Occupational Disease Compensation

Different countries have different occupational disease compensation systems which in many cases are part of, or serve a function, in their respective social security systems. Key elements in occupational disease compensation systems are disease diagnosis and causal inference. Diagnosis of disease is a critical element because in some cases specific occupational diseases are not routinely and commonly diagnosed in the health care system. Examples are pneumoconiosis (asbestosis, silicosis) and occupational (allergic) asthma creating problems with regard to completeness of diagnostic information and causal inference. In case of multicausal diseases, a detailed exposure history is required in combination with quantitative exposure information to calculate a cumulative exposure estimate to assess the likelihood that the disease has been caused by the occupational exposure. By calculating the probability of causation (PoC) based on the cumulative exposure, an occupational cause can be distinguished from lifestyle factors. A PoC above a certain value is a reason to compensate, although partial compensation occurs in some countries or civil courts based on the exact value of the PoC.

The difficulties related to diagnosing and eligible claimants for compensation of occupational diseases are generally known but not always extensively described because issues considered and choices made are part of national social insurance systems and seldom part of explicit international scientific evaluation and debate.

In this symposium we want to explore differences in diagnostic practices in different countries and explore how causal relations are evaluated on the individual level. The aim is not to develop and common practice but to exchange information and identify good practices and novel approaches.

Registration as a day-delegate is possible for this Thursday, including the EPICOH morning program and Lexces Symposium

PROGRAM (13.30-17.30)