Nearly 2,400 Tata Steel employees died before the age of 65 between 1975 and 2010, as shown by research by EenVandaag. This means that these employees are 46 percent more likely to die at work than other men of the same age in the Netherlands.
The data is based on thousands of obituaries from staff magazines such as De Grijper, Hoogovens Staal, Focus IJmuiden and Over Staal. Descriptions in the advertisements, such as “long battle” or “the disease feared by everyone”, show that two-thirds of the cases died from an incurable disease.
“It is confirmation of what we already suspected,” says Mendes Stengs, who has worked at Tata Steel for years and is also a municipal councilor in Beverwijk. “It’s inherent to the industry, but it doesn’t make you happy.”
The research is striking. Normally, health surveys are usually about the impact of the factory on the environment. Tata often keeps its doors closed when it comes to the health of its employees.
‘Long Fought’
The FNV trade union is cautious with conclusions. Spokesman Cihan Lacin emphasizes that the results do not match the union’s image of health at Tata Steel. Tata’s Pension Fund previously stated, based on its own data, that the life expectancy of a retired employee is on average 2 years longer than that of other Dutch people. “This study shows a different picture, so it deserves further research,” Lacin said.
Ronald Kuipers, retired two years ago after a long career at Tata, including five years at the coking factory, also says he never noticed anything. “I don’t know any former colleagues with cancer. I don’t believe in those figures, you also have to have a bit of luck.”
It has been known for some time that the emissions of harmful substances by Tata Steel pose health risks to residents of the steel factory in IJmuiden. Reports from the RIVM and the GGD have previously shown that residents of surrounding villages, such as Wijk aan Zee and Beverwijk, are at a greater risk of certain diseases and have a shorter life expectancy.