Central exposure database
The central exposure database ( ZED ) (database for the central recording of employees exposed to carcinogenic substances) is a free offer from the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) to companies so that they can meet their obligations under the Hazardous Substances Ordinance . The ZED is provided by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA).
The ZED records data on the exposure of employees who are at risk from activities with carcinogenic or germ cell mutagenic substances of categories 1A and 1B in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation) .
The DGUV guarantees that the data in the ZED will remain available for over 40 years. The data stored in the ZED are permanently secured - regardless of whether a company still exists or the employees themselves still have the documents available. This is particularly relevant when looking for work-related causes of an illness, e.g. B. if an occupational disease could be present.
Companies can use a DGUV web portal in the ZED to record and manage their directory of employees at risk in accordance with data protection regulations. In an additional test version, you can get an impression of the functionalities in the ZED before starting the documentation in the database.
Interest groups can also initiate the use of the ZED.
Access and use of the data
The data are subject to social secrecy . Third parties have no access to the data.
Access to the data is only possible for:
- Companies on the data they collect
- Employees to the data concerning them personally. You can request the extract of your exposure history in writing from the ZED. In a recognition procedure for occupational diseases, you can consent to your data being passed on to the statutory accident insurance providers.
At the request of the company, the data recorded in the ZED can also be used for the offer of subsequent preventive occupational health care by the organization service for subsequent examinations (ODIN) at the employers 'liability insurance association for the raw materials and chemical industry (BG RCI) as well as by health care (GVS) at the employers' liability insurance association for textile energy Electrical media products (BG ETEM) can be used. The employed person must agree to this use.
Legal background
Section 14 of the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances has obliged employers since 2005 to keep a list of employees who are at risk from carcinogenic or germ cell mutagenic substances (documentation requirement). It must contain information on the level and duration of exposure and be kept for 40 years (archiving obligation). When leaving the company, employees must be given the relevant extracts from the directory (obligation to hand over).
The aim of the determination is to store the exposure data that is mandatory to be collected on a long-term basis in order to identify possible connections between the workplace and the illness that has occurred even after the mostly long latency periods have expired. This is crucial for the compensation of occupational diseases.
The Ordinance on Hazardous Substances also stipulates that the employer can transfer the storage and handover obligation to the responsible accident insurance institution. The prerequisites for the employer's authorization to transmit to the ZED are regulated in Section 14 (4) of the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances and Section 5 (3) of the Ordinance on Occupational Health Care .
In December 2018, more than 1200 companies were registered and more than 20,000 employees and over 38,000 exposure descriptions were recorded.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Good work - occupational health and safety and work design: exposure database for employers , questions from the editors, edition 2/2017, pp. 30–31
- ^ Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA): Annual Report 2018. Accessed on June 17, 2019 .