Working Life > Self-Employment > Trade > Trade Supervisory Center

Trade Control, also Occupational Health and Safety Authority

Definition, Explanation

Trade supervisory centers are there for controlling businesses’ compliance with directives of occupational health and safety and directives of immission control that are given by the trade regulations and other regulations. Besides supervising the implementation of government occupational health and safety directives, the trade supervisory center counsels employers as well as employees. This is based on the legal remit definition in § 139b GewO – Gewerbeaufsichtsbehörde. When somebody registers a trade, the responsible trade supervisory center will be informed about it.

Remit of trade supervisory centers:

• Occupational health and safety, security engineering
  • Technical occupational health and safety
  • prevention of accidents
  • prevention of occupational diseases
  • protection from work-related health hazards
• Social labour protection: Controlling of
  • maternity protection
  • youth employment protection
    
  • labour protection: working hours, working duration (e.g. closing hours), hours of rest and breaks
  • home labour protection
  • social directives applying to road traffic
• Medical labour protection
• Implementation of health and safety directives
  • authorization of local police departments, e.g. inspection of facilities
  • issuing ordinances
  • closing down companies, parts of companies or facilities
  • inflicting penalties
• Environmental protection
• Protection from technology hazards

Legal basis of technical occupational health and safety is:

• § 3 Arbeitsschutzgesetz, ArbSchG (occupational health and safety act)
• § 120 Gewerbeordnung, GewO (trade regulations) inclusive Arbeitsstättenverordnung (facility regulation)
• § 12 Gerätesicherheitsgesetz, GSG (device safety act)
• Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz (occupational health and safety act)
• Gefahrstoffverordnung, GefStoffV (hazarduous substances regulation)
• Röntgenverordnung and Strahlenschutzverordnung (X-ray and radiation protection regulation)
• Sprengstoffgesetz (explosives act)

Complementing those acts of law and regulations, there are professional associations’ regulations, directives and bulletins of professional associations, VDE regulations, DIN norms etc.

Permits of the trade supervisory centers:

• Issuing of permissions and licenses
• Counselling, (further) education of works council members as well as safety personnel and safety officers
• Filing of evaluation and expert opinion certificates for other authorities. Investigation on accident and occupational disease cases
• Controlling of remuneration payment to home workers
• Anytime supervisory and controlling actions of businesses’ compliance with directives and regulations, also on-site

Rights and obligations of trade supervisory centers:

• Entering of workplaces and facilities
• Obligation of secrecy on company-intern matters
• Medical secrecy obligation for trade supervisory doctors

In different Federal States of Germany, there are different ways of how those functions of the trade supervisory centers are effected. Not in all Federal States, the environmental protection is controlled by the trade supervisory centers. Trade supervisory centers of Bavaria additionally act as occupational medicine authorities.

Tips, Checklist

• For new as well as re-construction, turn to the trade supervisory center as well, to be informed about construction regulations
• Comply with legal constraints on ceiling heights and intervisibility in case you employ other persons, as well as in sanitary facilities (for above 5 employees of different sex separate toilets)
• If you employ above 10 persons, you require a break room
• Get informed at your trade supervisory center and have yourself counselled

Last update: 08/03/2010