Occupational diseases (ODs)

• In the area of responsibility of the accident insurance institutions within the industrial and public sectors and of pupil accident insurance institutions, the number of notifications of suspected cases of occupational disease decreased in 2016 by 2.0 % in relation to the previous year to 75,491. Each reported suspected case triggers an investigation.
• 80,029 investigations were completed in 2016. An occupational disease was formally recognized in 20,539 of these cases (+22.2 %), and a pension awarded in 5,365 cases (+6.3 %). In a further 19,517 cases (-4.1 %), the disease was found to be occupational in origin, but the specific regulatory insurance provisions governing legal recognition of an occupational disease were not satisfied. Examples of such cases are skin diseases where the hazardous activity has not ceased. Measures for individual prevention and medical rehabilitation are nevertheless provided where applicable in such cases in accordance with the BKV § 3 (regulation governing occupational disease). In 50.0 % of the investigations completed in 2016, the occupational cause of the disease was confirmed (40,056 cases). In the remaining 39,973 cases (+2.7 %), the suspicion of an occupational disease was not confirmed, either because no corresponding hazard could be found at the workplace, or because no relationship was identified between such exposure and the disease.
• 2,573 fatalities caused by occupational disease were recorded in the reporting year. The majority of these were attributable to inorganic dusts, particularly asbestos.

¹ The increase in 2016 is partly due to new occupational diseases, which were added on January 1, 2015.