About us

Occupational medicine in Germany is based upon legal regulations as well as the regulations of the Institution for Statutory Insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft).

In addition, BASF has joined Responsible Care^®, a voluntary initiative of the chemical industry (1985), as well as the Luxembourg Declaration on Workplace Health Promotion in the European Union (1997). Furthermore, based on corporate guidelines and internal agreements between employer and works council, BASF guarantees its employees additional preventive measures and medical services.

The "Occupational Medicine and Health Protection Program in the BASF Group" is the fundament of preventive health care within the company and serves to introduce health awareness into BASF business processes worldwide. The program also defines performance standards and provides access to occupational and environmental medical expertise at all times through the Expert Groups.

Our goal is to promote and maintain the health, well-being and productivity of all employees. Furthermore, we wish to contribute to the safety of BASF products, that they do not pose any health risks to employees, neighbors, customers, and consumers.

Occupational Medicine and Health Protection face great challenges that come with global social, technological and organizational changes. Clear goals must be set and necessary measures must be consistently implemented in order to deliver optimal professional work under these conditions.

In this spirit, we developed the "Vision - Responsibility for Health":

• BASF is the global leader in the application of modern occupational medicine knowledge and methods to the benefit of its employees, neighbors and customers.
• All the BASF group companies maintain the same high standards of occupational medicine and health protection.
• BASF employees have a high personal awareness of health.
• Work-related diseases no longer occur within BASF.

We aim to realize this vision by the following measures:

• We promote and maintain the health, well-being, and productivity of all employees by providing health care targeted to workplace needs and general preventive health care.
• We earn the trust and respect of employees by providing competent acute medical care.
• We protect life and health by providing optimal medical emergency preparedness and emergency response as well as specially-trained personnel.
• We assure an optimal return to productive work following illness by providing refined rehabilitative and reintegration measures.
• We identify and evaluate all internal and external findings and reports regarding potential health effects in work environments and of hazardous substances by modern scientific methods.
• We recognize work-related changes in health parameters and initiate intervention measures before these changes result in disease.
• We contribute to the prevention of illness by promoting health awareness among our employees.
• We advise BASF business and operating units on medical issues and support them by risk recognition and risk assessment activities.
• We continuously improve the quality of occupational medical care in all BASF group operations by intensive consultation, global auditing and ongoing medical education.
• We provide comprehensive information and consultation on potential health hazards and medical interventions in industrial accidents and environmental releases.
• We offer scientifically-based environmental medicine consultations.
• We continuously optimize our knowledge and capabilities by targeted education and training.
• We address health issues related to BASF operations by our own research and, if indicated, in cooperation with external partners.
• We communicate important occupational medical findings through scientific publications and teaching.
• We maintain an effective dialog concerning current occupational and environmental knowledge and issues with colleagues in clinics, hospitals and research institutions as well as with occupational medicine experts in health authorities and regulatory agencies.
• We are the preferred expert partners in issues of health protection for employees at all leadership levels as well as for our neighbors, customers, and consumers.

In a transnational company like BASF, many specialized professional units work hand in hand to render visions into success.

In the areas of risk analysis, health protection and emergency management, we work intensively with experts in Occupational Safety, Environmental Protection, Toxicology and Product Stewardship, as well as with Human Resources, the company Health Insurance, the Fire Brigade, the specialized operating divisions and, last but not least, the works council.

In addition, the Work Protection Committee and the Working Groups "Health“ and "Health Surveillance“ work cooperatively on a regular basis. Within the “Steering Committee for Emergency Response”, an intensive exchange of expert knowledge is the prerequisite for smooth and problem-free actions.

Collaborative efforts are also put into organizing targeted preventive health campaigns, which are precisely documented and scientifically evaluated. The BASF Back Pain Project, the Early Diagnosis of Colon Cancer, and the prevention of obesity and diabetes are examples of such campaigns.

This professional cooperation is, of course, not limited to internal units of BASF. To assure continuity in acute medical care, there is a close and confiding collaboration with the hospitals and with private physicians practicing in the region.

Our commitment to research and teaching, and to numerous national and international professional committees and associations assures that we constantly have the latest specialist knowledge and opens the forum for exchanges of experiences.

Regular internal and external reporting on the activities and performance of the Corporate Health Management Department makes our work transparent thus creating an atmosphere of trust among employees and management.

The systematic documentation and processing of our medical data enable us to recognize specific types and local prevalence of diseases. In doing so, we are able to prevent illnesses at an early stage. For this reason, strictly obsersing the rules of medical confidentiality and data protection, we log all clinical visits and other examination results electronically using a digital health record.

In the Corporate Health Management Annual Report, our performance, the collected findings and conclusions as well as measures taken are published. In addition, a BASF Health Report that is provided, together with other partners every year. It provides an excellent overview of the health status of BASF employees and offers a basis for planning the key aspects of our work and introducing the necessary interventions in the workplace if required.