Dutch vision and strategy for occupational safety and health (07-2016)
In this document ‘ Dutch vision and strategy for occupational safety and health’ the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment explains the policy on safety and health in the workplace. The vision, goals and strategic actions that contribute to these goals are discussed in this document.
Mastering the Robot. The Future of Work in the Second Machine Age (12-2015)
Every day, it seems, the media report that ‘the robots’ are coming. And with robotics becoming faster and smarter all the time, the critics fear massive job losses. But is that likely to happen? In this publication, technology experts, economists and other researchers consider what robotisation and digitisation mean for the future of work. Some jobs will disappear, new jobs will be created, and the nature of much of our work will change. But robotisation takes much more time and effort than many assume. Government, researchers, employers and employees, and their representative organisations can also influence the way in which technology is developed and applied. We can master the robot by developing an inclusive agenda that stresses complementarity between humans and machines and focuses on co-creation, training, the quality of work, and new issues of inequality. Read the publication of The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) >>
The Dutch Roots of the Lisbon Strategy (9-2015)
The Lisbon and Europe 2020 strategies are rooted in a Dutch triple-p tradition (people, profit, planet) that has had the unanimous support of the Dutch social partners. This paper gives an overview of the work of the Dutch Social and Economic Council (SER) on triple-p, Lisbon and Europe 2020 based on advisory reports since 1951. It is found that many insights on the functioning of EMU are still relevant today. This concerns inter alia the role of competitiveness in a triple-p approach, the role and design of aggregate demand management in a currency union, the balance between collective solidarity and adjustment in individual member states, and the co-ownership of social partners in the governance and functioning of EMU. Read the publication of the The Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER) >>
Annual incidence of non-specific low back pain as an occupational disease attributed to whole-body vibration according to the National Dutch Register 2005–2012 (8-2015)
Non-specific low back pain (nLBP) is the second most important reason for sick leave in the Netherlands, and more than 50% of the workers on sick leave attribute these complaints to their work. To stimulate recognition and prevention, an occupational disease (OD) registration-guideline was implemented for the assessment of the work-relatedness of nLBP in the Netherlands in 2005.
The aim of this study is to present the annual incidence of nLBP as an OD and specifically for whole-body vibration (WBV) including patient characteristics such as age, sick leave and actions initiated by the occupational physician (OP). The data were retrieved from the National Dutch Register for 2005–2012. Each year about 118 OPs reported 509 cases (SD 139) of nLBP as an OD in a Dutch working population of 7.5 million workers (8% of all annual reported ODs). Less than 1% of these cases were attributed to WBV: 94% were men, 45% were between 51 and 60 years and 35% were on sick leave for more than 2 weeks. Most initiated actions were ergonomic interventions (35%). Read more >>
Recent RIVM publications about Work and Health (7-2015)
- Long-term disruption of day/night rhythms increases risk of breast cancer and leads to gain in bodyweight. Read more >>
- Overview of methodologies for the derivation of Occupational Exposure Limits for non-threshold carcinogens in the EU. Read more >>
- Inventory of databases containing worker exposure data on non-threshold carcinogens in Europe. Read more >>
- Prioritization of new and emerging chemical risks for workers and follow- up actions. Read more >>
- The relevance of work-related learning for vulnerable groups. Dutch case study of a Health Impact Assessment with equity focus. Read more >>
- Assessing health & environmental risks of nanoparticles : Current state of affairs in policy, science and areas of application. Read more >>
Statistics on Occupational Diseases 2014 (4-2015)
‘Statistics on Occupational Diseases 2014’ is a report compiled by the Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases (NCvB) and commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW). The report aims to provide an overview of the incidence of occupational diseases and their distribution within the sectors and occupations in the Netherlands in 2013.
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Overview of Dutch Working Conditions 2014 (4-2015)
This document presents a summary of the findings presented by TNO in the Arbobalans 2014 (Overview of Dutch working conditions 2014). The summary is organised as follows: description of the Dutch working population, key figures on the quality of the work, sickness absence, accidents at work and occupational diseases, followed by a number of current themes, i.e. self-employed workers without employees, psychosocial working conditions, preventive policy and sustainable employability.
PDF in English >>
State of Affairs of social security, January 2014 (8-2014)
This brochure provides a general overview of the range of national insurance schemes and social security benefits in the Netherlands including the amounts as at 1 January 2014. It is up to the implementing body to assess whether you are entitled to a benefit.
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