25 years ago, on the 4th of August 1996, the Well-being at Work Act entered into force as a successor to the Security Act of 1952. The Codex on Well-being at Work, including all of the implementing decisions from the Act of 4 August 1996, was published in 2017. This codex compiles into one work …
Fun fact: The Well-being at Work Act is 25 years old! Read More »
Due to a shortage of Prevention Advisors-Occupational Physicians at the External Services for Prevention and Protection at Work (ESPPW) [Externe Diensten voor Preventie en Bescherming op het Werk (EDPBW)], a reform of the health surveillance of employees was required. This reform entered into force on 21 June 2019. We have noticed however that there is …
The reform of health surveillance: What was changed? Read More »
Every employer must establish a prevention policy according to a certain strategy. This policy is based on the risk analysis or risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E). Most companies have prepared a risk analysis based on their activities, but there is often a lack of periodic review or evaluation. In the event of changes, the risk …
Do not forget to adjust your RI&E in function of the COVID-19 measures Read More »
Is it possible to organize First Aid training during corona times? This is a question being asked in many companies. The FPS ELSD (Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue) has proposed a number of adjustments and guidelines related to this. 1. Theory As long as the mandatory teleworking measure remains in force, the theoretical …
How to organize First Aid training during COVID-19? Read More »
There are many issues that need to be taken into account in terms of safety and well-being at work. In order to keep an overview of some of the relevant deadlines, we have made a chronological overview of the most important tasks. JANUARY 2021 Topic Description Deadline Annual report ISPPW (Internal Service for Prevention …
By now your company has gone through the first phase of the reopening process, and most of the employees are back at work. To manage this properly, additional prevention measures are necessary. All rules must be correctly formulated and observed, but how do you best manage this? One of the possibilities is the application of …
Does your company already have internal COVID-19 signage? Read More »
In order to create a clear framework for agreements related to working from home in function of the current corona measures, the National Labour Council created the temporary collective labour agreement (CAO) 149, which is valid until 31 December 2021. The aim of this CAO is to define a set of minimum agreements, but also …
VCA stands for ‘VGM (= Veiligheid, Gezondheid en Milieu) Checklist Aannemers’ [Safety, Health, and Environment Checklist Contractors]. The checklist consists of 11 chapters with various questions, each relating to a specific topic. The purpose of a VCA certificate is to safeguard the continuous improvement of workplace safety by ensuring that the various concerned parties …
How can I easily obtain a VCA certificate for my company? Read More »
Every company that has one or more employees must be affiliated with an External Service for Prevention and Protection (ESPP), where you will have an external Prevention Advisor assigned to you. The ESPP often also handles medical examinations, for example. However, every company must also have an Internal Service for Prevention and Protection (ISPP). This …
Quite quickly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fedris (the Federal Agency for Occupational Risks) indicated that COVID-19 infection is recognized as an occupational illness for a group of specific professions (mainly in healthcare). At that time, Fedris took the position that an infection could not be considered an occupational accident. This is …
Can COVID-19 infection be considered an occupational accident? Read More »
Starting from 01/10/2020, Oversight of Well-being at Work (TWW) will set up an active on-call service. This makes it possible to immediately report very serious occupational accidents that occur outside office hours by telephone on working days, Saturdays or Sundays and public holidays as well as during the period of collective closure between Christmas and …
Creation of the TWW (Toezicht Welzijn op het Werk) on-call service Read More »
In the case of work equipment subject to an inspection by an External Service for Technical Control in the Workplace [Externe Dienst voor Technische Controles op de werkplaats (EDTC)], it is often difficult to check whether and when the last inspection was carried out. Inspection frequency may also vary depending on the type of equipment. …
