Occupational Diseases Ordinance

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Basic data
Title: Occupational Diseases Ordinance
Previous title: Seventh Occupational Diseases Ordinance
Abbreviation: BKV
Type: Federal Ordinance
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Issued on the basis of: Section 9 Paragraph 1, 6
and Section 193 Paragraph 8 SGB ​​VII
Legal matter: Social law
References : 860-7-2
Original version from: June 20, 1968
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 721 )
Entry into force on: July 1, 1968
Last revision from: October 31, 1997
( BGBl. I p. 2623 )
Last change by: Art. 24 G of June 12, 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1248, 1279 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		January 1, 2021
(Art. 28 G of June 12, 2020)
GESTA : G031
Weblink: Text of the BKV
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The German Occupational Diseases Ordinance (BKV) is a statutory ordinance of the federal government . It contains the list of recognized occupational diseases and obliges the statutory accident insurance providers to take measures to prevent occupational diseases from developing, recurring or worsening in the insured person. It also regulates the process of determining occupational diseases and extends insurance coverage for seafarers.

The ordinance applies only to occupational diseases and so-called how-to occupational diseases, but not to accidents at work and work-related health hazards . It currently consists of seven (previously: eight) paragraphs and two annexes.

Legal requirements

The authorization basis of the regulation is § 9 of the Seventh Book of the Social Code (SGB VII). Section 9 of Book VII of the Social Code authorizes and obliges the federal government to issue an ordinance on occupational diseases law. The ordinance must regulate certain issues. In addition, the Federal Government may (optionally) make further stipulations in the ordinance if it considers this to be sensible. The designation "Occupational Diseases Ordinance" is not required by law.

The leading ministry is the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs . The ordinance requires the approval of the Federal Council .

Minimum regular salary

Section 9 (1) sentence 2, 1st half-sentence SGB VII authorizes the Federal Government to designate in the Occupational Diseases Ordinance such illnesses as occupational diseases which, according to the knowledge of medical science, are caused by special effects to which certain groups of people are affected by their insured activity are exposed to a considerably higher degree than the rest of the population.

In addition, the ordinance must regulate the following issues:

  • Requirements, type and scope of benefits to prevent the development, aggravation or resurgence of occupational diseases (Section 9 (6) No. 1 SGB VII)
  • Participation of the bodies responsible for the medical occupational safety in the determination of occupational diseases and "how-occupational diseases" (§ 9 Abs. 6 Nr. 2, 1st half-sentence SGB VII)
  • the fees to be paid by the accident insurance institutions for the activities of the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety (Section 9 (6) No. 3 SGB VII)

Optional regulations

In addition to the minimum content, the ordinance can stipulate that diseases are only occupational diseases if they

  • have been caused by activities in certain hazardous areas (Section 9 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2, 2nd Clause, 1st Alternative SGB VII) or
  • have led to the omission of all activities that were or could be the cause of the development, aggravation or resurgence of the disease (Section 9 (1) sentence 2, 2nd half-sentence, 2nd alternative SGB VII).

The ordinance can also determine

  • to what extent insured persons in shipping companies are also insured against occupational diseases during the period in which they are on leave on land (Section 9 (1) sentence 3 SGB VII),
  • that the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety are entitled to prepare related reports and to examine insured persons in preparation for their reports or to commission other doctors to carry out the examinations at the expense of the accident insurance institution (Section 9 (6) No. 2, 2nd half-sentence SGB VII).

The Federal Government has made extensive use of the regulatory authority that has been transferred to it, ie it has included all optional regulations in the Occupational Diseases Ordinance.

content

Recognized occupational diseases

definition

§ 1 BKV defines the term occupational disease. An occupational disease is an illness that

  1. is designated as an occupational disease in the annex to the BKV (list of occupational diseases) and
  2. an insured person suffers as a result of an activity giving rise to insurance cover.

Illnesses that are not included in the list of occupational diseases are therefore generally not considered occupational diseases; not even if it can be proven that they are due to the professional activity.

Conversely, however, it is also not sufficient that someone has a disease named in the list of occupational diseases, e.g. B. from noise-induced hearing loss. The illness must be caused by the occupational or insured activity.

Occupational Disease List

The plant 1 for BKV lists the recognized occupational diseases in a systematic way. Every occupational disease is identified with a four-digit number. The first digit of the number designates the group, the second digit the subgroup. Annex 1 currently distinguishes between the following six groups:

  1. diseases caused by chemical agents (three subgroups)
  2. Diseases caused by physical impact (four subgroups)
  3. diseases caused by infectious agents or parasites as well as tropical diseases (no subgroups)
  4. Diseases of the respiratory tract and lungs, pleura and peritoneum (three subgroups)
  5. Skin diseases (no subgroups)
  6. Diseases of other cause (no subgroups)

The third and fourth digits of each number are used for systematization within the respective subgroup. The official definition of the respective occupational disease follows the number. Examples:

  • 2103 Illnesses caused by vibrations when working with compressed air tools or similarly acting tools or machines
  • 4106 Diseases of the deeper respiratory tract and the lungs caused by aluminum or its compounds

All of the diseases listed in Annex 1 have in common that they are ", according to the findings of medical science, caused by special effects to which certain groups of people are exposed to a significantly higher degree than the rest of the population through their insured activities" (Section 9 (1) sentence 2 SGB VII). Illnesses that are not (yet) included in Appendix 1, but which meet these criteria, can under certain circumstances be recognized as "how-occupational diseases" in accordance with Section 9, Paragraph 2 of Book VII of the Social Code.

Measures against occupational diseases

Section 3 (1) of the BKV obliges the accident insurance institutions to take measures to counteract impending occupational diseases or to prevent existing occupational diseases from worsening or from recurring occupational diseases that have healed (so-called Paragraph 3 measures). The prerequisite is that there is a specific individual health risk for an insured person that is greater than the risk to which other insured persons with comparable activities are exposed. If this increased individual risk exists, the following measures in particular come into consideration:

  • technical and organizational measures, e.g. B. Replacement of hazardous substances with harmless ones
  • personal protective measures, e.g. B. Skin care products
  • medical measures, e.g. B. Spa stay

If the danger cannot be eliminated in spite of these measures, the accident insurance institution must work to ensure that the insured person concerned ceases to do the dangerous activity. Some occupational diseases, e.g. B. Skin diseases can only be recognized as such if the insured person gives up the harmful activity; one then speaks of the “obligation to cease and desist”.

Transitional benefits

Section 3 (2) BKV regulates the conditions under which and in what amount transitional benefits are granted. Transitional benefits i. According to the Occupational Diseases Ordinance, one-off or recurring cash payments. They are paid to insured persons who refrain from doing the dangerous activity because conventional preventive measures cannot help them (Section 3 (2) sentence 1 BKV). The transitional benefits are intended to compensate for economic disadvantages that the insured may experience as a result of giving up work, e.g. B. Loss of income through change of occupation.

The transitional benefit as a one-off payment may not exceed the amount of a full annual pension (Section 3 (2) sentence 2 no. 1 BKV). Alternatively, the transitional benefit can also be made through monthly recurring payments. In this case, the monthly payment may not exceed one twelfth of the annual full pension. Recurring payments are limited in time to a maximum of five years (Section 3 (2) sentence 2 no. 2 BKV).

Section 3 (2) sentence 3 BKV stipulates that pensions due to reduced earning capacity are not counted towards transitional benefits. This non-imputation clause is intended to give insured persons who are already receiving an occupational disease pension an additional financial incentive to give up the hazardous work.

Further regulations

Section 2 BKV concerns insurance coverage for seafarers. Those areinsuredagainst tropical diseases and typhus even if they are not working on board or in port but are on shore leave.

Section 4 BKV regulates how the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety, the trade doctors, participate in the procedure for determining occupational diseases. The commercial doctors should contribute their expertise to the procedure and thereby expand their medical knowledge about commercial risk areas. You can create so-called interrelationship reports. The concept of the contextual report and the amount of the fees to be paid for it (currently 200 euros) are defined in Section 5 BKV.

Section 6 BKV contains various retroactive clauses. These clauses relate to occupational diseases that have been incorporated into the Occupational Diseases Ordinance by earlier amending ordinances. Section 6 (5) sentence 1 BKV stipulates that occupational diseases can still be recognized retrospectively if they have already been decided on by an administrative act or by a court judgment. The binding effect and legal force are therefore broken for reasons of justice. However, social benefits (e.g. injury pension) are provided retrospectively for a maximum of four years (Section 6 (5) sentence 2 BKV).

§ 7 BKV originally regulated the notification of occupational diseases by entrepreneurs, doctors and dentists. The regulation referred to various provisions of the Occupational Diseases Ordinance of June 20, 1968. Section 7 was repealed on August 1, 2002. Since then, the notification of occupational diseases has been based on the accident insurance notification regulation .

Section 8 BKV stipulates that the ordinance will come into force on December 1, 1997 and that the Occupational Diseases Ordinance of June 20, 1968 will expire at the same time.

The Annex 2 of the BKV has been attached by the amending Regulation of 11 June 2009 to the Occupational Diseases Ordinance. It can be read from it when, in the case of lung cancer, the interaction of asbestos fiber dust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has at least a fifty percent probability of an occupational cause - and thus an occupational disease No. 4114.

Protected group of people

The Occupational Diseases Ordinance applies to persons who are subject to the insurance coverage of Book 7 of the Social Code , i.e. in particular to employees .

The BKV does not apply directly to civil servants. However, the federal government and the federal states have passed laws and ordinances in which it is determined that the occupational diseases ordinance applies accordingly to their civil servants. For federal civil servants, this was regulated until December 31, 2019 in the ordinance for the implementation of Section 31 of the Civil Service Insurance Act (determination of illnesses for civil servant accident care) . Civil servants therefore enjoy the same protection as employees in the event of occupational illnesses.

Changes to the regulation

BKV amending ordinance of 2002

The occupational diseases ordinance of October 31, 1997 was changed several times, including the ordinance amending the occupational diseases ordinance (BKV-AMV) of September 5, 2002. The BKV-AMV added the new occupational disease 4112 lung cancer by the action of crystalline silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) with proven pneumoconiosis ( silicosis or silico tuberculosis ) added. Occupational disease no. 2106 Pressure paralysis of the nerves was expanded and since then has been called pressure damage of the nerves . In addition, § 6 BKV was supplemented by a retroactive regulation for cases in which insured persons suffered from one of the newly recorded diseases before the BKV-AA came into force.

BKV amending ordinance of 2009

Further important additions were made by the second ordinance amending the occupational diseases ordinance of June 11, 2009. The following five new diseases were included in the BKV as occupational diseases:

  • 1318 Diseases of the blood, hematopoietic and lymphatic systems caused by benzene
  • 2112 gonarthrosis by an activity in the knees or knee comparable exposure to a cumulative exposure time during the working life of least 13,000 hours and a minimum exposure time of a total of one hour per shift
  • 4114 Lung cancer due to the interaction of asbestos fiber dust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons when evidence of exposure to a cumulative dose corresponds to a causal probability of at least 50 percent according to the attachment to this occupational disease

All new occupational diseases also apply to old cases, i.e. also to diseases that already existed before the Second Amendment Ordinance came into force. However, the retroactive effect for occupational diseases No. 2112, 4114 and 4115 is limited to insured events that occurred after September 30, 2002 (the first amending regulation came into force). Old cases of occupational disease No. 4113 can only be recognized if the insured event occurred after November 30, 1997 (BKV came into force). Recognition takes place only at the request of the insured person. The accident insurance institutions should not be obliged to take up old cases ex officio and recognize them.

BKV amending ordinance of 2014

With the third ordinance amending the occupational diseases ordinance of December 22, 2014, four new diseases were added to the list as occupational diseases on January 1, 2015:

  • 2113 Pressure damage to the median nerve in the carpal tunnel ( carpal tunnel syndrome ) as a result of repetitive manual activities involving flexion and extension of the wrists, increased force exerted by the hands or hand-arm vibrations

BKV amending ordinance of 2017

The fourth ordinance amending the occupational diseases ordinance included certain diseases caused by 1,3-butadiene (No. 1320), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (1321) and focal dystonia in instrumental musicians due to high-intensity fine motor activity in the list of occupational diseases. The list of cancers that can be recognized as occupational diseases has also been supplemented ( ovarian cancer ) or expanded (larynx cancer).

literature

  • Gerhard Mertens, Stephan Brandenburg: The Occupational Diseases Ordinance (BKV). Hand commentary from a legal and medical point of view for doctors, insurance carriers and social courts. Erich Schmidt Publishing House. Berlin 2009. ISBN 978-3-503-01497-2 .
  • Otto Blome: The “new” occupational diseases ordinance (BKV). In: Die BG 1998, p. 360 ff.
  • Otto Blome: The first ordinance to amend the Occupational Diseases Ordinance 2002 (BKV-AMG). In: Die BG 2003, p. 22 ff.
  • Andreas Kranig: Current changes to the ordinance on occupational diseases. In: DGUV-Forum 7-8 / 2009, pp. 50–60.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Federal Social Court, decision of March 16, 1995, 2 RU 18/94.
  2. ↑ Accident Insurance Notification Ordinance
  3. ↑ Occupational Diseases Ordinance of June 20, 1968 (BGBl. I p. 721)
  4. ↑ a b Second ordinance amending the Occupational Diseases Ordinance of 11 June 2009 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1273)
  5. ↑ Ordinance for the implementation of § 31 of the Civil Service Supply Act in the currently applicable version
  6. ↑ dated September 5, 2002 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 3541)
  7. ↑ Third ordinance amending the Occupational Diseases Ordinance of December 22, 2014 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2397)
  8. ↑ Fourth ordinance amending the Occupational Diseases Ordinance of 10 July 2017 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2299)