Occupational dermatoses

Abstract

Occupational skin diseases, including occupational skin cancer, account for around 40% of all suspicious cases reported annually to the statutory accident insurance institutions. Occupational dermatoses most frequently manifest themselves in the form of irritant or allergic contact eczema of the hands. Skin diseases of other localizations and etiologies may also be work related (facial and foot eczema, contact urticaria, infectious skin diseases, or skin cancer) or aggravated by work conditions (hereditary/constitutional skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis vulgaris). Interlocking prevention measures are available for the prevention of occupational skin diseases. The dermatologist's procedure plays a central role here. A decisive factor for successful prevention is early reporting of suspected cases by means of a dermatologist's report in the case of inflammatory occupational skin diseases, e.g., hand eczema (No. 5101, German Ordinance on Occupational Diseases). With No. 5103 newly included in the German Ordinance on Occupational Diseases in 2015, the prevention and treatment of squamous cell carcinomas or multiple actinic keratoses caused by solar UV radiation at work becomes increasingly important. © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022. All rights reserved.