Comparison of Asbestos Victim Relief Available Outside of Conventional Occupational Compensation Schemes

Abstract

The asbestos victim relief schemes were introduced to resolve the issue of victims of asbestos-related diseases not receiving compensation through conventional legal orders. This article seeks to derive the differences and commonalities of various asbestos victim relief schemes available outside of the conventional occupational compensation system along with a systematic understanding and to propose plans for improvement through a comparative study. After the degree of asbestos exposure, the population, and the period of implementation were corrected, the recognized claims of the total of conventional occupational compensation schemes and the asbestos victim relief schemes could be ranked in the order of South Korea (KOR) (1867, total), France (FRA) (1571), Japan (JPN) (966), KOR (847, asbestosis grade 2,3 excluded), the United Kingdom (GBR) (670), and the Netherlands (NLD) (95). The average amount of compensation per person, in the case of mesothelioma, was higher in the order of FRA (4.60 times), KOR (1.46 times), GBR (1.03 times), and NLD (0.73 times) of the median income per year. The differences between countries were largely caused by the purpose of institutional design and influenced by the level of qualification, the existence of an expiration date, type of disease, type of benefit, level of judgment criteria, the existence of a procedure for appeals, and recognition rate (GBR: 102%, FRA: 84%, NLD: 81%, JPN: 76%, KOR: 73%, and BEL: 54%). Based on this analysis, suggestions could be made regarding the expansion of disease types, benefit types, and the overall review of judgment criteria.

Keywords: asbestos; asbestos related disease; claim; comparison; compensation; compensation amount; non-occupational exposure; occupational exposure; relief; system.

Figure 1

Recognition rate of mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestos, pleural thickening, total ARD cases during the entire period of operation of the system. * Recognition rate of all cases (new cases + deterioration of existing recognized disease). ** Recognition rate for the total of Compensation for Asbestos Victims (TAS) and non-work-related Compensation for Asbestos Victims (TNS) from 2007.12 to 2019. *** 2017–2019.