Occupational safety for software and tech
Software houses and IT service providers work almost entirely at screens, spread across the office, employees' homes and client sites. The duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Occupational Safety Act and DGUV Regulation 2 are the same as in any other office business. What differs is where the work happens: much of it takes place outside the rooms a specialist gets to see on a walkthrough.
- Software & tech
Software and tech: occupational safety for teams that are rarely in the office
Few office sectors work from home as much as software and tech. The risk assessment therefore has to start where the work is done. For many employees, on most days, that is a desk in their own flat.
Legally, it depends on how home working has been agreed. A telework workstation within the meaning of the Workplaces Ordinance only exists once the employer has set it up permanently in the employee's home and agreed weekly hours and duration with them (section 2 (7) ArbStättV). The arrangement common in IT firms, where everyone chooses freely between the office and the kitchen table, is mobile work. The Workplaces Ordinance does not apply to it, but the Occupational Health and Safety Act applies in full. How the assessment works in either case is set out in Risk assessment for remote work and telework.
Since 2021, employees working in their own home have been covered by statutory accident insurance to the same extent as on company premises. On home-office days, the journey to take children to nursery or a childminder and collect them again is covered as well (section 8 SGB VII).
Software and tech businesses: insurer, WZ code and thresholds
| Item | Software and tech |
|---|---|
| Accident insurance institution | As a rule the VBG: its statutes list software consulting, development and production, data centres and internet service providers. Businesses that manufacture IT hardware or install systems may belong to the BG ETEM. What counts is the membership notice. |
| Economic sector | WZ 62 IT services, WZ 58.2 software publishing |
| Support group under DGUV Regulation 2 | III for both: 0.5 hours of basic support per employee and year, shared between the specialist and the occupational physician, at least 20 per cent each. Company-specific support comes on top. |
| From the first employee | Risk assessment, safety training, first-aid organisation, appointment of an occupational safety specialist and an occupational physician |
| Up to 20 employees | Annex 1 of DGUV Regulation 2 with no fixed support hours |
| Above 20 employees | Occupational safety committee, meeting once per calendar quarter (section 11 ASiG) |
| Up to 50 employees | Unternehmermodell permitted as an alternative. More than 50: standard support. |
| From 50 employees in an office | Safety officers (section 22 SGB VII, since 29 May 2026) |
| Screen work | Occupational health check-up offered by the occupational physician, including the offer of an examination of the eyes and eyesight (ArbMedVV) |
Everyone employed counts towards the thresholds, including people who work entirely from home or on the move. Part-time staff count proportionally towards the threshold of 20: up to 20 hours a week as 0.5, up to 30 as 0.75. Working students limited to 20 hours a week during term therefore count as 0.5.
What the risk assessment in software and tech looks at
- Remote work as a regular workstation type. When half the workforce works from home half the time, it is no longer an exception. The telework section belongs in the assessment with the same standing as the office screen workstation.
- Server room and technical areas. Electrical equipment, heat load, fire load, and the question of who works there alone and how an emergency would be noticed.
- On-call duty and availability. Standby shifts and deployments outside regular hours affect rest periods and mental stress. The rest period of eleven hours as a rule applies then too.
- Fast growth. IT businesses cross the threshold of more than 20 employees without noticing. From then on an occupational safety committee has to be set up.
If the check-up shows that ordinary glasses are not adequate for screen work, the employer provides a special visual aid. Details are in Screen work glasses: when the employer pays.
Walkthrough in an IT office: what the specialist finds
The office itself usually reveals little; the workstations are new and well equipped. Two other places are where things surface. First the server room: cable routing, access, fire load and lone working. Second remote work, which simply does not appear during a walkthrough even though a substantial share of working time happens there. Anyone who only walks the office has missed the larger part of the screen work.
Safety training for development and support teams
From this follows a separate remote-work block: setting up ergonomically with what is available at home, break arrangements, and the reporting route after an accident in the home working environment. Where on-call duty exists, the boundary between working time and rest period is added. For the server room, only those who enter it are trained.
For distributed teams, online training is permitted as long as people can ask questions and their understanding is checked. More on this in Online safety training and home office. The server room section is better delivered by someone on site.
Related
- External occupational safety specialist: Scope of services, support models and how the hours are calculated for your team size.
- Occupational safety for new businesses: What a start-up has to sort out from the first employment contract.
- Occupational safety for data centres and hosting: For businesses whose server room is more than a side room.
- Occupational safety committee (ASA): from when?: What has to happen once you pass 20 employees.
- Support-hours calculator: Basic support in support group III, worked out for your headcount.
- Setting up a screen workstation correctly: Desk, chair, monitor and lighting, in the office and at home.
Legal basis
- Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG)
- Occupational Safety Act (ASiG)
- DGUV Regulation 2 (occupational physicians and safety specialists)
- Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV)
- Social Code Book VII (SGB VII), statutory accident insurance
- Ordinance on Occupational Health Care (ArbMedVV)
Frequently asked questions
Which employers' liability insurance association covers software companies?
As a rule the Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft (VBG). Its statutes expressly name software consulting, development and production, as well as data centres and internet service providers. Manufacturers of IT hardware and installers of systems can fall under the BG ETEM instead. Your business's membership notice settles it.
Does the occupational safety specialist have to visit home workstations?
No. The specialist may only enter a home with the employee's consent, and the assessment almost never requires it. The usual approach is a short checklist on desk, chair, screen, lighting and cables that employees fill in themselves. The specialist reviews it and follows up on any answers that stand out.
How many first aiders does an IT office need if staff are only on site on certain days?
The number depends on the insured persons present (section 26 DGUV Regulation 1): at least one for 2 to 20 people present, and 5 per cent above that in administrative businesses. For hybrid teams this means spreading first aiders across office days so that enough of them are in on every day. The first-aider calculator works it out for your numbers.
Other business types
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