Recommended actions

The Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) will have a term of 45 business days from the date of the entry into force of the Decree to publish the catalog of the Cards for the Valuation of Occupational Illnesses in the DOF. Said Cards for the Valuation and Evaluation of Occupational Illnesses will be the technical instrument to correlate the ailment with the activities carried out in or in connection with the work.  

The incorporation of these new occupational diseases may have an impact on the accident rate of the companies and therefore the premium in the occupational risk insurance that is reported no later than February of each year, with the consequent increase in the cost of the occupational risk insurance.

Considering that the fundamental premise for a disease to be classified as an occupational risk is that it has its origin or reason in the work or the environment in which the worker performs his activities, that is, that there is a causal link between the disease and the professional environment, it is advisable that companies adopt preventive measures, control and monitoring of occupational risks. 

In this sense, it is advisable to establish in the work centers an infrastructure dedicated to people who attend to the medical, safety, nutritional and psychosocial aspects of employees, with a specific program and a detailed record of data that allow the generation of appropriate preventive actions to optimize the physical and mental health of employees. 

It is also advisable to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Hygiene Commissions, so that they are involved in the investigation and study of risk factors in the work centers and participate in the assessment of possible occupational diseases and, together with the medical and human resources areas of the companies, in the preparation of Notices ST-7 of Probable Occupational Risk and ST-9 of Medical Attention and Probable Occupational Disease.

Finally, it will be relevant to comply with the obligations established in the Official Mexican Standard NOM-035-STPS-2028, Psychosocial Risk Factors at Work [Include link to previous alerts on this Standard], Official Mexican Standard NOM-036-1-STPS-2018, Ergonomic Risk Factors at Work-Identification, Analysis, Prevention and Control [Include link to previous alerts on this Standard], Official Mexican Standard NOM-036-1-STPS-2018, Ergonomic Risk Factors at Work-Identification, Analysis, Prevention and Control. [Include link to previous alerts on this Standard], Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-037-STPS-2023, Telework-Condiciones de seguridad y salud en el trabajo [Include link to previous alerts on this Standard] and, any other that has an impact on the health of workers, in order to have the elements to demonstrate a work environment in accordance with the provisions on occupational health and hygiene. 

In general, it is important to have all the documentary support that can prove the existence or not of the causal link between the work environment and the worker's illness or disease.

In more detail

• With the inclusion of occupational diseases such as anxiety disorders, sleep-wakefulness, stress, depression, new diseases of the respiratory tract, dermatoses, eye diseases, intoxications, infections, diseases caused by contact with biological products, diseases caused by mechanical factors and variations in the natural elements of the working environment, diseases caused by ionizing and electromagnetic radiation and certain types of cancer, diseases that until now have been classified as "General Diseases" will be catalogued as "Occupational Diseases".
• Within forty-five days following the publication of the Decree establishing the new table of occupational diseases, the STPS will publish the catalog of the Cards for the Assessment of Occupational Diseases in the DOF, which constitute the instrument on the basis of which the existence or not of the causal link between the condition and the occupational activity or environment will be determined.
• The inclusion of new diseases in the table of occupational diseases may increase the accident rate of the companies in the occupational risk insurance and therefore the premium and cost of the occupational risk insurance.