Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV)

At its core is the risk assessment under Section 6: using the safety data sheets, the employer determines which substances with which hazards are used, checks substitutes and defines protective measures in the order substitution, technical, organisational, personal. The employer keeps a hazardous substances register (Section 6 (12)) and prepares operating instructions, which are used to instruct employees (Section 14).

Stricter requirements apply to carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances, including an exposure register. The Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances (TRGS) specify the ordinance – for example TRGS 400 on the risk assessment, TRGS 510 on storage and TRGS 555 on operating instructions.

This glossary entry gives a general overview of German occupational safety law and does not replace legal advice. The regulations in force and the rules of the statutory accident insurance institutions are authoritative.