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European Network - The Netherlands

OSHA Network
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Systems

On this page you’ll find explained how the OSH-infrastructure in the Netherlands works, starting at the companies responsibility. Around this company there are several organisations active with their own responisibility towards OSH. The numbers in the figure correspond to the text underneath.

 

 

1. Focus on the workplace

The primary responsibility for Occupational Health & Safety policy within an organisation falls on the employer and the employees. It is up to them to make agreements about the working conditions within the organisation. Larger organisations and businesses make these agreements in consultation with the works council and the management. Employees within the organisation are given direct access to a health & safety expert and a company doctor or occupational hygienist. In medium-sized and small businesses in particular, this is often an official working for an external occupational health & safety service. Employers in businesses employing no more than 25 members of staff can opt to perform the duties of prevention officer themselves.

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2. Branch support

Management and staff do not have to devise all the health & safety measures on their own. Employees or works councils can rely on support from the trade unions, and management can call on their branch organisations for help. In turn, the branch organisations and trade unions consult with each other. They lay down the agreements they make in the 'Health & Safety Catalogue’: a collection of measures and solutions pertaining to occupational health & safety, from which businesses and employees from specific branches or sectors can choose the most appropriate measures. The health & safety catalogue will, for instance, contain examples of good practices: ways in which the rules can be satisfied within the branch.
The health & safety catalogue is not optional: once a business has chosen a particular set of rules, employees and employers will be held accountable for implementing them.

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3.  Central organisations articulate and consult
 

At central level, the employee organisations work together in 3 trade union federations: the Netherlands’ largest trade union federation FNV, the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions CNV and the MHP, trade union federation for professional and managerial staff. The employers work together at central level in the general employers’ association AWVN, the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (known as VNO-NCW) and the Royal Association MKB-Nederland. These umbrella organisations hold regular consultations and have regular contact with the Government, either individually, as a section or as a joint body. The experiences of the individual branch organisations and trade unions are pooled within these organisations. As well as representing their members’ interests, providing and swapping information and experiences is one of the core tasks of the federations.
http://www.vno-ncw.nl/
http://www.awvn.nl/
http://www.mkb.nl/
http://www.fnv.nl/
http://www.cnv.nl/
http://www.vakcentralemhp.nl/

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4. Consultations and advice

Central consultation between the social partners and the Government takes place in the SER (Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands) and the Stichting van de Arbeid (Labour Foundation). The Stichting van de Arbeid is the national platform for mutual consultation and for joint consultation with the Government. The SER, which comprises not only employers and employees, but also Government-designated independent experts (Crown-appointed members) and representatives of the Government, provides the Government with targeted advice.
http://www.ser.nl/
http://www.stvda.nl/

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5. Government provides frameworks

The Government allows businesses a certain amount of leeway to facilitate good working conditions. Regulations are based on the Netherlands Working Conditions Act (Arbowet), which defines the processes for safeguarding sound occupational health & safety care. In real terms, the Government lays down the target requirements and limit values for the public domain. These target requirements and limit values define the framework which employees and employers must use to formulate agreements and compile their own health & safety catalogue. This makes the Netherlands Working Conditions Act a direct implementation of the European framework directive on Occupational Health & Safety.
The Working Conditions Decree (Arbo-besluit) contains more specific target requirements and limit values. This decree also implements special European guidelines based on the framework directive. The target requirements and limit values in the Working Conditions Decree relate to the standards and values for risks that exist in more than one branch.  Target requirements are laid down for aspects like noise, working with a monitor, radiation and dangerous substances. The target requirements and limit values in the Working Conditions Decree provide employers and employees with a framework for making agreements about the way they intend to comply with the regulations. The total package of agreements forms the health & safety catalogue (arbocatalogus).
The Agenda stipulations (Agendabepalingen) deserve special attention in the Working Conditions Decree. Agenda stipulations describe matters for which target requirements have not yet been formulated, or for which limit values are impossible to define. ‘Psycho-social problems at work’ are a good example. These can take the form of bullying or gossip and backbiting in the workplace. Employers and employees are responsible for ensuring that psycho-social problems do not get out of hand. It is impossible to define a concrete limit value, but the health & safety catalogue can suggest ways for a company to combat bullying and 'mobbing'.
The working conditions regulations (Arbo-regeling) contain detailed stipulations, which are largely derived from the appendices to various European guidelines.

 

5A: Government inspects

The Health & Safety Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing the Working Conditions Act. Their working methods changed on 1 January 2007 in response to the introduction of the health & safety catalogue, in which employer and employees lay down their agreements on working conditions. The Health & Safety Inspectorate will not examine the details of these catalogues, but will come down more heavily on any violations of agreements that are in place.
Of course certain matters may accidentally be overlooked in the health & safety catalogue. For the time being, the policy rules from the old Working Conditions Act will apply to any matters that have not yet been properly resolved. These rules are based on so-called NEN-, ISO and CEN standards, which specify highly detailed values. The Inspectorate monitors the implementation of these rules. However, all these matters must eventually be laid down in a health & safety catalogue, as the policy rules are due to expire three years after the introduction of the new Working Conditions Act. After this, the health & safety catalogue will be the only valid point of reference. As things currently stand, matters that have not yet been resolved will be assessed on the basis of legislation, standards and jurisprudence. http://www.arbeidsinspectie.nl/

 

5B: Government facilitates

The Government will also be responsible for organising projects, such as the ‘Improving Safety at Work’ programme and the ‘Enhancing Works Policy on Substances’ programme. These projects provide instruments for informing people (such as this health & safety portal), and stimulate research into developing a targeted approach to the issue. http://www.arboportaal.nl

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6. Focal Point informs

The Focal Point, which will remain part of the Netherlands Occupational Health & Safety platform until 1 March 2007, is the place where all knowledge, information and experience in the area of occupational health & safety converge. Representatives of employers’ and employees’ organisations and the Government work together in the Focal Point to disseminate the information on health & safety that employers and employees need to fulfil their primary responsibilities in this area. In as far as possible, the Focal Point works in response to demand. Internet is the foremost medium for disseminating this information.

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7. More extensive services

Although an employer is free to ask a specialist health & safety service to take care of his health & safety policy, this has no longer been compulsory since July 2005. Health & safety services were liberalised as from this date and employers can now choose from a wide range of service providers specialising in health & safety matters. Furthermore, employers can now take steps to bring the health & safety care closer to home, and may even choose to do away with external services altogether. However, an employer must always first reach an agreement about this with the representatives of his employees.
An important player in this new field is BOA/BOREA. This branch organisation, which houses both health & safety service providers and reintegration organisations, provides information, support and advice. Furthermore, BOA/BOREA is the driving force behind the Blik op werk warranty, which incorporates various separate quality marks for health & safety services and reintegration organisations.

www.boaborea.nl
www.blikopwerk.nl

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8. Knowledge in abundance

There are knowledge institutes available for all parties:

  • Universities
    All Dutch universities carry out research in the area of occupational health & safety. Sometimes on their own initiative, but often in collaboration with, or commissioned by, the Government or the private sector.
  • TNO
    Knowledge institute for businesses, Government bodies and social organisations. It provides contract research and specialist advice, grants licences under patent and develops specialist software. It also tests and certifies products and services, and gives independent quality assessments. http://www.tno.nl
  • Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases
    National knowledge centre for professionals in the health & safety sector, employers’ and employees’ organisations, Government bodies and policy-makers. The Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases is part of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. The Centre’s mission is to promote the quality of prevention, (early) diagnosis, treatment and guidance of occupational diseases and work-related disorders. The Centre does this by recording occupational diseases, managing a website, providing training courses and lectures and applying clinical occupational medicine.
    http://www.beroepsziekten.nl
  • STECR Reintegration Platform
    Independent knowledge centre in the area of prevention, guidance during absenteeism and reintegration. The STECR makes inventories and correlates and presents specialist information on prevention, guidance during absenteeism and reintegration in order to stimulate quality amongst reintegration service providers. The centre functions as a platform, arranges meetings between professionals (mainly from the health & safety sector) and provides up-to-date information about reintegration via its website. http://www.stecr.nl/

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9. Disciplines work together

There are dozens of associations for professionals working in the occupational health & safety policy area. As well as being essential for exchanging information between fellow-professionals, they also play a major role in the communication with Government and employers’ and employees’ organisations.

 

9: Publishers provide information

Commercial publishers are playing an increasingly prominent role in distributing knowledge about health & safety issues. This is a direct consequence of the shift that is taking place within the Working Conditions Act from central, Government-steered legislation, to a system of agreements for good practices at the company-level.
http://www.kluwer.nl
http://www.sdu.nl

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10. Institutes set the standards

Stichting Beheer Certificatie Arbodiensten
In the SBCA (Foundation for monitoring certification in health & safety services), Government, trade unions and employers’ organisations work together to set the standards that health & safety services must satisfy in order to be admitted to the profession.
email: sbca@hetbranchebureau.nl
 

Raad voor Accreditatie
In many countries, accreditation is a Government task. But in the Netherlands, the accreditation institute is an organisation governed by private law, whereby the Government acts as client, regulator and discussion partner. If the Government considers it necessary to implement accreditation in particular sectors, the Government is the client. But the Government is not only the client: it is also a discussion partner for the accreditation institute. The RvA (Accreditation Council) holds regular discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. The agreement between the State and the RvA allows room for formulating tailor-made agreements for specific areas of special attention with various ministries.
www.rva.nl


NEN
The NEN (Netherlands Standardization Institute) is a national knowledge centre providing services in the area of standards and limit values. Employers and employees are mutually responsible for setting their own standards, so the NEN supplies them with the knowledge and experience they need for their consultations. The Institute also tries to function as a comprehensive repository where people can look up these standards as and when they need them. www.nen.nl


ISO
The International Organisation for Standardisation or ISO is a world-wide network of national standardisation institutes from 157 countries. Not all of the affiliated institutes are government organisations, and so neither is the ISO. Institutes can be non-profit organisations like the NEN, totally private agencies or government bodies. The ISO lays down international norms and standards so that businesses, governments and citizens throughout the world can be sure of clear-cut definitions for their methods and techniques. Together with the IEC (the International Electro-technical Commission) and the ITU (the International Telecommunications Union), the ISO is working towards more flexible world trade by entering into a partnership with the World Trade Organisation. www.iso.org


CEN
Standardisation is achieved at European level via the CEN, the European Standardisation Committee. This committee was founded in 1961 by the standardisation agencies in the Member States of the European Union, in order to devise cross-border standards and values for within the EU. www.cen.eu


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