Legal Basis for Documentation Requirements
§6 (1) ArbSchG requires every employer to have available the records from which the result of the risk assessment, the occupational safety measures determined and the result of their review are apparent. This applies to the general risk assessment as well as the psychological risk assessment.
Note: Both the obligation to conduct and the obligation to document apply from the first employee. The former exemption for employers with ten or fewer employees was removed by Article 8 of the BUK reorganisation act of 19 October 2013 (BGBl. I p. 3836), effective 25 October 2013. Since then, the type of activities and the number of employees only determine how extensive the records must be.
Mandatory Content
Under §6 ArbSchG and GDA guidelines, documentation must include:
- Activity groups: Which work areas were assessed?
- Identified hazards: Which psychosocial risks were found and how were they rated?
- Protective measures: Which measures were decided upon?
- Responsibilities and deadlines: Who is responsible for which measure by when?
- Effectiveness review result: Were measures implemented and are they working?
- Date of assessment: When was the assessment conducted?
- Signature of responsible person: Who was accountable for the assessment?
How Long to Retain Documentation
ArbSchG sets no explicit retention period. Our editorial recommendation is at least 5 to 10 years, because claims for damages arising from injury to life, body, health or liberty become absolutely time-barred only 30 years after the act under § 199 (2) BGB. That is the general long-stop period of the German Civil Code, not an occupational-disease-specific one. The documentation also serves as evidence of due diligence.
Common Documentation Mistakes
Too vague: "There is time pressure" versus a worked example with invented values: "68% of customer service staff report elevated time pressure caused by simultaneous incoming requests (scale value 3.8 out of 5)".
No deadlines or owners: Measures must be assigned to specific responsible persons with concrete deadlines.
Missing effectiveness review: Documentation without evidence of effectiveness review is considered incomplete by authorities.
Outdated documentation: Assessment must be updated when working conditions change materially.
Automated Documentation with SafeMind
SafeMind generates complete documentation automatically as a timestamped, legally compliant PDF that meets all §6 ArbSchG requirements – including all mandatory fields, anonymized data, the measures plan, and effectiveness review evidence.
