Alongside controlling compliance with legal minimum standards, labour inspectors should also increasingly act in an advisory capacity with regard to issues related to in-company labour protection. It is no longer only the labour inspector who imposes certain measures, but the staff may also do so (i.e. in the documentation on risk assessment at work). Accordingly, the workforce may contribute their own ideas to the implementation of the general statutory rules – and are well advised to make suggestions, because otherwise the ideas of the labour inspector (which might not always be ideal for the staff) could prevail. The Labour Inspectorate is subdivided into 19 regional supervisory districts, whereas a separate labour inspectorate is responsible for construction work. See also “Penal Provisions” set forth in the Labour Protection Act.
