Federal Council wants to improve employee safety in the construction industry
The Federal Council would like to update the provisions on employee protection during construction work. At its meeting at the end of May 2020, it decided to submit a draft for a total revision of the Ordinance on the Safety and Health of Workers during Construction Work (BauAV) for consultation. The aim is to improve clarity and legal certainty in this area. The revised ordinance is scheduled to come into force at the beginning of July 2021.
The current regulation dates back to 2005 and no longer meets today's requirements, which is due in particular to the important technical progress of the last few years. Some formulations also proved to be too vague for optimal implementation.
The most important changes concern the fall height as well as the scaffolding. Incoherent Fall protection regulations in various chapters of the ordinance had led to uncertainty. For example, the revised ordinance provides for the standardization of the fall height above which fall protection measures must be taken to 2 meters. The chapter on scaffolding was also completely revised, as many provisions have now been regulated in European standards and therefore no longer need to be set out in a federal ordinance.
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Revision of the Construction Work Ordinance
