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Workers' Health Surveillance Conference

  • 26/27 November 2026
  • 1,5 day
  • Amsterdam UMC

We would like to invite you for a conference on Workers' Health Surveillance on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November 2026 at Amsterdam UMC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This conference will be organized by the ICOH Scientific Committee on Effectiveness in Occupational Health Services (EOHS) in collaboration with the national expertise centre for substance-related occupational diseases (Lexces), Amsterdam UMC, department of Public and Occupational Health, and the Netherlands Society of Occupational Medicine (NVAB).

Workers’ Health Surveillance (WHS) is essential for prevention in the workplace, workplace health promotion, detection and reporting of occupational and work-related diseases and controlling of the effectiveness of preventive measures. It is regarded as one of the cornerstones of occupational health. Nevertheless, the legislation, development, implementation and execution of WHS shows great variation among countries. Research on the efficacy and effectiveness of WHS is still scarce. Therefore, the ICOH Scientific Committee on Effectiveness in Occupational Health Services is organizing an international conference together with Amsterdam UMC (department Public & Occupational Health), Lexces, and the Netherlands Society of Occupational Medicine (NVAB) to exchange knowledge on this subject and share practical experiences.

Thursday November 26 (Waver room – location VUmc)

09.00 hrs
Registration

10.00 hrs
Opening Ceremony

10.10 hrs
Keynote lecture Prof. Lode Godderis (Belgium)
Advancing health surveillance for better mental health outcomes

Theme 1: early detection

10.50 hrs
"Likelihood ratios as a decision tool for the surveillance of hand-transmitted vibration injuries" - Tohr Nilsson

11.05 hrs
Using diagnostic prediction models to improve occupational health surveillance Nettie van der Meer

11.20 hrs
A digital tool for the early detection of occupational contact dermatitis: an interview study among Dutch healthcare professionals and workers – Quinty Lisa Willems

11.35 hrs
Improving early detection of new and emerging occupational diseases: the implementation of SIGNAAL for reporting relevant cases – Yvonne Noteboom

11.50 hrs
Workers’ Health Surveillance in Dutch Practice - Boyd Thijssens

12.05 hrs
Theme 1 discussion

12.20 hrs
Poster pitches

12.45 hrs Lunch – poster session - small exhibition

13.30 hrs
Keynote lecture Prof. Sara de Matteis (Italy)
Occupational Respiratory Health Surveillance: Old and new challenges in the 21st century

Theme 2: perspective of occupational physicians

14.10 hrs
Understanding the limited uptake of workers’ health surveillance in Dutch occupational healthcare practice: a qualitative analysis – Anel Hasic

14.25 hrs
Tailoring workers’ health surveillance for occupational contact dermatitis: sector-specific implementation pathways in construction and hairdressing – Jonathan Jonker

14.40 hrs
Online-based occupational health care for student groups – Monika A. Rieger

14.55 hrs
Theme 2 discussion

15.10 hrs Coffee/tea/poster session

Theme 3: perspective of workers

15.40 hrs
Communication aspects of feedback from workers’ health surveillance due to hand-arm vibration exposure –
Mats Hagberg

15.55 hrs
Experiences and perspectives of workers and vocational students on welding fume exposure: A qualitative study – Tessa Steeneken

16.10 hrs
Migrant workers and the ir/relevance of language in the prevention of work-related cancer. Results from an ethnographic study in Germany – Christine Preiser

16.25 hrs
Understanding avoidance of medical surveillance for hand-arm vibrations in Sweden: a mixed-methods approach – Frida Thorsén

16.40 hrs
Theme 3 discussion and closing of the day

Information poster presenters

Poster 1
Individual susceptibility to occupational asthma and contact dermatitis: towards informed work decisions and sustainable work participation – Renate Juscikowski

Poster 2
The implementation of workers’ health surveillance by occupational physicians in the Netherlands: a cohort study – Felicia Los

Poster 3
Do different physicians notify different occupational diseases? Occupational medicine practitioners versus hospital physicians – Stefano Mattioli

Poster 4
Determinants of putative occupational diseases and injuries: PubMed search filters for the study of socioeconomic factors – Stefania Curti

Poster 5
Digital tools for the detection of dermatitis: a systematic review - Quinty Lisa Willems

Poster 6
Sentinel health investigation of a lumbar injury claim in a maintenance-of-way machine operator - an overloaded and defective suspension seat - Eckardt Johanning

Poster 7
Health surveillance of soy allergy in the soy processing industry - Sanne Houba

Poster 8
Occupational health professionals as facilitators of workplace mental health prevention: implementation of a supervisor coaching intervention - Suzanne van Hees

Poster 9
A Toolbox to support occupational physicians in supervising medical students - Mariska de Wit

Friday November 27 (Costerzaal – location AMC)

08.30 hrs
Registration

09.00 hrs
Keynote lecture Dr. Jack van der Gragt (Netherlands)Workers’ Health Surveillance in the construction stry; potential of a sector-based approach

Theme 4: experiences from practice

09.40 hrs
From screening to self-care: an integrated health surveillance model for industrial workers in Iran –
Seyed Abdolmajid Khaksar

09.55 hrs
Vocational rehabilitative decisions after symptoms and findings consistent with hand-arm vibration syndrome in the Swedish surveillance system – a mixed-method design Carl Antonson

10.10 hrs
The importance of thorough preparation for an effective and risk-based health surveillance – Remko Houba

10.25 hrs Coffee/tea

11.00 hrs
Reducing costs of construction workers’ exposure-based health examinations Heta Lindblom

11.15 hrs
The implementation of workers’ health surveillance by occupational physicians in the Netherlands: a cohort study – Ruby Vermoolen

11.30 hrs
Whole-body vibration guideline ISO 2631 – revised in 2026: Following numeric or qualitative risk assessment guidance? – Eckardt Johanning

11.45 hrs
Practical experiences with Preventive Occupational Health Assessments (PAGO) at the paraDIGMA groep -
Lea Berkemeier

12.00 hrs
Theme 4 discussion and closing of the International Conference

12.30 hrs
Lunch

13.30 hrs
Heijermans Lecture and Farewell Symposium (in Dutch)Prof. Henk van der Molen

Download program

Program WHSC November 26-27 2026 (002).pdf
184 Kb

Location:

Please note that the two-day conference will take place at a different venue on 26 and 27 November!!

Day 1 – November 26 at Amsterdam UMC – location VUmc, De Boelelaan 1117, ZH -1, Amsterdam
📍 Meeting room: De Waver zaal

Day 2 – November 27 at Amsterdam UMC – location AMC, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam Zuidoost
📍 Meeting room: De Coster zaal

Dates

26 and 27 November 2026 (27 November half day)

Cost

345 Euro for two days, 172,50 for one day (any day)

Cancellation policy

To cancel your registration, please send us a message at events@amsterdamumc.nl.
If you cancel before november 5, 2026 you will receive a refund of the amount paid minus a €35 administration fee.
If you cancel after november 5, 2026 no refund will be issued.

Target group

Occupational health professionals and physicians, and researchers within occupational health care.

Accreditation

Accreditation will be requested from the NVAB,


Prof Lode Godderis MD PhD

Advancing Health Surveillance for Better Mental Health Outcomes.


Description
Mental health problems are now among the leading causes of sickness absence, work disability, and reduced productivity worldwide. While workers’ health surveillance has traditionally focused on physical health risks, there is increasing interest in its role in preventing, identifying, and addressing mental health challenges in the workplace. This keynote explores the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of workers’ health surveillance, highlights practical challenges in its implementation, and discusses how surveillance can contribute to healthier, more resilient, and sustainable working lives.

Biography
Prof. Dr. Lode Godderis is Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at KU Leuven, where he leads research on the interaction between work, health, and sustainable employability. He is also CEO of IDEWE, Belgium’s largest External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, supporting thousands of organisations in creating healthier and safer workplaces.

His research focuses on understanding how occupational and environmental exposures influence health throughout the life course, and how health conditions affect work ability, labour market participation, and return-to-work outcomes. Particular areas of expertise include mental health at work, sustainable employability, return-to-work, the exposome, and chemical risk assessment.

At the European level, Prof. Godderis has played a leading role in several major research initiatives, including EPHOR (Exposome Project for Health and Occupational Research), HBM4EU (Human Biomonitoring for Europe), and METEOR (Mental Health: Focus on Retention of Healthcare Workers). He currently serves as Chair of MODERNET, an international network dedicated to identifying emerging occupational health risks and improving the surveillance of work-related diseases.

Through his academic, policy, and leadership roles, Prof. Godderis actively contributes to shaping the future of occupational health, with a strong focus on translating scientific evidence into practical strategies that improve workers’ health, wellbeing, and participation in work.

Prof Sara De Matteis MD, MPH, PhD

Occupational Respiratory Health Surveillance: Old and New Challenges in the 21st Century

Description
Occupational respiratory health continues to face both old and new challenges. Worker health surveillance remains a cornerstone of prevention but must continuously evolve to address both traditional and emerging workplace hazards while leveraging cutting-edge approaches to enable precision prevention. This keynote will provide an overview of the current international landscape and discuss future directions for occupational respiratory health surveillance.

Biography
Sara De Matteis, MD, MPH, PhD, is Full Professor of Occupational Medicine at the University of Turin, Italy, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK. She is an occupational physician and epidemiologist whose research focuses on the prevention and early detection of occupational and environmental respiratory diseases through epidemiology, worker health surveillance and, more recently, molecular epidemiology. She has led and collaborated on several large international epidemiological studies, including studies based on the UK Biobank cohort. She holds international leadership roles in occupational and respiratory health, serving as Chair of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Group 6.02 (Occupational and Environmental Health) and Secretary of the ICOH Scientific Committee on Epidemiology in Occupational Health (EPICOH). She is a Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini and the European Respiratory Society (FERS), and has received the ERS Mid-Career Gold Medal in Epidemiology and Environment.

Jack van der Gragt, MD, Occupational Physician, Fysiotherapist

Workers’ Health Surveillance in the construction industry; potential of a sector-based approach

Description
The Dutch construction industry has a long-lasting history of organizing Occupational Health collectively on sector level. An important activity in this is the conduct of periodic health examinations for all construction workers. Because the data are collected and stored centrally, group analysis of the results may give relevant clues for prevention. Two examples of this will be presented.

Biography
Jack van der Gragt is an occupational physician with a background in physiotherapy and human movement science, specializing in the construction and infrastructure sector. He is currently pursuing a PhD trajectory with Dr Paul Kuijer on "From Risk perception to control over the knee," focused on knee-loading disorders in physically demanding work. At Volandis, the Dutch knowledge and advisory center for Occupational Health in construction and infrastructure workers, he has developed several practical interventions to reduce occupational physical strain, while continuing to personally conduct numerous periodic health examinations for construction and infrastructure workers. He brings a perspective that bridges scientific evidence, policy-level intervention, and daily clinical practice in physically demanding trades in construction industry.

More information?

Please contact the Conference Office Workers' Health Surveillance Conference |