The Compensation for Substance-Related Occupational Diseases (TSB) has been providing victims with a shorter and quicker route to recognition of their occupational disease since 2023. The path to court is often long and complicated. The employer is not always in the picture, for example, because the company in question has been dissolved.
The scheme currently covers 3 occupational diseases: lung cancer due to asbestos, allergic occupational asthma, and CSE, also known as painters disease. The cabinet wants to add nasal (sinus) cancer due to wood dust, silicosis (irreversible lung damage due to inflammatory reactions), and lung cancer due to inhalation of silica (quartz dust).
These occupational diseases are being added based on the estimated number of cases in the Netherlands and the availability of data to assess the applications.
Scheme Improved
Additionally, the cabinet is increasing the chances of approval. One of the changes is to accept the diagnosis established by a qualified physician in principle. Checking underlying research will no longer be necessary.
The expert panel that assesses applications will have more room to make decisions based on their own expertise and experience. The scheme will also be more widely promoted to medical specialists, patients, and their families. The improvements are expected to lead to more applications being submitted and approved in the long term.
Since the start of the scheme, approximately 450 people have applied for the TSB scheme, and over 100 applications have been honored. The one-time compensation amounts to over €25,000.
Internet Consultation in April
The proposed changes will go into internet consultation in April. This means that everyone can respond to the expansion and changes of the scheme. The amended scheme is expected to come into effect on July 1, 2025.