Many employers are currently asking whether a risk assessment must also be carried out for teleworkstations in the home office. The German Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV) is clear on this point: a risk assessment is required when permanent home-office workstations are established. More specifically, where home-office work (telework) is carried out regularly rather than only occasionally, occupational health and safety must be ensured. Such a teleworkstation must therefore be assessed for risks before the employee begins their work. The following sections explain when, how often and for which forms of work a risk assessment must be carried out, as well as the factors to consider when assessing telework. We also provide questionnaire templates that can be used to identify psychological strain as part of the risk assessment.
LamaPoll can be used to identify psychological strain as part of a risk assessment. Please note that the carefully researched information does not constitute legally binding advice.
Table of Contents
Is a risk assessment necessary for telework?
- Carry out a risk assessment (in accordance with Section 5 ArbSchG and Section 3 ArbStättV)
- Document the results of the risk assessment, including any resulting measures where applicable
- Instruct employees (in accordance with Section 6 ArbStättV and Section 12 of the German Occupational Health and Safety Act)
- Adapt instruction to developments in risk and repeat it regularly where necessary
- Set up display screen workstations (in accordance with Annex 6 of ArbStättV)
Telework is defined by law and is subject to the German Workplace Ordinance. There are clear requirements for teleworkstations. Telework is defined in Section 2(7) of the German Workplace Ordinance.
Further information on the definitions of telework and mobile work, as well as the underlying conditions, can be found in a background report by the Research Services of the German Bundestag: Telework and mobile work: requirements, characteristics and legal framework
Carrying out a risk assessment for telework
A number of aspects must be considered when carrying out a risk assessment for teleworkstations in order to comply with the German Occupational Health and Safety Act. Under Section 5 of that Act, the employer must determine which occupational health and safety measures are necessary for the particular type of activity. If working conditions are the same at several workplaces, it is sufficient to assess one of those workplaces or activities. In addition to the risk assessment itself, its results must also be documented.
The following points should be examined systematically in a risk assessment:
- Workplace and workstation, including design and equipment
- Physical, chemical and biological effects
- Work equipment, in particular substances, machines, devices and installations, including their design, selection and use
- Work and production processes, workflows and working time
- Employees' insufficient qualifications and instruction
- Psychological strain
The analysis is not limited to a single aspect. It requires the full range of work to be examined more closely for risks. Under Section 6 ArbSchG, the result of the risk assessment must also be documented. The documentation must also show the occupational health and safety measures determined by the employer and the result of their review.
According to a report by the Initiative Health and Work (iga report), harmful psychological strains at work include high work intensity, little scope for action, an imbalance between effort and reward, and limited social support.
Questionnaire templates: identifying psychological strain
Feel free to use our free questionnaire templates as a guide when conducting a risk assessment. Psychological strain in telework as well as in work at company premises can be identified using an employee survey. The templates can be copied to your LamaPoll account with one click and adapted or expanded there as required for the respective activities, potential strains and risks. Once the survey has been completed, the results help you identify the occupational health and safety measures required for the respective activities. Employee instruction, a knowledge test and a follow-up survey after the necessary measures have been implemented can also be carried out easily with online questionnaires.
We have been using the LamaPoll platform since 2015 for our surveys on psychosocial risk assessment. Our MAVA questionnaire (Munich Audit for Work Situation Analysis) always runs without errors and with complete reliability. In addition to the high data protection requirements that LamaPoll fulfils, it is always good to know that customer service helps quickly and effectively when questions arise. This has enabled us to successfully support numerous clients in protecting the mental health of their employees.
What is LamaPoll?
LamaPoll is a survey tool for creating employee surveys and measuring employee satisfaction. You can use it to create, conduct and analyse all types of employee survey. Create your employee survey in just a few steps, apply your organisation’s corporate design and invite employees conveniently by email or via your intranet. You can quickly gain insights that help improve employee satisfaction. You can register for our survey tool free of charge and immediately conduct surveys for up to 50 employees with no obligation. If you need more responses to your online employee survey questionnaire, simply choose one of our monthly plans. You can also use our employee survey questionnaire templates and examples.
