[The role of the industrial doctor in Germany].

A dynamic development of industry as well as of all other branches of the national economy in Germany which began during the second half of the nineteenth century gave birth to a new discipline called industrial health and established the role of an industrial doctor. One should remember, however, that a historically shaped social mechanism of relationship between departure from health, accidents at work or occupational disease among workers and related costs of compensations paid by employers had played in this regard the most important part. Therefore, since the beginning of the industrial era, the main responsibility of an industrial doctor employed in any industrial plant had been to provide a competent information on all causes of occupation-related health effects in order to avoid, among others, paying compensation allowances. Nowadays, according to the Act of 1973 on industrial doctors, occupational safety and hygiene engineers as well as other workers involved in occupational safety, an industrial doctor is employed by the Berufsgenosseschaft (employers' representative) and cooperates closely with an Enterprise Council (employees' representative) as well as with an industrial doctor of a given Land (state representative). His responsibilities for the sake of the employed (about 70% of his working time) embrace, among others, pre-employment examinations, periodical check-ups and examinations connected with the change of employment. His activities for the enterprise (about 30% of his working time) include advice and consultation on occupational safety and hygiene, first aid in case a work accident and supervision over the hygienic conditions in the enterprise.