work and repeated at least once a year thereafter (Section 12 ArbSchG, Section 4 DGUV Vorschrift 1). In addition after changes in the area of responsibility, new work equipment, after an accident or near miss and when regulations change. For young workers a six-monthly rhythm applies (Section 29 JArbSchG).

Who takes part: all employees in the office — full-time, part-time, apprentices, temporary helpers, interns, managers and temporary agency workers (for them the hirer gives the instruction under Section 12(2) ArbSchG). “Simple office work” is not an exception.

Documentation: the instruction must be verifiable — with content, date and participants, confirmed by signature or an equivalent record. Your certificate of participation carries name, course, date, result, the complete list of topics and a certificate number that can be verified on the Academy's verification page. Keep it and give a copy to the office that keeps the instruction records in the company — HR department, occupational safety specialist or supervisor. There is no statutory retention period; keep the record at least until the instruction after next, better for the duration of the employment relationship.

What must additionally be documented: the company-specific part from the module “Procedure in our company” — first aiders, assembly point, occupational safety specialist, reporting paths. Without it the instruction under Section 12 ArbSchG is not complete; with it, it is. Only both together — general part with certificate, company part with signature — make the record that the trade supervisory office, Berufsgenossenschaft or auditor want to see.

Remember

A record nobody can find is no record. File the certificate, note the date, repeat next year — and instruct new colleagues before their first working day, not afterwards.

Final test

20 questions, one correct answer each. You need 14 correct answers to pass (70 %). Scoring happens on the server — there is no answer key on this page.

Your result