Germany Eases Electrical Inspection Rules as Pressure Grows on Mental Health and Cyber Risk Documentation
Published on 07/17/2026 at 06:24 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Germany’s government is loosening the rules for electrical inspections, while at the same time tightening expectations around the recording of psychological strain and cybersecurity risks.
The planned changes are designed to cut costs for businesses by around 600 million Euro. Fixed inspection intervals for electrical equipment will give way to a risk-based assessment. In practice, the company’s own hazard assessment will determine how often checks are carried out.
Industry specialists point to DGUV Vorschrift 3, which already allows such flexible intervals. The Technische Regel für Betriebssicherheit (TRBS) 1201 also says inspections should primarily be carried out where damaging influences affect work equipment.
That flexibility does not remove responsibility. Employers remain accountable for safety. In high-risk settings such as commercial kitchens or damp environments, a low level of hazard is rarely assumed. Existing intervals should not be suspended too quickly there. There is no general legal duty to use inspection stickers, but documentation remains essential for legal certainty.
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While some obligations are being eased, companies are being pushed to update their risk assessments more regularly. On 15. Juli, TÜV Rheinland said businesses must keep their documentation up to date and adapt it to the state of the art and changing working conditions.
The Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA) had already revised its risk assessment handbook in May. The chapters on psychological hazards and optical radiation were updated. The reason is clear: around 20 percent of employees feel heavily stressed. More than 50 percent suffer from sleep problems, linked in part to a draining meeting culture. In digital workplaces, concentration is statistically interrupted every two minutes.
A new focus is the link between occupational safety and IT security. TRBS 1115-1 now requires systematic identification of cyber risks for monitored systems. Measuring, control and regulation devices must be protected against unauthorized interference in order to ensure functional safety. Software-based solutions for tamper-proof documentation and auditability are also moving into the spotlight.
For machine maintenance, the Europe-wide standard DIN EN 17975 has also been published. It governs the Lockout-Tagout procedure (LOTO), which protects maintenance staff from accidental restart by safely disconnecting and locking energy sources.
The detailed requirements differ sharply by sector. In construction, larger projects must already be announced two weeks before work begins. Where hazardous work is involved or several companies are operating on the same site, the appointment of a safety and health coordinator (SiGeKo) and the preparation of a special safety plan are mandatory. Violations can lead to fines of up to 10.000 Euro.
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Dog schools and animal trainers face their own set of obligations under the Arbeitsschutzgesetz and the Biostoffverordnung. The main issues are bite incidents and behaviour histories. If instruction has not been provided or assessments are incomplete, fines of up to 30.000 Euro may be imposed.
As a result, more small and medium-sized companies are turning to external occupational safety specialists. Alongside preparing work instructions, they often also carry out specialised measurements of noise, lighting or hazardous substance concentrations — helping businesses remain compliant under DGUV Vorschrift 2.
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