News item | 27-06-2022 | 12:15
Falling ill because you have come into contact with hazardous substances during your work in the past. In the Netherlands it happens to thousands of people every year. Claiming damages through the courts is still often difficult. That is why, from next year, victims will be able to claim a one-off financial compensation. This is what Minister Van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment writes in a letter to the House of Representatives. The scheme initially applies to three occupational diseases: lung cancer due to asbestos, allergic asthma and CSE, also known as painter’s disease. The list of diseases will be expanded further in the coming years.
Minister Van Gennip: “This allowance offers financial support, but often just as important: recognition. It is very distressing that people become ill because they have worked with hazardous substances in the past. I am very happy that we can help them in the near future with a one-time allowance.”
Build up step by step
The TSB offers victims a short and fast route to recognition of their occupational disease. Now going to court is usually complicated, because the disease often only manifests itself after years. In that case, the employer is no longer always in the picture, for example because the company in question has been dissolved. In the interest of the victims, it was decided to open the scheme as soon as possible. However, this must be done carefully. In order to guarantee a good start, we will start with three occupational diseases about which a relatively large amount of knowledge is available. The TSB is then expanded step by step. It is important that the implementing organizations are able to process the numbers of applications properly. In order to offer these parties enough time to properly set up all systems and work processes, the scheme cannot come into effect before 1 January 2023.
New expertise center
The National Expertise Center for Substances-related Occupational Diseases (Lexces) has an important supporting role in the implementation of the TSB. This partnership of five institutes (Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS, Utrecht University), Netherlands Knowledge Center for Labor and Lung Diseases (NKAL), Outpatient Clinic for Humans and Labor (PMA, Amsterdam UMC), Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases (NCvB, Amsterdam UMC) and RIVM), will start on 1 July and focuses on developing, collecting and disseminating knowledge. The list of serious substance-related occupational diseases can be expanded with the help of the expertise centre. With the opening of Lexces and the effective date of the TSB, the advice of the Heerts Committee, which pointed out in March 2020 the importance of recognizing victims of substance-related occupational diseases, is met.