Hopefully, as an employer, you will never have to deal with an employee’s serious occupational accident (SOA). Still, you’d better know what to do if one occurs. Then the so-called detailed report must be prepared. But what if your place of business is in Flanders and the SOA takes place in Wallonia? Should the detailed report then be in Dutch or French?

The short answer is: it depends on the location of the place of business.

In the event of a serious occupational accident involving an employee, the Occupational Safety and Health Service prepares a detailed report. This comes after a thorough accident investigation. 

The detailed report includes: 

• the identification of the victims and their employers; 
• a detailed description of the place and circumstances of the accident; 
• the identified causes of the accident; 
• the recommendations from the Occupational Safety and Health Service to avoid a repetition of the accident. 

The employer also supplements the detailed report with its decisions and action plan to avoid similar accidents in the future. Thereafter, the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work completes the detailed report with an opinion on the causes of the accident and the proposed preventive measures. The detailed report must be delivered to the Occupational Welfare Inspectorate officers within 10 days.

The detailed report belongs to the category of ‘social relations between employers and employees’. The language for such documents is determined by several regional decrees and a federal law: 

• Flanders: Decree of 19 July 1973 regulating the use of languages for social relations between employers and employees. 
• Wallonia: Decree of 30 June 1982 on the protection of the freedom of use of the French language in social relations between employers and their personnel, as well as deeds and documents of enterprises imposed by law and regulations. 
• Brussels: Laws of 18 July 1866 on the use of languages in administrative matters. 

Specifically, the language of the detailed report must be chosen according to the location of the place of business where the accident occurred. A place of business is any establishment or activity centre with a certain stability. It is the place where staff usually address their employer and where they receive orders, notices, and instructions.

• Is your place of business in Flanders? Then the detailed report must be written in Dutch. 
• Is your place of business in Wallonia? Then the detailed report must be written in French. 
• Is your place of business in Brussels? Then the detailed report must be drawn up in one of the two prevalent languages (Dutch or French) or in both languages. 

No: by definition, a site is not a place of business. But legally, a site is sometimes considered a place of business. This is the case if the site has some social and economic autonomy or if the site is a place where employer authority is exercised. 
For example, a site where electricity works are carried out and where an administrative assistant is employed is considered by the labour court in Brussels to be a place of business. 

This, in turn, affects the language of the detailed report. Is the site regarded as a place of business? Then the detailed report is drawn up in the language commonly used at the site. 

Mensura can conduct a thorough and methodical research into the circumstances and causes of an occupational accident. Then, together with you, we draw up effective and feasible prevention measures. In this way, you as the employer can prevent an occupational accident from repeating itself and gain insight into the causes and consequences. Naturally, this also promotes cooperation between employees and you help strengthen the well-being of your workforce.

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