Occupational disease lists are essential legal mechanisms for recognizing pathologies related to hazardous workplace exposures.
In Switzerland, 1.1 million workers are affected by work-related
health problems annually. In terms of financial repercussions, the
situation is not negligible: the cost of occupational diseases
amounts to at least CHF 20 billion per year. However, there is
currently no centralized database on workers’ exposures to occupational hazards in Switzerland; nor a national register of
chronic effects due to occupational exposures. Moreover, Switzerland has made limited progress in its stategy for updating the
recognized occupational disease list. In October 2017, a revision
to the occupational disease list was proposed for the first time in
ten years, highlighting the urgent need to ameliorate the system
of occupational disease reporting and recognition in Switzerland.
This review will focus on the importance of occupational disease
lists towards occupational safety and health strategies and prevention efforts, while highlighting the unique case of Switzerland, with the aim to gather evidence and good practices
towards the improvement of its own occupational disease list.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2018-ICOHabstracts.1129