Reporting of damage events by project managers to authorities – duty, obligation or madness –

First, it should be noted that the relevant legal provisions do not even recognize the term "damage event." Furthermore, this is once again a case where common practice and the legal situation in genetic engineering facilities diverge significantly. To ensure that this does not put project managers at a disadvantage, the following should be noted:
The Genetic Engineering Emergency Ordinance applies to accidents in genetic engineering facilities. An accident within the meaning of the Genetic Engineering Emergency Ordinance is any incident that could result in a significant escape of genetically modified organisms from the genetic engineering facility that was not intended by the operator and could endanger the legal interests designated in Section 1 No. 1 GenTG (Section 2 Paragraph 1 GenTNotfV). This is not the case for S1 facilities (cf. Section 7 Paragraph 1 No. 1 GenTG). In the event of accidents, the operator is required to inform the authorities immediately. The ordinance does not stipulate a legal obligation for the project manager to report the accident ( cf. AGCT-Gentechnik.report 5/2010 ). Therefore, the project manager should not report an accident to the authorities, as the project manager does not have this authority under the law. Furthermore, they can quickly find themselves in conflict with labor or service law if they submit a report to the authorities without authorization from their employer. Project managers are strongly advised not to submit a report to the authorities in the event of an accident. This is not their responsibility unless their employment contract or a service or operating instruction stipulates it. This would certainly be unusual in the private sector.
When it comes to incidents that do not correspond to the expected course of genetic engineering work and where there is a suspicion of a threat to the legal interests designated in Section 1 No. 1 GenTG, the operator's duty to notify is stipulated in Section 21 Paragraph 3 GenTG. However, these are also not harmful events. Rather, they refer to cases in which the experiment does not correspond to the planned course and – usually due to a different risk assessment – ​​a danger arises. In this case, too, it is the operator's responsibility to notify the authorities accordingly in external relations. They can only submit the notification if the project manager has received instructions to do so internally.
To the extent that the letters from the supervisory authorities suggest that the project manager should also make use of the telephone numbers in the event of a “damage event”, this is strongly discouraged.

This publication can also be found on the website of the law firm Dr. Kauch .