Occupational illness

The Health, Safety and Environment Service (AMD) and the occupational health physicians are legally required to report all cases of occupational illness to the Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases (NCvB). The NCvB keeps track of the statistics to provide insight into the extent to which certain occupational illnesses occur in certain sectors. The relationship between work and occupational illnesses is not always very strong or very clear. The physicians must therefore also indicate the strength of this relationship when they report an occupational illness. Examples of occupational diseases as reported by the AMD in recent years include Lyme disease, burnout and RSI.

All reports to the NCvB are anonymous; even the employer is not informed when an occupational illness report has been made. If an employee’s health problems are caused by his or her work situation, the University doctor will of course advise the employer and the employee with regard to this work situation and the importance of improving this situation to the employee’s recovery.