Medical Expert Advisory Council on Occupational Diseases

Definition
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The Medical Expert Advisory Council on Occupational Diseases is an internal advisory body that is independent of instructions and supports the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in its decision-making on medical and scientific issues. The task of the Advisory Board is to review and evaluate the state of scientific knowledge with regard to updating existing occupational diseases or including new ones in the Occupational Diseases Ordinance. The Advisory Board provides the Ministry with recommendations and opinions based on existing findings.

The Advisory Board consists of twelve members who are appointed by the Ministry for a period of five years. The work of the Advisory Board is carried out on an honorary basis and is not remunerated. In accordance with the committee's remit, the members are predominantly university lecturers in the field of occupational medicine; the advisory board also includes two state industrial physicians and two company physicians. The advisory board elects a chairman and a deputy chairman from among its members.

General information
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The scientific recommendations of the Expert Advisory Council are published by the Ministry. They form the scientific basis for the Federal Government's decision on the inclusion of new diseases in the list of occupational diseases and their recognition as an occupational disease in individual cases by the statutory accident insurance institutions.

If specialist expertise from other disciplines is required for individual issues, external experts are consulted. The work of the Advisory Board is also supported by its scientific office at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Two representatives of the statutory accident insurance institutions attend the meetings as permanent guests without voting rights.