Occupational safety for design and art

• Design & art

Important: A studio or workshop is not an office business. Artistic work, design and photography fall into support group III under DGUV Regulation 2; hazardous substances, machinery and respiratory protection in production belong to business-specific support. Anyone working alone with no employees is not an employer within the meaning of the Occupational Health and Safety Act; as soon as someone is employed, even as a casual, the duties apply in full.

Studio and workshop: where artists work with hazardous substances

The hazards come from paints, solvents, adhesives, dust and tools. Most studios also occupy rooms built for living or general commercial use rather than for handling such substances.

Which employers' liability insurance association is responsible depends on the discipline. The VBG's statutes name artists in literature, music, the visual and the performing arts, as well as designers. The BG ETEM's statutes, by contrast, cover taking and producing photographs, explicitly including freelance and artistic photography. Someone who paints and also photographs is usually assigned according to the main focus of the business. What counts is the membership notice.

Many studios are shared spaces in which several artists use the same workshop, spray booth or kiln. Whoever in the group employs an assistant is responsible for that person's safety, including on equipment owned by someone else. Where employees of several employers work in the same place, the employers have to coordinate and inform each other about hazards (section 8 ArbSchG), for example on who maintains the kiln and where solvents are stored.

Artists' studios and creative workshops: classification and thresholds

Employees, mini-jobbers and student helpers count towards the thresholds. Part-time staff count proportionally towards the threshold of 20: up to 20 hours a week as 0.5, up to 30 hours as 0.75. Self-employed colleagues in a shared studio do not count. They are responsible for their own business.

Four focal points of a studio's risk assessment

• Hazardous substances in the studio. Solvent-based paints, thinners, adhesives and cleaners are hazardous substances. You need an inventory, the safety data sheets, an assessment under the Hazardous Substances Ordinance and operating instructions derived from it.
• Ventilation and dust. Sanding, sawing and spraying generate dust and aerosols. Extraction, ventilation and, where needed, respiratory protection are protective measures, not a matter of habit.
• Tools and machines. Cutting tools, hand-held machines and presses need inspection, an operating instruction and training for whoever uses them.
• Lone working and changing places. Work often happens alone, in the evening and at changing places such as exhibition spaces or on commission on site. An arrangement is needed for how an emergency would be noticed.

For every solvent-based product, the Hazardous Substances Ordinance requires a check on whether a less hazardous substitute exists, such as water-based paints or cleaners. The result belongs in the documentation of the risk assessment, even if the answer is that the artistic technique cannot do without the substance. Hazardous substances in the office shows how to set up the inventory and the operating instructions.

Typical findings when a studio is inspected

Storage and ventilation are what stand out almost every time: solvents in original containers next to ignition sources, decanted substances in unlabelled vessels, missing safety data sheets, and opening a window as the only measure while spraying. Add extension leads across traffic routes and tools with no documented inspection. On paper, the hazardous substances inventory is usually missing.

Safety training for assistants and workshop staff

Training follows the substances and the equipment: handling solvents and adhesives based on the operating instructions, correct storage and disposal, using extraction and respiratory protection, operating the machines. Add the rules for lone working and the reporting route after an accident. The commercial side is trained separately.

For employees who wear respiratory protection for spraying or sanding, the employer also arranges an occupational health check-up, primarily with the occupational physician, offered or mandatory depending on the device group. For pregnant and breastfeeding women, the Maternity Protection Act restricts work with certain hazardous substances. What needs checking is covered in Maternity protection in the office.

Related

• External occupational safety specialist: Support for studios with employees.
• Occupational safety for advertising and creative agencies: When creative work happens mostly at a screen.
• Occupational safety for stage, music and culture: For the performing arts with a stage and workshops.
• The occupational physician: when required?: Who carries out check-ups for respiratory protection and hazardous substances.
• Unternehmermodell under DGUV Regulation 2: The alternative for small studios, where you take the training yourself.
• First-aid kit calculator: Which first-aid supplies a workshop and studio need.

Legal basis

• DGUV Regulation 2 (occupational physicians and safety specialists)
• Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG)
• Ordinance on Occupational Health Care (ArbMedVV)

Frequently asked questions