Bk display

Medical notification of an occupational disease (BK) according to § 202 SGB VII ("green notification" form F 6000), see below dermatological procedures. This is made when there is a well-founded suspicion of an occupational disease, in particular in the presence of an occupational skin disease, severe or repeated relapse or compulsory retirement from the profession. For dermatoses which do not fall under number 5101 BeKV ( occupational dermatoses), the justified suspicion exists if an occupational condition can be assumed. In case of diseases according to number 5101 this only applies if the formal legal criteria of an occupational disease are to be considered as fulfilled. The BK notification does not require the consent of the insured person. It inevitably initiates a BK assessment procedure! This procedure includes preliminary examinations by the accident insurance institution (treatment reports, information from the insured, employer and health insurance company, workplace analysis by the technical supervisory service) and concludes with a contextual expert opinion; this can take 1-2 years.

According to § 202 SGB VII, all doctors in Germany are legally obliged to report any reasonable suspicion of an occupational disease to the statutory accident insurance institution. In the case of skin diseases, various occupational disease numbers (BK numbers) can be considered, depending on the type of disease and type of exposure, e.g. BK numbers 3101, 3102, 3104, BK number 5102 and others in addition to the most common BK numbers 5101 and BK number 5103. The prerequisite for a justified suspicion is that occupational effects are present or have been present which can be causally linked to the skin disease. Form F6000 "Medical notification of suspected occupational disease" is used for the notification.

In the case of the numerically significant BK no. 5101, there is the special feature that even in the case of a skin disease classified as occupationally caused but not classified as severe or recurrent, every doctor is obliged under Section 41 (1) of the contract between doctors and accident insurance institutions to present the insured person to a dermatologist immediately so that the so-called dermatologist procedure can be initiated in order to enable prevention to be initiated quickly. Since January 1, 2021, it has been stipulated that the dermatologist's report must be submitted in every case - i.e. both in the case of a mere possibility and in the case of a justified suspicion of the existence of BK No. 5101. This ensures that preventive measures can be implemented quickly and effectively (Krohn S et al. (2021).

1. Elsner P et al. (2023) Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. 5101! BK skin in a nosedive. Dermatology at work and in the environment. 71: 87-89

2. Krohn S et al. (2021) Medical reporting of occupational skin diseases in dermatology practice. Dermatologist 72:469-473.