In the European Union, and in addition to Germany, France and Spain, Denmark (in 1999) has also included diseases in the area of the lumbar spine from lifting loads in their list of occupational diseases. The Danish system of occupational diseases will be described below, with special emphasis on occupational diseases in the area of the lumbar spine. The Danish and German regulations on recognition will be compared, to see whether this suggests new questions related to the German discussion on occupational diseases from inter-vertebral discs. Methods: The present description is based on publications of the National Board of Industrial Injuries of the European "Network" EUROGIP which compare European systems of accident insurance and also on interviews with experts, which were conducted in Denmark with representatives of the accident insurance companies, the society for occupational medicine and the trade unions. Results and Discussion: In Denmark, occupational disease of the low back can be recognised solely on the basis of the presence of non-specific back pain ("chronic low back pain"). Additional findings with imaging techniques are not required. This broad definition of the characteristics of the insured disease is the reason that the recognition figures for diseases of the lower back are markedly higher in Denmark than in Germany. The rate of recognition relative to the number of applications is also higher in Denmark and this is thought to be due to the following reasons: the more exact definition of the technical occupational conditions; the assumption of a causative relationship when both the technical occupational conditions and the characteristic of the insured disease are present; the more precise definition of alternative diseases. Conclusion: It would be possible to partly imitate the Danish system of occupational diseases, by increasing the precision of the definition of the insured clinical pictures and simplifying the evaluation of the causal relationship. This would raise the specificity of reporting behaviour, increase the rate of recognition and possibly also increase the general acceptance of the German system of accident insurance.