Glossary · Operator documentation
Operating instructions (Betriebsanweisung)
Also known as: Betriebsanweisung (German occupational safety law), Employer's operating instructions
German: Betriebsanweisung
In German occupational safety law, operating instructions (Betriebsanweisung) are the employer's written, binding instructions to its employees on how to work safely with a specific piece of work equipment, a hazardous substance or a biological agent, based on the employer's risk assessment of the workplace and written in a form and language the employees understand.
- Compliance
- Technical documentation
- German source term
In one sentence
A Betriebsanweisung is the German employer's written, binding instruction to employees for safe work with equipment, hazardous substances or biological agents.
Example
Before new operators use a press brake, the employer issues a one-page Betriebsanweisung posted at the machine: hazards at the bending line, protective measures, behavior in case of faults, first aid — and uses it in the annual instruction session.
The German term Betriebsanweisung is usually rendered as "operating instructions", which is also a common English name for the manufacturer's manual. In this glossary the German word is kept in the title to avoid that confusion.
How it applies
- Legal basis: Under § 12(2) BetrSichV, the employer provides a written Betriebsanweisung for the use of work equipment before employees first use it, at a suitable place and in a form and language they understand; it is updated when working conditions change in a safety-relevant way and referred to in the recurring instruction under § 12 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (ArbSchG). § 14(1) GefStoffV requires a written Betriebsanweisung that takes the risk assessment under § 6 GefStoffV into account; § 14 BioStoffV does the same for biological agents.
- Source of content: The Betriebsanweisung rests on the employer's risk assessment of the workplace. The manufacturer's operating manual and the safety data sheet are inputs, not substitutes for the employer's own analysis.
- Instruction: The Betriebsanweisung is the basis for the oral instruction (Unterweisung) of employees. DGUV Information 211-010 describes it as addressed by the employer to the insured persons, governing conduct in the company to avoid accident and health hazards.
- Company usage: In companies the word is also used for many other operator documents: operator SOPs, work instructions, process instructions, safety instructions, EHS instructions, hazardous substances and machine instructions, shift instructions and management directives. Only some of them are Betriebsanweisungen in the legal sense; see the context card Betriebsanweisung and operator documentation.
- Limits: Naming a document "Betriebsanweisung" does not fulfil the duty; what counts is whether it covers the hazards, protective measures and behavior the ordinance requires for that workplace.
Betriebsanweisung vs. Betriebsanleitung
The Betriebsanleitung is the manufacturer's operating manual, part of the instructions for use required by product law for placing a product on the market. The Betriebsanweisung is written by the employer for its own employees and workplace. Machinery law — the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and, from January 20, 2027, the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 — requires the manufacturer's instructions, not a Betriebsanweisung. Under § 12(2) BetrSichV the employer may hand over the manufacturer's instructions instead of a Betriebsanweisung only if they contain information equivalent to a Betriebsanweisung; hazards from the actual working environment are often missing from them.