July first, Lexces, a new national expertise centre for substance-related occupational diseases has been officially launched in the Netherlands.
It pools knowledge and expertise in the area of hazardous substances and health risks for workers. In this way, it contributes to the prevention and assessment of occupational illnesses, with the aim of creating a future in which people no longer become ill from substances they are exposed to in the workplace.
Five important knowledge institutes from various backgrounds collaborate with each other and other stakeholders to gather, develop and actively share knowledge about these occupational diseases with occupational health and safety professionals, occupational health care professionals, employers and employees.
Compensation for Substance-related Occupational Diseases
Besides the main goal of Lexces to prevent the development of any further illnesses resulting from occupational substance exposure, another important task is the implementation
of the TSB (Compensation for Substance-related Occupational Diseases), which is currently being developed by the Dutch government. TSB is a one-off compensation for individual (ex-)workers with serious occupational diseases recognised by the government and an achievement in the acknowledgement of the effects of occupational diseases on people’s lives. The regulation starts at January 1, 2023.
Institutes represented in LEXCES
The Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS, Utrecht University), the Dutch knowledge centre for work and pulmonary disorders Nederlands Kenniscentrum Arbeid en Longaandoeningen (NKAL), outpatient clinic Polikliniek Mens en Arbeid (PMA, Amsterdam UMC), the Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases (NCvB, Amsterdam UMC) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Check out the website (also in English) for further details.
