EN 
DE On 5 January 2022, the Federal Cabinet adopted the Federal Government's report on the state of occupational safety and health and on the incidence of accidents and occupational diseases in the Federal Republic of Germany in 2020.
This report must be submitted annually by 31 December in accordance with Section 25 (1) of the German Social Security Code (SGB VII). The reports of the accident insurance institutions and the health and safety authorities of the federal states are included in this report. As an update of the previous year, the report shows the changes in occupational health and safety.
The 2020 reporting year was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that the data contained in the report is only comparable with previous years to a very limited extent. In order to combat the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and prevent its spread, effective and coordinated measures were required from occupational safety stakeholders to prevent personal contact and ensure adequate protection against infection in all areas of life. The individual activities of the occupational health and safety authorities and the accident insurance institutions to manage the pandemic are presented in this year's report. As every year, the report also contains data on employment, occupational accidents and illnesses, pensions and incapacity for work.
With the population continuing to rise slightly (82.2 million; +0.4 million), the number of people in employment is slightly lower than in the previous year at 41.6 million (-0.8 million). The part-time employment rate has risen further, now totalling 30.0 %, but is still very unevenly distributed between the sexes (women 49.6 %; men 12.0 %).
Due to the pandemic, 2020 was characterised by short-time working and temporary business closures. This is clearly reflected in the accident figures, as employees spent less time at their workplaces or travelling to and from them. This has had a major impact on the insurance situation in statutory accident insurance. In 2020, there were 12.3 % fewer reportable accidents at work (2020: 822,588; 2019: 937,456) and 18.0 % fewer reportable commuting accidents (2020: 154,817; 2019: 188,827). The accident rate per 1,000 full-time employees for reportable accidents at work is therefore 19.4. The figures for fatal accidents at work and commuting accidents are also around a fifth lower than in the previous year. Similar developments can also be seen in school accidents as a result of the prolonged school closures.
COVID-19 can be recognised as an occupational disease for employees in healthcare, welfare and laboratories, as well as for employees who are similarly exposed to the risk of infection in their work. This is clearly reflected in the number of reports of suspected occupational diseases (111,055; +30.9 %) and the number of cases recognised (39,551; +93.7 %). This trend is even clearer when looking at the figures for infectious diseases (BK no. 3101), which are many times higher than in the previous year at 33,595 (2019: 1,898) reports and 18,959 (2019: 782) recognisitions. There was a slight decrease in the number of "deaths of occupationally ill persons with death as a result of occupational disease" (2,393; -188), although the proportion of deaths caused by asbestos-containing dusts remains very high (64.6 %). In terms of incapacity for work data, the average duration of incapacity for work of 13.8 days is significantly higher than in the previous year (12.0). This figure increases significantly with age: While working people aged 15 to under 20 are ill for an average of 6 days per case of incapacity to work, the figure for over 65s is 27 days per case. The estimate of the economic costs of incapacity for work is € 87 billion in lost production costs and € 144 billion in lost gross value added, roughly the same as the previous year.
In the joint annual activity report of the health and safety authorities of the federal states, it was stated, among other things, that in order to improve safety and health protection in companies, the supervisory services must be strengthened and the number of company inspections according to common standards must be increased.
As can be seen from the charts, the construction industry again recorded the highest number of reportable accidents at work in 2020, with 58 accidents per 1,000 full-time workers. To make construction even safer for everyone involved in the future, the MuP Group not only analyses work processes and procedures in terms of their professional and technical suitability during the planning phase, but also plans the necessary protective measures and procedures right from the start. Engineering for a better tomorrow!
The following figures are taken from the current report for 2020:
Due to a change in the recording of working hours from 2018 and the insurance relationships from 2019 at industrial employers' liability insurance associations and public sector accident insurance institutions, full-time employee figures and working hours as well as accident rates based on these figures are not comparable with previous years. This results in significant changes in individual areas.
1 In 2016, Unfallkasse Post und Telekom (formerly the public sector accident insurance institution) merged with the Berufsgenossenschaft für Transport und Verkehrswirtschaft (commercial employers' liability insurance association) to form the Berufsgenossenschaft Verkehrswirtschaft Post-Logistik Telekommunikation (BG Verkehr for short). The figures shown here for the public sector accident insurance institutions and the commercial employers' liability insurance associations have been adjusted retrospectively from 1973.
2 In 2019, including 84 cases from the years 2000 to 2005, which could only be included after the conclusion of criminal proceedings.
Due to a change in the recording of insurance relationships from 2019 onwards at the industrial employers' liability insurance associations and public sector accident insurance institutions, full-time employee figures and working hours as well as accident rates based on these figures are not comparable with previous years. This results in significant changes in individual areas.
