Occupational diseases in the Netherlands: incidence, type, consequences and risk factors

Abstract

Objectives: Occupational diseases are common and result in a substantial disease burden and high sickness absence. Reliable data on the incidence and a better understanding of the risk factors will help to develop preventive measures.
Methods: Several sources of measuring occupational diseases were analysed and compared: 1) Surveillance Project for Intensive Notification (diagnosed by an occupational physician, Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases 2015); 2) National Working Condition Surveys and 3) Morbidity and mortality data from the National Institute for Public health and the Environment.
Results: The incidence of occupational diseases in the Netherlands ranges from 0.19% (diagnosed by an occupational physician, workers) to 1.6% (self-reported, diagnosed by a medical doctor, self-employed) to 3.2% (self-reported, diagnosed by a medical doctor, employees). In 2013 an estimated 4,100 people died in the Netherlands as the result of an occupational disease (900 employees and 3,200 pensioners).
The most common self-reported occupational diseases among employees are musculoskeletal disorders (1.7%) and mental disorder (1.4%). The most common occupational disease diagnosed by occupational physicians is common mental disorders (0.8%). The risk of an occupational disease for employees is highest in the healthcare (4.0%), industry (3.7%) and construction (3.6%) sectors.
Multivariate analyses show that occupational risks that contribute most to musculoskeletal occupational diseases are repetitive movements (OR=2.25; PAF=40%), uncomfortable work posture (OR=1.62; PAF=18%) and high workload (OR=1.57; PAF=18%). For occupational mental diseases the most important risks are low engagement (OR=2.27; PAF=34%), a conflict with the supervisor (OR=1.51; PAF=17%) and a high emotional workload (OR=2.85; PAF=14%).
Conclusion: Longitudinal measurements of self-reported occupational diseases can provide information to reduce the risk of occupational diseases at work and to reveal the effectiveness of preventive measures.

 

Keywords: statistics, diseases, work, health, prevention

Keywords

• Occupational diseases in the Netherlands: incidence,type

References

1. Anita Venema, Romy Steenbeek, Liza Van Dam, Ernest De Vroome The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Leiden, The Netherlands