Statutory accident insurance: Preventing an occupational disease or avoiding the aggravation of an occupational disease

Are you exposed to a risk at work that could lead to the development, aggravation or recurrence of an occupational disease? If so, you are entitled to preventive measures under certain conditions.

The employers' liability insurance associations and accident insurance fund can support you with preventive individual measures (individual prevention).

The measures are intended to counteract occupational hazards that could lead to an occupational disease. This applies to the following cases

• the development
• the recurrence or
• the aggravation of an occupational disease.

Your responsible employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund will work out the individual preventive measures and offer them to you. Your personal illness and the working conditions at your workplace will be taken into account.

The aim of preventive individual measures is to ensure that you can continue to work as before without your health deteriorating. Depending on the occupational hazard and health complaints, the following measures are possible:

• technical measures at the workplace (e.g. installation of technical extraction equipment, structural changes)
• organizational measures at the workplace (e.g. reorganization of work processes, transfer of other activities, time limitation of hazardous activities)
• Optimization of protective measures (e.g. breathing masks, protective gloves, ear muffs)
• Health education seminars (e.g. skin protection seminars, back health training)
• Intensive personal consultations (e.g. occupational disease consultations, activity-related support or on-site consultations with the involvement of the company doctor)
• Medical treatment measures (e.g. treatment order, assumption of costs for special therapies)

You do not need to submit any documents.

Forms available: No

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance necessary: No

Online services available: Yes

You may be entitled to preventive individual measures from your employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance fund if:

• you have health problems as a result of your work that could become an occupational disease or
• You already have an occupational disease and notice an aggravation.

• Appeal
• Detailed information on how to lodge an appeal can be found in the notification from your employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance fund.

Your employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance fund will contact you if it learns of a suspected occupational disease. The employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund may be informed by your employer, for example:

• your employer
• company doctor
• the specialist doctor treating you
• health insurance company

You can also notify your employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance fund yourself if you are exposed to a relevant occupational hazard and have initial health complaints. This can be done online or by post.

Online service:

• Call up the online service.
• You will be guided through the procedure on the accident insurance service portal.
• You can log in.
  • If you would like to receive the reply from your Berufsgenossenschaft or accident insurance fund in the mailbox of your BundID account or My Company Account, you must have an account and authenticate yourself.
  • If you would like to receive the reply by post, you can continue without registering.
• Select your responsible employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund or find them using the industry search.
• Upload the required documents.
• Complete the online form and send it off.
• Your notification will be automatically forwarded to your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund.
• Your employer's liability insurance association or accident insurance fund will check ex officio which specific offers are suitable for your individual needs.
• It will contact you and the necessary persons (e.g. employer, company doctor, treating doctor).
• The necessary measures will be taken in consultation with all parties involved.

Online service of your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund:

• If you have access to the portal of your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund, you can also submit the notification electronically there if necessary.

Message by post:

• Send an informal letter to your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund.
• Make sure you provide the required information and enclose the necessary documents.

There are no deadlines.

There are no costs.

There are no indications or special features.