We are repeatedly confronted with the question of whether there is a provision in labor law according to which the adaptation to the state of the art must be carried out. This mainly concerns workplaces - e.g. machinery (this does not deal with the subject of the obligation to adapt under the Industrial Code or building law).

The basic problem here is that there is no definitive regulation in the Employee Protection Act, but this is stated in several paragraphs in a convoluted manner. Enclosed you will find the essential excerpts from the Employee Protection Act BGBL.: 450/1994 as amended.

§ 3 General obligations of employers:

(2) Employers shall inform themselves about the latest state of the art and findings in the field of workplace design, taking into account the existing hazards.

§ 4 Identification and assessment of hazards - definition of measures
the design and furnishings of the workplace,
the design and use of work equipment,
the use of working materials,
the design of the workplaces,
the design of work procedures and work processes and their interaction,
the design of the work tasks and the nature of the activities, the working environment, the work processes and the work organization and
the status of training and instruction of employees.
after accidents,
in the event of illnesses if there is reasonable suspicion that they are work-related,
after incidents with increased work-related psychological stress,
in the event of other circumstances or events that indicate a risk to the safety or health of employees,
when introducing new work equipment, working materials or work processes,
in the event of new findings within the meaning of § 3 para. 2 and
at the justified request of the labor inspectorate.

 

§ 7 Principles of risk prevention

Employers must implement the following general principles of risk prevention in the design of workplaces, workstations and work processes, in the selection and use of work equipment and materials, in the deployment of employees and in all measures to protect employees:

avoidance of risks;
. assessment of unavoidable risks;
. combating hazards at source;
consideration of the "human factor" at work, in particular in the design of workplaces and in the selection of work equipment and work and production processes, especially with a view to facilitating monotonous work and machine-determined work rhythms and to mitigating their harmful effects on health;
Consideration of the design of the work tasks and type of activities, the working environment, work processes and work organization;
. consideration of the state of the art;
. elimination or reduction of moments of danger;
planning of risk prevention with the aim of coherently linking technology, activities and tasks, work organization, work processes, working conditions, working environment, social relationships and the influence of the environment on the workplace;
priority of collective hazard protection over individual hazard protection;
. giving appropriate instructions to employees.

 

As Section 3 (2) stipulates that companies must constantly keep abreast of the state of the art, it follows that the evaluation in accordance with Section 4 (5) (5) must be adapted in the event of changes. Section 7 stipulates that technical measures must be taken before organizational measures. This also means that the instruction or training of employees about a possible danger may only take place once all technical measures relating to hazard prevention have been taken.

 

As new findings on the state of the art must therefore be included in the evaluation and training may only be carried out last, the workplace must be adapted if a potential hazard is identified. This means that a practical, constant follow-up is required with regard to the hazards. The hazards can come from the areas of work design, safety technology, ergonomics, work and organizational psychology. In this respect, findings from specialist journals, scientific publications and conferences must be taken into account.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.