Training providers: the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions

The greater part of OSH-related training in Germany is conducted by the individual statutory accident insurance institutions as part of sector-specific initial and further training.

These training measures, relating to the prevention of occupational accidents, occupational diseases and work-related health hazards, address typical, sector-specific hazards and associated proven prevention strategies. Other seminars provide instruction on management systems and the implementation and management of enhanced organizational procedures. Comprehensive courses of training, such as that for qualification as an OSH professional, are also on offer.

Based upon the observation that specialist knowledge alone is not sufficient for occupational safety and health to be represented effectively within a company, seminars are increasingly being run which are geared to the communication of methodological and social skills. Courses in traffic safety and seminars for the improvement of road safety are further topics of sector-specific qualification.

The main target groups of the sector-specific qualification measures are:

  • OSH professionals
  • Safety officers
  • Offers responsible for special areas (e.g. fire safety officers)
  • Management personnel
  • Employers (particularly in the "employer model" in the BGs for the industrial sector)
  • Company physicians
  • Designers
  • Members of employee representative committees
  • Trainees

Descriptions (in German) of the sector-specific qualification measures can be found on the websites of the individual statutory accident insurance institutions.