Occupational safety in the planning phase of buildings and facilities

Workplace safety begins before moving in

Many workplace safety issues do not arise only during subsequent operations. They are already established during the planning phase.

A traffic route is too narrow. Workstations are poorly positioned relative to windows and lighting. There is insufficient circulation space for the desired number of employees. Escape routes interfere with the furniture layout. Interior meeting rooms have acoustic or ventilation problems. Doors, mechanical systems, or traffic routes are located in places that can only be corrected later with considerable effort.

Changes that can still be made easily at the planning stage can become expensive once construction is complete.

For this reason, it may be advisable to involve the occupational safety specialist from the very beginning in new construction, renovations, changes in building use, and the planning of new work areas.

What does the occupational safety specialist check during the planning phase?

The occupational safety specialist does not replace architects or specialized designers. Their role is to oversee the planning process from the perspective of its future safe and health-conscious use .

Depending on the project, the following points in particular may be relevant:

Room Sizes and Areas
Are the room dimensions, circulation areas, and functional areas sufficient for the intended use and the number of employees?

Workstations and Furniture
Can the planned workstations actually be arranged in a practical way? Will there be sufficient space for movement? Are work equipment, cabinets, meeting areas, and traffic routes compatible with one another?

Traffic Routes and On-Site Traffic
Where do employees, visitors, vehicles, and other modes of transportation move? Can pedestrian and vehicular traffic be safely guided or kept separate from one another?

Escape and Rescue Routes Are the escape routes suitable for the intended use in terms of number, layout, and dimensions? Are emergency exits strategically located and accessible at all times? Do the doors and their functions align with the escape route plan?

Lighting, Daylight, and Glare Control
How are workstations arranged in relation to windows and light sources? Are daylight and artificial lighting sufficient? Is effective glare control provided?

Indoor Climate and Ventilation
How are indoor temperature and air quality maintained? What effects do occupancy, sunlight, technical equipment, and the planned ventilation system have?

Noise and Room Acoustics
Especially in open-plan offices, meeting areas, or technical rooms, the acoustic conditions should not be considered only after moving in.

Specific Hazards and Uses
Depending on the operation, additional requirements may apply—for example, machinery, hazardous substances, electrical systems, storage areas, fall hazards, or specific requirements for certain employee groups.

The Workplace Ordinance explicitly addresses many of these issues. Its appendix includes, among other things, requirements regarding room dimensions, doors and gates, traffic routes, escape routes and emergency exits, circulation areas, the layout of workstations, lighting, room temperature, ventilation, and noise. 

Check early rather than having to make changes later

Experience shows that individual requirements can rarely be considered in isolation.

For example, adding a workstation does more than just change the layout of the furniture. It can affect movement areas, traffic flow, lighting, acoustics, indoor climate, and, in some cases, the layout of emergency exits.

This is precisely where the value of early occupational safety and health support lies.

Planning documents can be reviewed, potential conflicts identified early on, and practical solutions developed in collaboration with the client, architects, specialty planners, and future users.

The point here is not to establish yet another level of planning. Rather, the goal is to incorporate the requirements for future operations into the planning process—which is already taking place—in a timely manner.

Risk assessment is part of the planning process

Risk assessments, too, should not wait until furniture, machinery, and employees are already in place.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to assess the hazards associated with the work and to determine the necessary protective measures. Section 5 of the ArbSchG explicitly lists the following as a potential source of hazard: the design and layout of the workplace and the workstation. 

An analysis conducted throughout the planning process might therefore ask, for example:

What tasks will be performed there in the future? Who will be working there? What equipment will be used? What hazards might arise from these activities—and which of them can be prevented simply by designing the workplace appropriately?

This also reflects a fundamental principle of the Occupational Safety and Health Act: Hazards should be avoided whenever possible, and risks should be addressed at their source. Individual protective measures take a back seat to other measures. 

The Occupational Safety Specialist as a Consultant in the Planning Process

The early involvement of the occupational safety specialist is expressly provided for in the statutory scope of responsibilities.

Section 6 of the Occupational Safety Act expressly mentions advising the employer on the planning, construction, and maintenance of industrial facilities, in the design of workstations, work processes, and the work environment, as well as in matters of ergonomics and the assessment of working conditions. The safety inspection of operational facilities prior to their commissioning is also part of the legally mandated scope of duties. 

However, the specialist does not assume the responsibility of the building owner, employer, architect, or specialist planner.

She incorporates occupational safety and health considerations into the planning process, identifies potential conflicts, and helps those involved develop appropriate solutions in a timely manner.

Typical situations that warrant a planning review from an occupational safety perspective

Such project consulting can be useful, for example, in the following situations:

• New Construction or Renovation of Workplaces
• Leasing and Moving into New Office or Commercial Space
• Redesigning Existing Workspaces
• Furnishing and Workstation Planning
• Changes to Traffic Routes or Escape Routes
• Planning New Machinery and Equipment Areas
• Changes in the Use of Existing Spaces
• Increase in the number of employees or change in space allocation
• Review of Existing Planning Documents
• specific issues where construction planning, operational use, and occupational safety intersect

Occupational Safety and Health Project Consulting

Not every planning project requires comprehensive and ongoing support.

Sometimes it is enough to review a floor plan. In other cases, a site visit is necessary. For more complex issues, planning documents can be analyzed, legal bases researched, risks assessed, and specific solutions developed.

Depending on the scope of the assignment, the result can range from a brief technical assessment to a documented safety engineering opinion or risk assessment with proposed measures .

The earlier occupational safety is incorporated into the planning process, the greater the chance of resolving problems before they require modifications.