Abstract

The BAuA's Unfallverhütungsbericht (accident prevention report) estimates that in 2019, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue alone caused a loss of gross value added of over 33 billion euros. Mental and behavioral disorders are estimated to have caused €24.5 billion in lost output, and diseases of the respiratory system €19.5 billion. Overall, losses of almost 150 billion euros are assumed for all diagnosis groups.

The economic losses caused by incapacity to work provide indications of where productivity potential could be realized through the design of working conditions. However, it must be taken into account that incapacity to work results both from socio-structural conditions in the occupation (e.g. age, gender, qualification) and from occupational working conditions. For example, older people are incapacitated for work longer on average than younger people (TK-Gesundheitsreport 2020). A higher number of cases of incapacity to work or days of incapacity to work can therefore be attributed on the one hand to the fact that, for example, an above-average number of older people are working. However, it may also be related to occupation-specific working conditions. In order to be able to give concrete indications as to where work incapacity can be prevented by improving working conditions, it is therefore necessary to examine multivariately what significance the occupational working conditions have for explaining the work incapacity observed in the occupation and in which occupations the explanatory contribution of occupational working conditions to work incapacity is particularly high.

Against this background, the aim of the project is to use data on absenteeism and on occupational working conditions to determine the significance of occupational working conditions for explaining incapacity to work, in order to be able to conclude in which occupations improvements in working conditions can contribute to reducing incapacity to work.