Exposome: Work-Related Diseases
March 12, 2024, Utrecht University City Center Library
Every day, 10 people in the Netherlands die as a result of their workâamounting to an alarming 4,000 deaths per year. Recently, the government announced an ambitious goal: by 2040, no Dutch person should fall ill or die due to poor working conditions. During this public dialogue, we aimed to explore how work in the Netherlands can make people sick, which professions are most affected, and, most importantly, how this disease burden can be prevented in the future. Is it the responsibility of employers or the government to prevent illness among workers? And what concrete actions can we take to address this issue?
Currently, it remains very difficult for employees to claim compensation for health-related damages from their (former) employers. Would 'de-juridifying' this process be the right solution? And who holds the responsibility for preventing occupational illnesses - employers or the government?
We discussed these questions with experts during our public dialogue: "Sick from Work: When Working Doesn't Pay Off". Our speakers were:
- dr. Susan Peters is an epidemiologist and exposure expert at the Institute of Risk Assessment Sciences, leading the research group on work and health.
- dr. Jos Rooijackers is a pulmonologist at the Dutch Knowledge Center for Work and Lung Diseases.
- Henri Willems is a patient who developed asthma, COPD, and bronchospasms due to workplace exposure.
- Marlou Overheul (LLM) is a PhD candidate at the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law, researching the fairness of compensation schemes for occupational diseases.
Following presentations by the experts, we engaged in a collective discussion with the audience on these pressing issues.