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Who Has the Hat On?

die Zuständigkeit — responsibility, competence. Duden’s example: das fällt nicht in unsere Zuständigkeit, that does not fall within our responsibility.

Das ist nicht meine Baustelle. — That is not my building site. Duden: it does not fall within someone’s responsibility or area of work.

Wer hat den Hut auf? — Who has the hat on? Duden explains den Hut aufhaben as to be responsible, with the example wer hat bei diesem Projekt den Hut auf?, who has the hat on in this project?

der Ansprechpartner, die Ansprechpartnerin — the contact person. Duden’s example: Ihr Ansprechpartner in unserer Firma ist Herr Müller, your contact person in our company is Mr. Müller.

In Germany’s volunteer and professional fire brigades, a squad works under service regulation FwDV 3. Die Mannschaft einer Gruppe gliedert sich in group leader, machinist, messenger, attack team, water team and hose team. Each has its own tasks. The attack team nimmt in der Regel das erste einzusetzende Strahlrohr vor, as a rule takes up the first nozzle. The water team stellt die Wasserversorgung vom Löschfahrzeug zum Verteiler und zwischen Löschfahrzeug und Wasserentnahmestelle her, sets up the water supply from the engine to the distributor and between the engine and the water source. Before anyone leaves the vehicle, everyone knows whose hose it is.

Managing Someone Else’s Affairs

The German Civil Code has rules for a person who takes care of someone else’s affairs without being asked. Lawyers call this Geschäftsführung ohne Auftrag, management without a mandate. Under Section 677, such a person must act in the other person’s interest and according to that person’s real or presumed will. Under Section 678, if taking over the matter goes against that will and the helper should have seen this, the helper must pay for the resulting damage, even without any other fault.

Unclear Roles as a Health Hazard

Employers in Germany must assess the hazards of work, including psychological strain. Labor inspectors check these assessments with a guideline of the National Occupational Safety Conference, dated 11 January 2018. Its checklist of hazards from psychological strain includes, under work organization, unklare Kompetenzen (i. S. von Berechtigungen, Befugnissen), Verantwortungsbereiche und Rollen. These are unclear competences, in the sense of permissions and authority, unclear areas of responsibility and unclear roles. The checklist also names fehlende oder zu eng begrenzte Zuständigkeiten, missing or too narrowly limited responsibilities.

Diffuse Responsibilities

Der Mobbing-Report is a representative study of bullying at work in Germany. Researchers at the Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund wrote it, with figures for the year 2000. Among the conditions that favor bullying, unclear work organization and unclear areas of responsibility rank high. Auf Grund diffuser Zuständigkeiten wird es z. B. möglich, Verantwortung zu negieren und Fehler abzuwälzen. Diffuse responsibilities make it possible, for example, to deny responsibility and to shift mistakes onto others.

The Vocabulary of Someone Else’s Area

jemandem ins Handwerk pfuschen — to botch around in someone’s trade. Duden defines it as sich in einem Bereich betätigen, für den ein anderer zuständig ist, to be active in an area for which someone else is responsible.

Viele Köche verderben den Brei. — Many cooks spoil the porridge.

das Kompetenzgerangel — a scramble over who is responsible

Zuständigkeitsbereiche abstecken — to stake out areas of responsibility, as one marks out ground with pegs

Two Gentlemen in One Bathtub

Herren im Bad, gentlemen in the bath, is one of Loriot’s best-known sketches. It first appeared in his television series Loriot, which ARD began to broadcast in 1976. Herr Müller-Lüdenscheidt and Dr. Klöbner end up in the same hotel bathtub, because Dr. Klöbner got the room number wrong. Neither man gives way. They argue over whether the rubber duck may go into the water. Die Ente bleibt draußen! The duck stays outside! In the end they compete over who can stay under water longer. At the end a third man appears and asks: Ist das hier Zimmer 107? Is this room 107?

{‘url’: ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJYE99V6u0’, ‘title’: ‘LORIOTS GROSSE TRICKFILMREVUE: Teaser “Herren im Bad” Deutsch | German [HD]’, ‘publisher’: ‘Salzgeber’, ‘check’: ‘A teaser from the restored cinema release of 2023, published by the German distributor. It is probably not the full sketch. Check that the duck and Zimmer 107 moments are in it.’}

Each Specialist Owns a Field

A patient in a German hospital is owed treatment at the standard of a specialist. The Civil Code requires treatment according to the generally recognized professional standards. In 1993 the Federal Court of Justice ruled on a doctor in training to become an anesthetist. If he does not yet have enough experience of a particular risk, he may not conduct the anesthesia without the direct supervision of a specialist, at least during that phase of the operation. The patient, the court said, has a right to medical care that meets the standard of a specialist.

In 1999 the same court described how the operating doctor and the anesthetist share an operation. Each must deal with the dangers that arise in his own area. Each may trust that the colleague from the other field does his work with due care, and there is no duty to watch each other. This holds only for dangers that belong to one field alone. Where the risk comes from the combination of the two fields, the doctors must coordinate their measures.

The Vaccination Committee Answers a Minister-President

Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination, the STIKO, was set up in 1972. It is a volunteer group of experts. In July 2021 Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Söder pushed for a faster general COVID-19 vaccination recommendation for children from 12. He contrasted the volunteer committee with the “professionals” of the European Medicines Agency. The STIKO answered publicly that the statements of Söder and other politicians were “ungewöhnlich und müssen korrigiert werden”, unusual and in need of correction. It works, it said, independently of the opinions and wishes of politicians and the pharmaceutical industry. On 16 August 2021 the committee recommended vaccination for everyone from 12. It named a careful evaluation of new scientific data as the reason.

The Team Doctor Who Resigned

Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt was the team doctor of FC Bayern Munich for almost four decades. In April 2015 Bayern lost the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final 1–3 in Porto. Afterwards the medical department was blamed as mainly responsible for the defeat. Müller-Wohlfahrt and his colleagues resigned, saying the relationship of trust had been lastingly damaged. He later recalled the accusation that he was to blame for the defeat. “Das ist doch absurd!” That is absurd. “Das konnte ich nicht akzeptieren.” I could not accept that. He returned to the club later and left for good in 2020.