Germany

Organization responsible for the statistics

Collection: Hauptverband der gewerbliche Berufsgenossenschaften (National Federation of Industrial Employment Accident Insurance Funds).

Compilation and publication: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs).

Periodicity

Annual.

Source

Records of occupational injuries maintained by the accident insurance institutions.

Objectives and users

for use in prevention, rehabilitation, and in educational and advisory work;
for epidemiological and social research.

Major users:

those involved in education and advisory work, accident insurance funds.

Coverage

Persons:

Employees and self-employed persons in those economic activities where the professional association has decided that they should be covered by the accident insurance scheme, or if they have chosen to join the scheme; all self-employed workers in agriculture are covered along with their family workers.

Economic activities:

All economic activities and sectors.

Geographic areas:

Whole country.

Establishments:

All types and sizes of establishments.

Types of occupational accidents covered

The statistics cover reported injuries due to all types of occupational accidents, including commuting accidents.

Statistics of occupational diseases are compiled and published separately.

Concepts and definitions

Occupational accident:

an accident in which an insured person is injured in the exercise of his occupational activity within or outside the workplace; including traffic accidents occurring on the job or within the premises of the enterprise.

Commuting accident:

an accident on the way to or from work, in which a person is injured and unfit to work for more than three days.

Minimum period of absence from work: three days.

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: none.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex, age, nationality, occupation, length of time employed in occupation, usual workplace, insurance scheme, starting and finishing time of shift;

(b) amount of worktime lost: none;

(c) characteristics of accidents: commuting accident or occupational accident, date and time of accident, whether a machine was involved, whether the machine was in motion, part of machine causing the accident, agent of injury, form of movement of agent, activity of victim, effect on victim, whether work was interrupted, protective measures taken by employer, protective measures taken by employee;

(d) characteristics of injuries: part of body injured, nature of injury;

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: economic activity.

Measurement of worktime lost

Time not worked is measured in calendar days, excluding the day of the accident and the day of return to work.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) extent of disability:

not available;

(c) economic activity;

(d) occupation;

(e) type of injury:

nature of injury; part of body injured;

(f) cause of accident;

(g) duration of absence from work:

not relevant;

(h) characteristics of workers;

(i) characteristics of accidents;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces:

none.

Reference period

Six months and year.

Estimates

The published accident statistics are based on a 10 per cent sample of the data, except for agriculture which is based on a 2 per cent sample.

Documentation

Bibliographic references:

The data are published in:

Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung: Bundesarbeitsblatt.

idem: Arbeits und Sozialstatistic: Hauptergebnisse.

idem: Die gesetzliche Unfallversicherung in Deutschland: Statistischer und finanzieller Bericht (annual).

Brief methodological information is included in these publications.

Data published by ILO:

The following data are furnished regularly to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to compensated injuries (including commuting accidents), according to major division of economic activity: number of persons fatally injured; total number of persons injured; rates of fatal injuries. The number of persons at risk (total number of persons insured) is also supplied and stored in the LABORSTA database.

Confidentiality:

Not available.

International standards

Not available.

Method of data collection

Legislation:

Fourth Book of the Social Code, section 79.

Reporting:

All accidents causing injuries leading to more than three calendar days of absence from work should be reported to the relevant professional association (Berufsgenossenschaft) and to the Labour Inspectorate. Cross-checks are made to ensure that both organizations receive reports. The data collected by the individual accident insurance schemes are compiled and forwarded to the relevant competent central insurance associations. Federal statistics are compiled by the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs on the basis of data received from the central associations.

Data reported:

The standard accident report form consists of the following:

information about the employer: name, economic activity;
information about the employee: date of birth, sex, nationality, occupation, length of time employed in job, usual workplace, relation to the employer, insurance scheme, starting and finishing times for shift;
date and time of accident, whether machine was involved, whether machine was in motion, part of machine causing accident, description of accident, site of accident, agent of injury, form of movement of agent, activity of victim, effect on victim, protective measures taken by employer, protective measures taken by employee, whether work was interrupted, future preventive action;
information about the injury: nature of injury, part of body injured.

Changes planned:

Not available.