SARS-CoV-2 occupational health and safety rule

Under the coordination of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), the working committees at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs have developed and published the new SARS-CoV-2 occupational health and safety regulations. The scope of application explicitly stipulates that these regulations also apply to activities subject to the Biological Agents Ordinance (BioStoffV) for the protection of employees, unless equivalent or stricter regulations (including the Technical Rules for Biological Agents TRBA, recommendations, or resolutions) exist there. Furthermore, the recommendations of the ABAS (Association of Biological Agents) in connection with the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 must continue to be taken into account. Two points are important here: 1. Firstly, it stipulates that, based on these new SARS-CoV-2 occupational health and safety regulations, particularly with regard to the BioStoffV, the risk assessment must be reviewed and, if necessary, updated. This is a regular, now ad hoc review in accordance with Section 8 (6) Sentence 1 of the BioStoffV. Employers or specialists commissioned by the employer to do so can thus ensure that the risk assessment has been updated once following its publication on August 20, 2020, i.e., reviewed, and in any case signed with a current date (Section 8 (6) Sentence 8 of the BioStoffV). Furthermore, Section 4.2.14 (1) of the SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Safety and Health Regulation stipulates that training can be conducted via electronic means of communication during an epidemic. Care must be taken to ensure that a check of understanding is carried out between employees and instructors, and that further questions can be asked at any time. This wording only applies to electronic means of communication where a check of understanding can actually take place between employees and those providing training. These include, for example, live training courses via live platforms. If a check of understanding is to be carried out between employees and instructors and if questions should be possible at any time, this does not mean that videos of training sessions can be recorded and then viewed and played back by employees without the students being present. Fully electronic learning blocks, at the end of which questions must be answered, also lack the opportunity to ask questions at any time, so this form of training is unlikely to be considered. Of course, the SARS-CoV-2 occupational health and safety regulations are only subordinate requirements that lack the binding nature of a law. However, they specify the state of the art in science and technology within the meaning of Section 5 of the IFSG (Infection Protection Act), so that deviations from them can only be made in individual cases if the protection of employees can be ensured by other means. Given this aspect, it will probably not be possible to generally switch to fully electronic video clips and a subsequent electronic questionnaire.