What are the professional activities of safety officers?

Safety representatives, or "SiBe" for short, provide advice and support to the management and employees of a company in matters relating to occupational health and safety. They play a key role in the prevention, risk assessment and coordination of occupational health and safety for colleagues. Their primary goal is to prevent incidents and accidents by:

• Recognize accident, safety and health hazards such as defective equipment or blocked escape routes at an early stage and report them to their superiors;
• in reports to the management, point out suggestions for improvement and solutions as well as technical, structural and/or organizational protective measures and persistently pursue the matter until the points complained about have been remedied;
• observe whether personal protective equipment or other protective and safety equipment is being used properly or is available (monitoring);
• check the first aid kit regularly and add to it if necessary;
• exemplify safety and health-conscious behavior and promote a corresponding safety culture within the company. Safety officers also sensitize employees to uncertainties and lurking dangers.

Safety officers are responsible for the technical accuracy of their recommendations, but they have no direct authority to issue instructions. The employer still bears overall responsibility for occupational health and safety in the company.

Provider of training courses for safety officers (SiBe)