BKV

The German Occupational Diseases Ordinance (BKV) is an ordinance of the German Federal Government. In this respect, this ordinance only applies to the Federal Republic of Germany.

The ordinance came into force on July 1, 1968. The last new version dates from October 31, 1997 (BGBl. I p. 2623). The last amendment was made on June 29, 2021(BGBl. I p. 2245).

The BKV contains the list of recognized occupational diseases (see list of occupational diseases below) and obliges the statutory accident insurance institutions to take measures to prevent occupational diseases from developing, recurring or worsening in insured persons. It also regulates the procedure for determining occupational diseases and extends insurance cover for seafarers.

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

§Section 1 Occupational diseases: Occupational diseases are the diseases specified in Annex 1 (list of occupational diseases) which insured persons suffer as a result of an activity giving rise to insurance cover under Section 2, 3 or 6 of the Seventh Book of the German Social Code.

§2 Extended insurance cover in seafaring companies: For insured persons in seafaring companies, insurance cover against tropical diseases and typhus also extends to the period during which they are on leave ashore.

§ 3 Measures against occupational diseases, transitional benefit:

If insured persons are at risk of developing, recurring or aggravating an occupational disease, the accident insurance institutions must counteract this risk by all appropriate means. However, if the risk cannot be eliminated, the accident insurance institutions must ensure that the insured persons refrain from the hazardous activity. The bodies responsible for occupational health and safety must be given the opportunity to comment.

Insured persons who refrain from the hazardous activity because the hazard persists are entitled to transitional benefits from the accident insurance institution to compensate for the resulting reduction in earnings or other economic disadvantages. The transitional benefit is

• 1. a one-off amount up to the amount of the full pension or
• 2. a monthly recurring payment up to the amount of one twelfth of the full pension for a maximum period of five years. Pensions due to reduced earning capacity are not to be taken into account.

§ Section 4 Involvement of the bodies responsible for medical occupational health and safety

• (1) The bodies responsible for medical occupational health and safety shall cooperate in the determination of occupational diseases and diseases that are to be recognized as occupational diseases pursuant to Section 9 (2) of Book Seven of the Social Code in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 4.
• (2) The accident insurance institutions shall immediately inform the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety and health of the initiation of a determination procedure; the sending of the notification pursuant to Section 193 (2) and (7) or Section 202 of the Seventh Book of the Social Code shall also be deemed notification. The accident insurance institutions shall involve the bodies responsible for medical occupational health and safety in the further assessment procedure; the accident insurance institutions may regulate the detailed procedure with the bodies responsible for medical occupational health and safety by agreement.
• (3) In cases of further involvement pursuant to subsection (2) sentence 2, the accident insurance institutions shall inform the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety and health of the results of their investigations before making a final decision. If, in the opinion of the bodies responsible for occupational health and safety, the results of the investigation are not complete, they may propose additional evidence to the accident insurance institutions; the accident insurance institutions must follow these proposals.
• (4) Once all the results of the investigation are available, the bodies responsible for medical occupational safety and health may draw up a correlation report. To prepare these reports, they may examine the insured persons or commission other doctors to carry out examinations at the expense of the accident insurance institutions.

Not every illness that has arisen in connection with the occupational activity is an occupational disease according to the provisions defined in §9 of the German Social Security Code (SGB VII). Work-related illnesses that are not occupational illnesses are covered by health insurance.

1. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/publikation/long/2620.pdf