Territorial jurisdiction: The territory of the city of Bremerhaven and the city of Bremen’s overseas port area in Bremerhaven.
Personal jurisdiction: All employees, regardless of the employer’s status (e.g. white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, apprentices, home-based workers, public sector employees), members of the public (only in individual cases; see below).
Subject-matter jurisdiction: Health and safety at work: ensuring and improving the safety and health protection of employees at work through measures to prevent accidents at work and work-related health risks, including measures to ensure that work is organised in a way that respects human needs. Key areas of law in this context are:
Protection against environmental pollution: Protection of people and the environment from air pollution, noise, vibrations, light, heat and non-ionising radiation. Protection of the public: Protection of people from technical and chemical hazards in their working and private environments (equipment safety, chemical safety). The Trade Inspectorate is not responsible for: business registrations and re-registrations – Administrative Police, Eckernfeldstraße 5, Tel.: (0471) 953-2435/2410/2420; restaurant licences – Administrative Police, Eckernfeldstraße 5, Tel.: (0471) 953-2430, 2401 Food inspection: Bremerhaven Food Inspection, Animal Welfare and Veterinary Service, Freiladestraße 1, Tel.: (0471) 720-43, -44
Do you want to handle or transport explosive substances commercially? Then you need a permit in accordance with the Explosives Act.
If you wish to place particularly hazardous substances or mixtures on the market for private end users, you require a permit from the competent authority.
If you want to set up and operate a plant that could damage the environment or endanger the general public, you need a permit under immission control law.
Does your company install or calibrate tachographs? Then you need a workshop card, which you can apply for from the relevant authority.
Are you applying for a permit for installations under the simplified procedure? Then you can obtain a permit from the competent authority for the construction and operation of installations of a certain type or scope without public participation.
As an employer, you can, under certain conditions, apply for employees in your company to be granted working hours that deviate from the regulations on working hours.
If you wish to employ a pregnant or breastfeeding woman between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., you must apply for a permit.
Is your company involved in the commercial transportation of goods or passengers and do you need a company card for the first time? Then you must apply for this card from the competent authority.
Under certain conditions, as an employer you can obtain permission for employees in your company to have rest periods that deviate from working time regulations.
If you are planning an accident-relevant construction and operation or an accident-relevant change to an installation that does not require a permit and is an operating area or part of an operating area, you require a permit.
If you apply for a preliminary decision on an installation requiring approval, the competent authority may issue this under certain conditions.
As an employer, do you employ a pregnant or breastfeeding woman? Then, under certain conditions, you can apply for an exemption from the ban on night work and overtime as well as the type and pace of work.
If you as an employer wish to have employees work in your company or business on a Sunday or public holiday, you require a permit to do so.
If you intend to make significant changes to an installation that requires a permit, you must apply for a permit from the responsible authority.
Do you intend to make changes to an installation requiring a permit that are relevant to an incident? Then you must first apply for a permit from the responsible authority.
Have you applied for a permit for an installation that requires approval? Then you can also apply to start construction of the system ahead of schedule.
If you intend to make changes to a system that requires approval and generates electricity from renewable energies, you must apply for approval from the responsible authority.
Under certain conditions, the supervisory authority may, at the request of an employer, approve a different longer daily working time for employees in their company.
If you wish to erect and/or operate part of a new installation, you must apply for a partial permit from the competent authority.
If you want to start working with biosubstances of protection level 3 or 4 in laboratories, laboratory animal facilities or in biotechnology for the first time, you must apply for a permit. You can find out more here.
If you take up targeted activities with biosubstances in risk group 2 or activities not requiring a permit with biosubstances in risk group 3 for the first time, you must report this. You can find out more here.
If you are erecting or have erected an installation that requires a permit and this installation has not yet been approved or registered, you must report this to the responsible authority in good time.
If you as an employer intend to allow your employees to work with airbag or belt tensioner units of category P1 for the first time, you must notify the responsible body in advance.
Are you planning to commission a medium-sized combustion plant, gas turbine, or internal combustion engine facility? If so, you must notify the relevant air pollution control authority.
Do you already operate a medium-sized combustion plant, gas turbine, or internal combustion engine facility? If so, you must report it to the relevant air pollution control authority.
As an employer, you must notify the competent authority of the use of certain particularly hazardous biocidal products.
If, as a company, you provide work from home in accordance with the Home Work Act (HAG), which is subject to special hazard protection regulations, you must notify the relevant trade supervisory office and the police authority (usually the public order office).
If one of your employees has informed you that she is pregnant or breastfeeding, you must report this to the competent supervisory authority.
If you work in the technical field of radiation protection (e.g. operating X-ray equipment or handling radioactive substances), you must provide proof of the necessary specialist knowledge. You can apply for this from the competent authority for radiation protection.
If you wish to carry out blasting work, you must register this with the competent authority. You can find out more here.
Is your company involved in the commercial transportation of goods or passengers and is your company card about to expire? Then you can apply for a follow-up card from the relevant office.
If your workshop card is about to expire, you can apply for a new card from the relevant office.
Is your company involved in the commercial transportation of goods or passengers and your company card has been lost or stolen? Then you can apply for a replacement card from the relevant office.
Is your company involved in the commercial transportation of goods or passengers and your company card is damaged or no longer works? Then you can apply for a replacement card from the relevant office
Has your workshop card been damaged or has a malfunction? Find out more here.
If you have lost your workshop card or it has been stolen, you can apply for a replacement card from the relevant office.
Would you like to change the operator of a medium-sized combustion, gas turbine, or internal combustion engine facility? If so, you must notify the relevant air pollution control authority.
Do you want to make a change to a medium-sized combustion, gas turbine, or internal combustion engine facility that affects emissions? If so, you must notify the competent air pollution control authority.
If you are planning an incident-relevant construction and operation or an incident-relevant change to an installation that does not require a permit and is an operating area or part of an operating area, you must register this.
Are you planning to permanently decommission a medium-sized combustion plant, gas turbine, or internal combustion engine facility? If so, you must notify the relevant air pollution control authority.
If you wish to employ children for performances or events, you must apply for an exemption from the ban on child labor.
If you are planning a major construction project, you must notify the relevant health and safety authority in advance of setting up your construction site.
If you wish to make a change to an installation, you must notify the competent authority if a permit for the changes has not already been applied for.
This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.
The official information in German is complete and correct.
Updated on 22.09.2026