Opening a German office, shop, warehouse or service site can move quickly from lease signing to first shift. The German site opening safety guide starts with a less visible task: putting the people, assessments and controls in place before employees begin work. Leaving this until after opening can create avoidable disruption, particularly if an accident insurance institution asks for evidence of compliance.
You do not need to build a full internal health and safety department to open safely. You do, however, need a clear plan that reflects your site, work activities and workforce. The legal duty remains with the employer, even where you appoint external specialists.
What must be ready before your site opens
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz, ArbSchG) requires employers to protect employees through suitable workplace organisation and preventive measures. What is suitable depends on the risks at your site. A low-risk office needs a different set of controls from a warehouse with racking, forklift lorries, loading bays and hazardous substances.
Your starting point should be a risk assessment (Gefährdungsbeurteilung). This is not a generic template kept in a folder. It is a documented review of the actual work, workplace layout, equipment, people and foreseeable emergencies. It should identify hazards, define controls, allocate responsibilities and record when the measures will be reviewed.
Before opening, you should also establish how safety responsibilities will work in practice. That means appointing competent support, organising occupational health provision, preparing emergency arrangements and ensuring employees receive instruction before they are exposed to risks.
For many employers, the practical challenge is timing. Furniture may not yet be installed, stock may still be in transit and the final headcount may change. In that situation, carry out an initial assessment before opening, then update it when the site is operational. A risk assessment is a living document, not a one-off administrative exercise.
German site opening safety guide: appoint the right support
Under the Act on Occupational Safety Specialists and Company Doctors (Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz, ASiG) and DGUV V2, many employers must appoint an occupational safety specialist (Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit, or SiFa) and a company doctor (Betriebsarzt). The required support depends on factors including employee numbers, sector and risk profile.
The safety specialist advises on workplace design, equipment, work processes, accident prevention and the risk assessment. The company doctor focuses on occupational health, including work-related health risks and any required preventive occupational medical care. These roles are advisory, but their involvement helps you make sound decisions before issues reach the shop floor.
Do not assume that a small team has no duties. The scope may be lighter for a small, lower-risk operation, but core employer duties still apply. Equally, a growing business should not wait until it reaches a particular headcount before checking its arrangements. A new warehouse, a change in work equipment or the introduction of shift work can alter the level of support needed.
Where employee representatives exist, involve them early. Safety measures work better when the people doing the work can point out blocked escape routes, awkward manual handling tasks or gaps in induction arrangements before the site becomes busy.
Turn the risk assessment into opening actions
A useful assessment produces decisions that can be checked. Rather than recording only that a hazard exists, record what must happen, who owns the action and when it will be completed.
For an office, this may include workstation set-up, electrical equipment checks, first-aid provision, evacuation routes, lone-working arrangements and psychosocial risks such as excessive workload. For retail, add stockroom access, deliveries, slips and trips, customer-facing conflict and manual handling. For logistics and warehousing, the assessment commonly needs to address traffic separation, racking, loading areas, lifting equipment, forklift activity, battery charging, falling objects and contractor control.
Hazardous substances deserve particular attention. The Hazardous Substances Ordinance (Gefahrstoffverordnung, GefStoffV) requires you to assess exposure and apply suitable controls. Cleaning products, aerosols, adhesives, fuels, laboratory materials and battery chemicals can all be relevant. Maintain an inventory, obtain safety data sheets, make sure containers are labelled, and give workers clear instructions on storage, use and emergency action.
The right control is not always the most paperwork-heavy one. In a warehouse, separating pedestrians from vehicles with marked routes and physical barriers may be more effective than relying on a reminder to stay alert. In an office, removing trailing cables may prevent a real injury more reliably than adding another policy document.
Check the building, equipment and fire arrangements
A site can look finished while critical safety details remain unresolved. Walk the premises before opening with the people responsible for facilities, operations and safety. Test what employees will actually encounter on day one.
Check that escape routes are clear, signed where required and usable without special knowledge. Fire doors must not be wedged open, and fire safety equipment must be appropriate to the building and the risks present. Your fire safety organisation should include evacuation arrangements, nominated helpers where appropriate, employee instruction and a plan for visitors or people requiring assistance.
Work equipment must be safe, suitable and maintained. The Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (Betriebssicherheitsverordnung, BetrSichV) sets the framework for safe use of work equipment. Depending on your operation, this may involve statutory inspections of electrical equipment under DGUV V3, racking inspections under DGUV 208-043, and checks for lifting equipment, doors, gates or other installations.
Do not confuse purchase with compliance. A newly purchased item may still need correct installation, inspection, user instruction and inclusion in your maintenance arrangements. This is especially relevant for imported equipment, temporary fit-outs and equipment transferred from another group site.
Train people before the first shift
Employee instruction should happen before work begins, not after the first incident or inspection. Explain the site-specific risks, emergency procedures, reporting routes, use of equipment and any protective measures. Deliver it in a language and format employees can understand.
A generic online course may support your programme, but it rarely replaces site-specific instruction. A new starter needs to know which exit to use, where to report a defect, how delivery vehicles move through the yard and whether they are authorised to use a particular item of equipment.
Keep records of attendance and topics covered. Documentation will help you manage refresher training and demonstrate that instruction has been organised. More importantly, it gives supervisors a common standard to reinforce during daily work.
Use a three-step opening process
The fastest route to control is usually a structured one. First, inspect the planned site and identify the gaps between the current condition and safe operation. Second, convert those gaps into a prioritised action plan covering appointments, assessments, inspections, training and physical improvements. Third, review the site after opening, when real work patterns reveal issues that drawings and assumptions did not show.
This process is particularly helpful where several obligations arrive at once. Captain Safety can coordinate occupational safety support, company doctor provision, fire protection, hazardous substances management, training and required inspections as part of one practical compliance plan. It also works nationwide, regardless of which accident insurance institution applies to your business.
If you have already received a letter, deficiency notice or inspection date, do not treat it as a reason to rush incomplete documents into place. Establish what the authority is asking for, inspect the actual conditions and create evidence of corrective action. A clear, credible response is built on work completed at the site.
Questions employers often ask
Can we open before every improvement is complete?
It depends on the risk. Some actions may be planned and monitored after opening, while other issues require correction before anyone can work safely. Blocked emergency exits, missing protection around dangerous equipment or unsafe electrical installations are not sensible items to defer. Assess the risk, apply interim controls only where they are genuinely effective, and set firm completion dates.
Do remote employees count?
Yes. Home-based and remote workers are also covered by employer health and safety duties. Their risk assessment and instruction will differ from those for a physical site, but they should not be overlooked simply because they do not attend the premises every day.
What documents should we keep at the site?
Keep the documents people need to work safely and manage the location: the risk assessment, training records, inspection evidence, emergency information, hazardous substance records where relevant, and records of actions taken. The exact file structure matters less than being able to find current evidence quickly and use it in practice.
A safe opening is not achieved by a single inspection or a thick compliance folder. It comes from giving your people a workplace that has been examined with care, equipped properly and supported by clear decisions. Start early, address the practical risks first, and let your safety team be the heroes who keep the opening day moving forward.