A new warehouse opens, headcount rises, or an accident insurance institution asks for documents. These moments expose whether safety management is active or merely stored in a folder. An annual safety review of your workplace gives you a controlled way to find gaps before they become incidents, disruption or formal deficiencies.
For employers operating in Germany, this review should not be a rushed tick-box exercise. It is a practical check that the measures agreed in your risk assessment (Gefährdungsbeurteilung) still reflect the people, premises, equipment and work actually being carried out.
Why an annual workplace safety review matters
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz, ArbSchG) requires employers to assess risks, put suitable protective measures in place and check whether those measures remain effective. The law does not create one universal annual inspection date for every safety task. Some checks have their own intervals under specific rules, while other measures must be reviewed whenever work changes.
That distinction matters. A yearly review is a useful management rhythm, but it cannot replace a required electrical equipment inspection under DGUV V3, a specific work equipment inspection under BetrSichV, or an immediate review after an accident, near miss or major operational change.
Done properly, the review brings these moving parts together. You can see whether documents match reality, whether assigned responsibilities still make sense, and whether corrective actions have actually been completed. For a foreign-led business, it also provides a clear record of how German duties are being managed without asking your local team to become regulatory experts overnight.
What to check in your annual safety review workplace programme
Start on site, not with the documents. Walk through the office, shop floor, warehouse or service location with the people who know the work. Observe the routes, storage areas, workstations and equipment in use. Then compare what you find with your documented arrangements.
Risks and changes to the operation
Review the risk assessment against current conditions. Have you hired new teams, introduced shift work, opened another area, changed layouts, purchased machinery or brought contractors onto site? A risk assessment prepared for a small office will not adequately cover a growing fulfilment operation with pallet racking, material handling equipment and lorry deliveries.
Pay particular attention to recurring low-level issues. Blocked escape routes, unstable storage, poor manual handling practices and improvised electrical connections may appear minor individually, but they reveal that controls are not holding in daily work. Capture the finding, appoint an owner and set a realistic completion date.
Where chemicals are used, review hazardous substances management (Gefahrstoffmanagement). Check the inventory, safety data sheets, labelling, storage, exposure controls and employee instructions. The requirements of GefStoffV and relevant TRGS may apply even where substances are used in relatively small quantities, such as cleaning products, aerosols, adhesives or maintenance materials.
People, appointments and training
Confirm that your external or internal occupational safety specialist (Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit, or SiFa) and company doctor (Betriebsarzt) appointments remain appropriate for your business. Under DGUV V2, the required support depends on factors including your headcount, sector and risk profile. Expansion, new activities and a higher accident risk can change the level and focus of support needed.
Review induction records and recurring employee training. Training should be understandable to the workforce and connected to real work, rather than copied from a generic presentation. For an international workforce, that may mean providing clear English materials alongside other languages employees can understand.
Check whether named roles are still covered. Depending on your activities, this could include a fire safety officer (Brandschutzbeauftragter), first aiders, evacuation assistants and persons authorised to inspect particular equipment. Names in an emergency plan are only useful if those people are employed, trained and aware of their role.
Equipment, buildings and emergency arrangements
Create a single view of assets that need inspection, including electrical equipment, lifting equipment, ladders, doors, fire protection systems and warehouse racking. The applicable inspection frequency depends on the equipment, how it is used and the risk assessment. For racking, use the practical requirements associated with DGUV 208-043: regular visual checks by trained staff and expert inspections at the required intervals.
Check that inspection findings have not simply been filed away. Damaged racking uprights, overdue portable appliance checks or missing fire extinguisher servicing need a documented corrective action, not a note for next year.
Emergency arrangements deserve the same scrutiny. Inspect escape routes, signage, emergency lighting, assembly points and fire safety equipment. Test whether employees know how to report an incident and who takes charge during an evacuation. A plan that was suitable before a layout change or a move to hybrid working may now leave important gaps.
Records, incidents and corrective actions
Your review should bring together risk assessments, training records, appointment letters, inspection certificates, accident documentation and open action lists. Records do not make a workplace safe by themselves, but missing records make it difficult to demonstrate that required measures were planned and followed.
Look back at workplace accidents, near misses, sickness patterns and employee concerns. A reportable accident should prompt an immediate investigation and, where applicable, reporting to the accident insurance institution (Berufsgenossenschaft, or BG). The annual review is the point to check whether the underlying causes were addressed, rather than merely recording that the report was sent.
If your organisation requires a safety committee meeting (Arbeitsschutzausschuss, or ASA), use the annual review to prepare the agenda and verify that agreed measures from previous meetings have progressed.
A practical three-step review process
1. Map your legal and operational baseline
Gather existing documents and list every location, activity, employee group, contractor arrangement and significant piece of equipment. Identify which duties apply to each site. This prevents a common problem: assuming that the compliance position of a low-risk office also applies to a warehouse, retail unit or technical service operation.
2. Inspect, challenge and prioritise
Carry out an on-site inspection with the relevant operational contacts. Compare practice to the risk assessment, speak with employees and identify gaps. Prioritise actions by the seriousness of the risk and the urgency of the legal duty. Some issues need immediate control, while others can be planned into a defined improvement timetable.
3. Assign, document and revisit
Give every action an owner, deadline and evidence requirement. Update risk assessments and instructions where necessary, arrange training or statutory inspections, and retain clear records. Set review points during the year for higher-risk actions. The annual review works best when it creates a living action plan, not a twelve-month pause before the next check.
When should you review sooner than annually?
Do not wait for the annual date if there is a material change. Review your arrangements after a workplace accident or near miss, a move or new site opening, substantial growth, new machinery, altered processes, new hazardous substances, changes to shift patterns or an authority inspection.
A letter from a BG or a deficiency notice is also a reason to act promptly. Read the requested actions carefully, preserve relevant records and establish the facts on site. A focused review can help you organise corrective work and provide a credible basis for your response, although no provider can promise how an authority will assess it.
Questions employers often ask
Is an annual safety review legally required in Germany?
Not as one single, identical event for every employer. However, employers must maintain effective occupational safety arrangements and update them when conditions change. Many inspection and training duties have separate rules or intervals, making an annual management review a sensible way to keep the overall system under control.
Can we rely on a risk assessment written several years ago?
Only if it still represents the work and remains effective. If teams, equipment, premises or processes have changed, it should be reviewed and updated. Even without obvious change, an annual check helps verify that its controls are still being followed.
Who should lead the review?
The employer remains responsible, but the process can be supported by an occupational safety specialist, company doctor and relevant operational managers. External support is particularly useful where you do not have an in-house health and safety function or need guidance across several German sites.
Captain Safety can inspect your workplace, coordinate required specialists and inspections, and turn findings into a clear corrective action plan. Request a quote when you need a responsive safety partner for the review and the work that follows it.
A well-run annual review is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the moment to ask a straightforward question: if someone started work here tomorrow, would your current arrangements genuinely protect them? Acting honestly on the answer is where the real safety work begins.