The High Council for Prevention and Protection at Work issued a favourable opinion on 15 December 2023 to facilitate the establishment of a joint internal service. If the Minister of Employment approves this opinion, it will be converted into a royal decree that makes amendments to the codex.
 

Every organisation must establish an internal service for prevention and protection at work. Under specific conditions, this can be done in collaboration with other employers. This makes it possible, for example, to appoint better-trained prevention advisors who can spend more time on prevention tasks.

The current procedure to set up a joint internal prevention service is time-consuming and bureaucratic.

The proposal significantly lowers the administrative burden for employers and the government. For instance, employers would no longer have to request a ministerial decree to establish smaller joint services if they received approval from all involved committees for prevention and protection at work.

The latter also forms an important requirement for larger joint services – with more than 10 employers, more than 2,000 employees or a separate department for medical supervision. However, approval by decree is not yet guaranteed for them. In that case, an application for approval remains a permanent fixture in the administrative process.

Nevertheless, the proposal does relax the rules concerning changes in the composition of larger joint prevention services. Employers no longer need to request approval for this but must report the change as soon as possible to the Directorate General for the Humanisation of Work (HUA).