Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167) - Germany (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the detailed and comprehensive response provided by the Government including references to legislation and available electronic sources of information. The Committee notes the information provided concerning effect given to the following Articles of the Convention: Articles 2(h), 14(1), 15(1)(e), 17(3) and 12(1).

The Committee notes the observations submitted by the German Confederation of Trade Unions in a communication received on 24 November 2011 and which was transmitted to the Government on 28 November 2011. The Committee will address these comments at its next session in the light of any comments the Government may wish to make in response thereto.

Article 30(1). Provision of personal protective equipment. The Committee notes with interest the detailed information provided by the Government regarding the implementation of the provision of the Convention based on a consistent application of a risk management approach. The Committee notes in particular that the Government underscores that the objective of the relevant legislation – including the ordinance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) – is to arrive at the independent management of safety and health protection by enterprises, the core elements of such management being: risk assessment; the information and training of workers; and the inclusion of workers in decision making processes of the enterprise having regard to safety and health at work. The Government further states that therefore, as a rule, the Occupational Safety Act and the ordinances based on risk management lay down only essential framework conditions so as not to prevent employers and workers from achieving the level of autonomous action that is the aim of legislation; that these general requirements are underpinned by more concrete sub-statutory sets of rules and that employers implementing these rules can assume that they comply with the legal requirements. The Government indicates however, that a deliberate choice was made not to draw up a set of rules of this kind to assist with the implementation of the ordinance on the use of PPE as, according to the general principles set out in Article 4 of the Occupational Safety Act, individual protective measures such as the wearing of PPE are subordinate to technical and organizational protective measures. The Government further states that as a result, PPE may be used either only in addition to other protective measures or only if risk assessment has showed that technical or organizational measures cannot be taken at all or merely to an extent that is considered insufficient. The Government goes on to emphasize that it should further be taken into consideration that the use of PPE in itself can impair or damage health, and that it is not advisable for the legislator to prescribe the compulsory use of PPE in certain work situations on construction sites as is impossible for all possible constraints to be covered by legislation; and that therefore only the employers can take all constraints into consideration, based on individual situation-related risk assessments. The Government also refers to the fact that other legislation specifically requires the provision and use of PPE if certain limit values are exceeded (for example the noise and vibration protection ordinance, hazardous substances ordinance and technical rules accompanying the hazardous substances ordinance, notably TRGS 500). Finally the Government indicates that the statutory accident insurance companies have made available a number of practical guides to help employers select appropriate PPE in areas including for example on the use of breathing equipment and on retaining best and coupling mans for retaining belts. The Committee wishes to recall that this approach places high demands on the enforcement of the provisions on risk assessment and their effective application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide further detailed information on the application of this approach in practice including examples of the methods used to ensure such an effective implementation of this Article in practice.

Part VI of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information provided regarding the elaboration of the common occupational safety and health strategy between the competent inspectorates of the Länder and the statutory accident insurance institutions, in which they agreed on core activities and harmonized information, advisory and implementing measures to reduce accidents and occupational diseases in the construction sector, in particular in building and assembly scaffolding and demolition, but that no interim reports are available for the reporting period. The Committee asks the Government to provide further detailed information on the impact of this common approach on the number of occupational accidents and diseases in the referenced sectors. In that context the Committee requests the Government to also provide information on whether and to what extent particular attention is given to occupational safety and health in demolition work involving demolition of buildings containing asbestos and any information on the incidence of asbestos related diseases among construction workers.