The Service for the Organization of Postexposure Medical Examinations: ODIN

In Germany, occupational contact with carcinogenic substances is regulated by very strict legislation. Thus, alongside strict implementation of agreement 139 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), legislation governing the medical monitoring and care of employees in the form of specialist preventive medical examinations is also in force. It is extremely important that medical preventive care should continue after employment involving contact with carcinogenic substances has ceased, since there is often a long delay before occupationally induced carcinosis develops. The German Service for the Organization of Postexposure Medical Examinations (ODIN) was established by the statutory German accident insurance institutions to ensure that early detection examinations continue to be performed into the employee's later life. Such preventive examinations can significantly enhance the success of cancer treatment by detecting malignancy in its early stages. The registration by ODIN of data concerning exposure to hazardous substances also has the function of preserving evidence required for possible compensation claims by victims of occupational illnesses. In the longer term, ODIN data may help us to explain the relationship between exposure to hazardous substances and the incidence of carcinosis.