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Comment by deaddodo | Hacker News Reader

It's only counterintuitive if you assume that Germans are innately more safe than other people.

I've lived and worked in both places, I can assure you that the standards are pretty similar. The main difference being that issues in California are generally handled via civil suit, while Germany handles them through a government board.

You're welcome to compare Cal/OSHA regulations:

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/trainingreq.ht...

To BMAS regulations (and Bundesländer extensions) and try to find something they do to an amazingly higher standard, however.

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> The main difference being that issues in California are generally handled via civil suit, while Germany handles them through a government board.

That sounds like a pretty big difference, and not one that favours california. Having to lawyer up is a big barrier?

And do you think this changes safety standards, which was this the original claim? It may change reporting standards, but whether one workplace is safer than the other probably depends on the perceived risk to the company in either place. Is it costlier to have American lawyers sniffing for blood in your factory, or the German bureaucracy processing reports for paper cuts and lost limbs alike? I’m not making a claim one way or another, just that more info is needed in this conversation.

In Germany many technical jobs entail personal liability, so the lever is against the individuals, not against the company. As such pressuring people into skipping safety standards is a no go. You risk prison time and painful fines the company cant officially help with.

Well, that has no effect on the standards themself, just the onus of execution. So it's a moot point. That being said the government will step in when things are obviously non-conforming, if you'd rather just report them. Which is the case for Tesla.

As to your latter point, labor suits are pretty heavily in favor of the worker and it's not hard to find a lawyer who will take a case on concession. Fees are also capped, delayed to completion and generally on the losing party to cover. So "the barrier" is as low as you want to consider the solidity of the case.

Considering worker's comp and civil suit structuring are the two pieces of legislation that are most heavily attacked by corporations in California, I wouldn't consider them ineffective; it's certainly a matter of perspective, however.

> if you assume that Germans are innately more safe

Not sure why you limit the issue this way, given the strong cultural differences in rule following.

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