News item | 26-03-2025 | 12:05
State Secretary Jurgen Nobel wants to expand the financial regulation for people who have become seriously ill by working with hazardous substances. According to the plans, the allowance will apply to 6 occupational diseases from 1 July 2025. That is now 3. The State Secretary wants to increase the chance of an allowance and increase the awareness of the scheme, he writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Since 2023, the Substitute Diseases (TSB) allowance has been offering a shorter and faster route to recognition of their occupational disease since 2023. The corridor to court is often long and complicated. The employer is then no longer always in the picture, for example because the company in question has been lifted.
The scheme now applies to 3 occupational diseases: lung cancer by asbestos, allergic professional asthma and CSE, also known as painter’s disease. The cabinet wants a nose (sinus) cancer due to wood fabric, silicosis (irreparable damage to the lungs due to inflammatory reactions) and lung cancer through inhalation of silica (quartz fabric).
These occupational diseases are added on the basis of the estimated number of cases in the Netherlands and the availability of data to be able to assess the applications.
Improved scheme
The cabinet also increases the chance of a grant. What changes, among other things, is in principle accepting the diagnosis determined by a competent doctor. Checking underlying research is then no longer necessary.
The expert panel – which assesses requests – is given more room to come to a decision based on its own expertise and experience. The scheme is also brought to the attention of medical specialists, patients and their families, among others. The improvements must lead to more applications being submitted and granted in the long term.
Since the start of the scheme, around 450 people have applied for the TSB scheme and more than 100 applications have been honored. The one -off allowance is more than € 25,000.
Internet consultation in April
The proposed changes will be in internet consultation in April. This means that everyone can then respond to the expansion and changes to the scheme. The adjusted regulation is expected to enter into force on 1 July 2025.