New Decree simplifies the procedure for creating a common internal service for prevention and protection at work

At a glance

• All employers in Belgium are required to have an internal service for workplace prevention and protection. The size and requirements of this service depend on the company’s activities and number of workers.
• Companies from the same group can establish a unified internal safety and prevention department. In certain cases, it is beneficial for companies to have a shared internal service, especially when facing similar health and safety challenges.
• The process for establishing ‘small’ shared internal services has been simplified by a Royal Decree of 26 March 2024, effective from 1 July 2024. These services are characterised by having at most ten affiliated employers, a maximum of 2,000 workers, and no department for medical monitoring.
• For these ‘small’ shared services, it is sufficient to demonstrate to the social inspection that all legal requirements for their establishment have been met. There is no longer a need for an official Decree from the Minister for Work.
• Existing shared internal services have a transitional provision and should follow the procedure for establishment under the new legislation by 30 June 2024.

Every employer in Belgium must have an internal service for prevention and protection at work.

A new decree has substantially simplified the procedure for companies who establish ‘small’ common internal services.

The size and the minimum requirements of the internal service depend on the nature of the company’s activities and the number of workers. There are four categories. Category D applies to employers with less than 20 workers where the employer can take up the role of internal service for prevention at work. Category A applies to employers with at least 1,000 workers, but this threshold can be reduced to 50 workers in more dangerous industries (ie the petrol industry).

The internal department for workplace safety and prevention is established at the technical operations level, which is also where the workers’ council and the workplace safety committee are formed. Companies from the same group, located at the same premises, can typically establish a unified internal safety and prevention department, as they form a single technical operations unit. In such instances, the safety advisor can assume their responsibilities across all the companies in the group, regardless of which company employs the safety advisor.

However, there are instances where it would be beneficial for companies, not part of the same technical operations unit, to have a common internal service. For example, shops within a shopping centre are usually small businesses, all encountering identical or similar health and safety challenges. While it is difficult for each of them to have an established specialised prevention advisor, it is far easier at the level of the group of employers. It can also be far more efficient if one prevention advisor performs a task for all employers involved, rather than each employer involved appointing a separate prevention advisor to perform the same task.

The Code of Wellbeing at Work included a chapter on common internal services for prevention and protection at work, but there were only a few common services. Setting up a common internal service required a formal Decree by the Minister for Work, and the procedure took around six months on average. The same procedure had to be followed if there was any change in the employers affiliation to a common internal service.

A Royal Decree of 26 March 2024, published in the Official Journal on 2 May 2024, entering into force on 1 July 2024, significantly streamlined the process for ‘small’ shared internal services. These are characterised as shared internal services that satisfy all three of the following conditions:

• At most ten employers are affiliated.
• These employers have at most 2,000 workers.
• The common internal service does not have a department for medical monitoring.

The main difference is that for these ‘small’ shared internal services is that it’s sufficient to demonstrate to the social inspection that all legal requirements have been fulfilled for their establishment. There’s no longer a need for an official Decree from the Minister for Work, instead the statutory requirements are:

• The common internal service fulfils this role for all workers of the participating employers.
• A ‘legal, economic, geographic or technical link’ exists among the participating employers.
• A shared internal service provides added value to the employees, compared to each employer operating a separate service. This is primarily due to the presence of more prevention advisors, their higher qualifications, or the availability of more specialisations within the shared service.
• A written agreement exists between the employer and the shared service regarding its operation
  From 1 July 2024, if there’s a change in the employers participating in a small shared internal service, it’s sufficient to inform the social inspection. 

For the ‘large’ shared internal services, the only significant change in the legislation is that if there’s a change in the employers participating in the shared service, there’s no longer a requirement to obtain a new Decree from the Minister of Work. 

There’s a transitional provision for the existing shared internal services. They should follow the procedure for establishment under the new legislation by 30 June 2024.