Germany: New Version of the Covid 19 Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance for the upcoming fall and winter

Authors: Verena Braeckeler-Kogel, MAES (Basel) and Meike Christine Rehner

Employers can expect the following measures:

• Mandatory implementation of hygiene concepts adapted to the specific situation.
• Keep distance, observe hygiene, ventilate regularly.
• Reduction of physical contact in the workplace, rooms should not be shared.
• Wearing a face mask is mandatory if contact reduction measures cannot be implemented or are not sufficient.
• Employers should evaluate if they can offer working from home and testing opportunities.
• The employer needs to inform the employees about the risk of an infection and the vaccination opportunities and must allow employees to get vaccinated during working time.

“Practical Point”

• The mandatory Covid 19 measures in the workplace are less severe than in previous years. Nonetheless, employers now need to update their hygiene concepts and must keep monitoring the situation.