An “occupational disease” is a disease defined in Annex One to the General Social Insurance Act (Allgemeines Sozialver-sicherungsgesetz, ASVG), which was caused by the conditions prevailing at the workstation as described in the Annex in the exercise of the employment for which insurance cover exists. Among occupational diseases, noise-induced hearing loss and skin diseases rank among the most prominent.
- An occupation-induced impairment of health may occur which was suffered in the course of an employment for which a worker obtained insurance cover, but the affected person is not automatically entitled thereby to (pension) benefits under the statutory accident insurance scheme.
- One prominent example are diseases of the spine. Under the Labour Protection Act (ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz, ASchG), the activities of occupational medical experts also have to focus their activities on the prevention of occupation-induced diseases.