Covid-19 and occupational health: recommendations of the German BMAS

The SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Health and Safety Regulation expired on 25 May 2022. In response to the decline in the number of infections and the mostly milder courses of the disease, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) has refrained from an extension beyond May 25, 2022.

Obligation to carry out a risk assessment with regard to the occurrence of infections

According to the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, however, employers remain obliged to carry out risk assessments with regard to the occurrence of infections. Based on the result of the risk assessment and in consideration of the recommendations of the BMAS, appropriate occupational health and safety measures are then to be taken. The BMAS emphasises that the risk assessment should also take into account whether persons with an increased health risk, for whom additional individual protective measures may be necessary, are employed in the company.

Measures recommended by the BMAS to reduce the risk of infection

According to the recommendations of the BMAS on workplace infection control published on 27 May 2022, employers should continue to consider the following measures which, which the BMAS has found to be effective in reducing the risk of infection in the workplace:

• Strict adherence to the minimum distance of 1.50 metres,
• the installation of suitable partitions if the distance falls below the minimum (provided that sufficient ventilation is ensured at the same time),
• ensuring hand hygiene as well as the cough and sneeze etiquette,
• the provision and use of suitable respiratory protection masks in indoor spaces used by several persons at the same time if the distance falls below the minimum distance of 1.50 metres and in the event of direct physical contact, as well as
• the regular and intensive ventilation.

Measures recommended by the BMAS to reduce workplace-related personal contacts

In addition, the following measures are recommended to reduce operational personal contacts:

• Access restrictions for customers and guests,
• Division of the workforce into teams that are as small as possible and that work together on a permanent basis,
• Reducing the number of people in simultaneously used indoor spaces,
• Telephone conferences and virtual conferences as a substitute for face-to-face meetings and to avoid business trips, as well as
• offering employees the opportunity to carry out suitable activities at home, if possible.

Test offers remain a valuable measure

It is reported by the BMAS that regular testing offers for all employees working in presence have proven to be effective to prevent the spread of infection in the company. However, employers are no longer obliged to offer tests and they are also no longer allowed to make the access of employees to the workplace dependent on the presentation of a 3G certificate, as the corresponding legal basis has not been extended beyond 19 March 2022.

Accordingly, the employer may also no longer process data of employees on their vaccination, recovery or testing status for the purpose of 3G access control on the basis of the Infection Protection Act. Data collected on the basis of the Infection Protection Act must be deleted by the employer.

The handling of contact persons in the company

Infected workers still have a duty to self-isolate according to country-specific guidelines.

Close contacts are still recommended by the Robert Koch Institute to go into quarantine. However, there is no longer a federal legal obligation to do so. Accordingly, contact persons receive neither an official quarantine order nor an AU certificate. The BMAS therefore recommends establishing company regulations that allow the Robert Koch Institute's recommendation to be implemented. Employers should, for example, check whether it is possible for contact persons to work from home, whether they can be granted paid time off or whether continued work can be made possible by taking sufficient protective measures for contact persons in the company.