What is a health and safety catalogue?

Labour Foundation
What is a health and
safety catalogue?
Labour Foundation
Bezuidenhoutseweg 60
P.O. Box 90405
NL-2509 LK The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 499 577
F +31 (0)70 - 3 499 796
E info@stvda.nl
www.stvda.nl
What is a health and safety
catalogue?
Published by:
Stichting van de Arbeid (Labour Foundation)
June 2007
About this publication
Founded in 1945, the Labour Foundation [Stichting van de Arbeid] is a private national consultative body incorporating Dutch employers’ federations
and trade union confederations. Today its members are the Confederation of
Netherlands Industry and Employers [Vereniging VNO-NCW, VNO-NCW], the
Royal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Netherlands
[Koninklijke Vereniging MKB-Nederland, MKB], the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture [Federatie Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie Nederland, LTO],
the Federation of Trade Unions [Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV], the
National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands [Christelijk
Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV], and the Trade Union Federation for Intermediate
and Higher Employees [Vakcentrale voor Middengroepen en Hoger Personeel,
MHP].
Published by:
Stichting van de Arbeid (Labour Foundation)
Bezuidenhoutseweg 60
P.O. Box 90405
NL-2509 LK THE HAGUE
T +31 (0)70 3 499 577
F +31 (0)70 3 499 796
E info@stvda.nl
http://www.stvda.nl
Design and printing: Huisdrukkerij SER
© 2007, Stichting van de Arbeid
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from the
Labour Foundation.
Contents
Foreword 5
Introduction
7
Section 1. What is a Health and Safety Catalogue? 1.1 A closer look at the Health and Safety Catalogue
1.2 The content of the Health and Safety Catalogue
1.3 Sources for the Health and Safety Catalogue content
1.4 The “parties” of the Health and Safety Catalogue
1.5 The temporary nature of a Health and Safety Catalogue
1.6 The status of the Health and Safety Catalogue
1.7 Health and Safety Catalogue versus RI&E
1.8 Health and Safety Catalogue and collective agreements
9
9
11
15
16
19
19
20
22
Brief summary of Labour Foundation’s recommendations for
drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue
23
Section 2. What steps must be taken to develop a Health and
Safety Catalogue?
Step 1: The decision in principle
Step 2: Discussing the Health and Safety Catalogue
Step 3: Assessment by the Labour Inspectorate
Step 4: Communication with the sector
25
25
26
27
29
Annexes: 1
2
3
4
31
33
34
35
New terms in the working conditions act
CBA address list
CBA correspondence address
List of relevant websites
3
Risk: welding fumes
(photo: Peter Hilz/Hollandse Hoogte)
Foreword
The Health and Safety Catalogue [arbocatalogus] is a new phenomenon in the
Netherlands. Dutch legislators have decided to give employers and employees
at sector level a significant degree of responsibility for health and safety policy. Centralised policy rules and regulations will give way to sector-specific
customisation. The standards stipulated in the Dutch Working Conditions Act
[Arbeidsomstandighedenwet] will continue to serve as a guideline, but employers’ associations and trade unions – the social partners – may agree on the way
in which these standards are to be met in their sector. The employers’ federations and trade union confederations represented in the Labour Foundation have
decided to create a Health and Safety Catalogue Guidance Committee [Commissie Begeleiding Arbocatalogi, CBA]. Their purpose in doing so is not to interfere
with the sectors and their responsibility, but to facilitate the process of developing the catalogues as much as possible and desirable. This document, which
describes the new phenomenon, is an important part of the new committee’s
initial work. We hope that it will help employers and employees at sector level
get started on the job ahead of them.
Robin Linschoten
Chairman, Health and Safety Catalogue Guidance Committee
5
Risk: noise, vibrations
(photo: Bert Verhoeff / Hollandse Hoogte)
Introduction
This booklet is about the Dutch Health and Safety Catalogue [Arbocatalogus],
which represents a brand-new approach to occupational health and safety in
the Netherlands. The Labour Foundation is publishing this booklet for two reasons. First of all, it wishes to clarify precisely what is meant by a “Health and
Safety Catalogue”. Secondly, it wishes to give employer and employee representatives at sector and company level a set of guidelines for drawing up their
health and safety catalogue.
“In the private domain, employers and employees will determine procedures for
meeting the target requirements. They can do so at sector level or nationally,
based on agreement between the social partners. These procedures will be documented in a Health and Safety Catalogue, which will describe means and methods
that have been approved by employers and employees and from which a choice
can be made to meet target requirements.”
This passage is taken from the Summary of the Social and Economic Council’s
Advisory Report Evaluatie Arbowet 1998 (Evaluation of the 1998 Working Conditions Act), published in June 2005. That report provided the basis for the amendments to the Working Conditions Act introduced on 1 January 2007. The Health
and Safety Catalogue is one of the key changes in those amendments.
The passage quoted above already provides a considerable amount of information about the “Health and Safety Catalogue”. It refers to the “private domain”
and to “target requirements”. It mentions “agreement between the social partners” at sector or national level. It also refers to “approved means and methods
to meet target requirements”, to mention just a few examples.
7
Introduction
The amendments give the social partners a large measure of responsibility,
namely the responsibility to determine the form and content of the Health and
Safety Catalogue. That is why the Labour Foundation has set up a special committee to assist the social partners in this task: the Health and Safety Catalogue
Guidance Committee [Commissie Begeleiding Arbocatalogi, CBA].1
It is also why the Foundation has set up a special project on this subject. The
project is divided into parts. 1) the employers’ federations and trade union confederations have each set up their own subsidiary projects to inform and assist
their members; 2) the federations and confederations have joined forces at national level in a number of activities, for example this publication; 3) the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has developed a scheme (in consultation
with the Labour Foundation) that offers sectors financial support in drawing up
a Health and Safety Catalogue.
The Labour Foundation website (www.stvda.nl) reports regularly on the project
and on the overall progress made in introducing the Health and Safety Catalogues.
Guide to this booklet
This publication explains what a Health and Safety Catalogue is. It is organised
as follows:
•
Section 1 looks at the concept of the Health and Safety Catalogue in more
detail. It describes the specific features of the concept, and reviews relevant
sources of information. It also considers the relationship between the Health and Safety Catalogue, the RI&E (risk inventory and evaluation), the action plan (plan van aanpak, PvA) and the collective agreement.
•
Section 2 describes the process of drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue. What steps must be taken? Which parties play a role? How does the
Labour Inspectorate assess a Health and Safety Catalogue?
1 The CBA was set up by the Labour Foundation to encourage the development of health and safety catalogues.
For a complete list of the CBA’s members, see Annex 2.
Section 1:
What is a health and
safety catalogue?
This section explains what may be referred to as the core of the Health and
Safety Catalogue. We begin in Section 1.1. by describing the background of
the concept. We then look at the contents of the Health and Safety Catalogue
(Sec. 1.2) and the sources that can be consulted (1.3). Section 1.4 discusses the
“parties” that draw up a Health and Safety Catalogue. Section 1.5 explains its
status or nature. In Section 1.6, we discuss the period of validity of the Health
and Safety Catalogue. Section 1.7 focuses on the specific features that distinguish the Health and Safety Catalogue from the RI&E. The final section (1.8)
looks at the catalogue’s relationship with the collective agreement.
1.1 A closer look at the Health and Safety Catalogue
In order to understand the concept of the Health and Safety Catalogue better,
we begin by describing the context in which it arose.
To put it briefly, it was government’s wish to intervene less in trade and industry that led to the amendments to the Working Conditions Act. On top of this,
the social partners had themselves observed that the “regulatory burden” imposed on them was quite heavy, and that the various government inspectorates sometimes came to contradictory conclusions. The solution to this problem was to shift more responsibility for health and safety policy making to the
social partners, and to give them more freedom to determine for themselves
which solution or general approach would be possible and desirable. The key is
customisation. The “Health and Safety Catalogue” must meet two separate requirements: it must provide for more customisation and for more individual responsibility.
9
Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
It is important to note, however, that the core of the Working Conditions Act –
which imposes an obligation at company level to develop policy (based on the
latest scientific research and professional services) by means of a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) and action plan – remains unchanged. That also holds
for the key role of individual employers to develop such a policy at company
level, to monitor its proper implementation, and to do so in close consultation
with employee representatives at company level (the works council at company
or corporate group level, the employee representatives, or the employees concerned).
The amendments introduced on 1 January 2007 make a distinction between the
public domain and the private domain. In the public domain, government determines the target requirements and the statutory levels of protection. In the private domain, the social partners determine the measures or means that can be
used to achieve such targets.
In its Explanatory Memorandum, the Government writes: “It is the social partners’ responsibility to develop health and safety catalogues at national and in
particular at sector level”.
The Social and Economic Council’s advisory report states: “employers and employees determine...”. And further: “…based on agreement between the social
partners”. This means that the employers’ associations and trade unions play a
crucial role in developing the Health and Safety Catalogue.
The Working Conditions Act does not provide any stipulations concerning the
form and content of the Health and Safety Catalogue. In other words, the social
partners are entirely free and bear full responsibility in this respect. One proviso, however, is that the organisations involved must agree on the content.
If they do not, the Health and Safety Catalogue will not pass the assessment
and will play no role in the Labour Inspectorate’s enforcement. Another proviso is that the Health and Safety Catalogue must not contain anything contrary
to the law. Indeed, a Health and Safety Catalogue is only valid after it has been
assessed by the Labour Inspectorate.
The foregoing leads us to conclude that, according to the law, a Health and Safety Catalogue must have three specific features:
1. The Health and Safety Catalogue is a joint product of the parties involved.
These are primarily the “social partners” or the employers’ associations and
trade unions. These partners must have agreed on the content of the Health
and Safety Catalogue.
2. A Health and Safety Catalogue is primarily a sector-specific affair. That does
not mean that parties cannot agree on a Health and Safety Catalogue at
other levels, for example one that applies in multiple sectors or for a group
of companies.
3. The content of the Health and Safety Catalogue should focus on measures
that are effective in tackling risks identified in the catalogue.
In summary: the Health and Safety Catalogue is a document in which employers’ associations and trade unions determine, at sector level, which measures
must and can be taken in order to meet the target requirements set out in the
Working Conditions Act. This document has received a positive assessment
from the Labour Inspectorate.
1.2. The content of the Health and Safety Catalogue
As indicated above, the amendments to the Working Conditions Act introduced
on 1 January 2007 make a distinction between the public domain (government
regulation) and the private domain (self-regulation by the social partners). The
public domain is subject to specific target requirements, or health-related occupational exposure limits. The occupational exposure limits always indicate the
minimum level of protection; for example, the law stipulates that hearing protection is compulsory when noise levels exceed 80 dBA.
There are also occupational risks that the law addresses by setting out general
target requirements. The social partners may agree on targets or occupational exposure limits in such cases, but they cannot be derived directly from the
Working Conditions Act. The targets or exposure limits for these risks may also
be included in the Health and Safety Catalogue.
Finally, there are occupational risks for which process standards must be agreed.
A process standard states that further arrangements are required for a particular risk. Any health and safety policy measures relating to that risk are also set
out in the process standards. The Working Conditions Act prescribes process
standards for psycho-social strain (PSS). A process standard may, for example,
require the employer to report annually to the works council on any problems
that have arisen with respect to a particular risk and what it has done to resolve
those problems. It may also require the health and safety service [arbodienst] to
report regularly on such risks. The process standard leads to agenda provisions,
which identify the elements that must be included in the health and safety policy related to the risk.
11
Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
Risk: RSI
(photo: Vincent van den Hoogen / Hollandse Hoogte)
Table 1 lists the various “types” of target requirements.
Table 1. “Types” of target requirements
a. Specific target requirements: health-related occupational exposure limit
set out in the law
 measures must offer at least a minimum level of protection
b. General target requirements: no health-related occupational exposure
limit
 measures must result in target being met
c. Process provision: no health-related occupational exposure limit
 agenda provision: further details
In addition to the public domain, there is also a private domain. The private domain sets out means requirements. Means requirements are measures or methods to minimise or reduce certain risks or the exposure to those risks, for example hearing protection to prevent hearing loss, or lifting equipment to reduce
physical strain. According to the text of the Social and Economic Council’s advisory report, these must be approved means and methods. In this case, approved
means that investigation and experience have demonstrated the effectiveness
of the relevant means or method in reducing the level of risk. Authorities (researchers, experts) agree on this. Approved also often means that research has
been carried out on the effects of the means or measure. The core or backbone
of the Health and Safety Catalogue therefore also consists of those measures
or methods, in other words of the “ways in which the target requirements can
be met”. The measures and means selected in the Health and Safety Catalogue
must be based on “the latest scientific research and professional services” as
described in Article 3 of the Working Conditions Act.
In deciding on the form and content of the Health and Safety Catalogue, the
parties must also decide whether to include all current risks in the sector, and
if so to what extent, or whether it would be sufficient to deal with only a single risk.
The Working Conditions Act gives employers’ associations and trade unions the
leeway to decide for themselves in this regard. The Labour Foundation, however, recommends compiling a Health and Safety Catalogue that covers all risks
arising across the board in the sector. In addition, the parties should consider circumstances that, although limited to only part of the sector, are very serious
in nature. Some examples are the danger of falling, exposure to hazardous substances, and the risk of explosion. Such risks are referred to as the priority risks
of an industry or sector.
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Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
In discussing the measures that should or can be introduced, the parties should
follow the “occupational health strategy”. According to that strategy, the parties should first indicate what measures can be taken to tackle the risk at source.
If that is not possible, then collective measures should be introduced that tend
to involve separating the workplace from the source of risk. If that too is not
possible, then personal protective equipment can be used.
In addition, the parties must also take the other provisions set out in Article 3
into account. This means that:
• the work must be organised such that it does not have a negative impact on
the health and safety of employees;
• the workplace must be set up to accommodate the employee’s personal
characteristics;
• monotonous and fast-paced work must be avoided or limited;
• effective measures must be taken for first aid, fire safety and evacuation,
and
• employees must be able to take suitable steps to avoid the consequences of
serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.
In addition, the provision “unless this cannot be reasonably required” remains
in force. This clause in the Working Conditions Act means that an employer can
petition to be excused from certain statutory obligations because it is unable
to meet them for technical, organisational and/or economic reasons.
In determining the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue, the level of
ambition may also be an issue. The Health and Safety Catalogue will mainly describe measures that have been tested exhaustively and shown to offer a certain level of protection. That level is the statutory minimum, insofar exposure
limits have been set for the relevant risks. The sector could, however, also agree
to go a step further, for example because it expects new protection methods
to be introduced that are still in the testing phase while the Health and Safety
Catalogue is being written. The sector may also decide that raising the bar will
help the image of the sector (or occupation), making it more attractive to potential employees. Finally, the parties involved may simply believe that working
conditions in the sector can and must be improved.
1.3 Sources for the Health and Safety Catalogue content
It is naturally unnecessary to start from scratch when deciding on the content
of a sector’s Health and Safety Catalogue. Many sectors already have various
documents available that help shape health and safety policy at sector level.
These sources are described in brief below.
Collective agreements: Arrangements or obligations related to sector-specific
health and safety policy have been included in various collective agreements
concluded in recent decades. A few sectors have “health and safety collective
agreements”; these are special collective arrangements that combine a number
of health and safety policy agreements.
Health and safety covenants: Health and safety covenants have been agreed in
more than sixty sectors in recent years. Health and safety covenants are agreements between the social partners and government on measures and working
methods that will lead to long-term improvements in working conditions. Many
new studies were completed and measures tested and implemented (whether
or not they had been improved) during the covenant period, and descriptions of
the latest scientific research and professional services were updated.
Netherlands Working Conditions Survey: Every year, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has a large-scale survey conducted into the Dutch labour
force exploring to what extent and in which sectors “stress factors” play a role
in employees’ work. The reports reveal the risks involved and trends in those
risks.
Sector RI&E: In order to make things easier for SMEs in particular, various sectors have developed “sector RI&Es”. The RI&E provides the basis for surveying
risks that arise at sector level. Many of the instruments used are digital in nature. Completed RI&Es may offer useful information for a Health and Safety
Catalogue.
Policy rules: Various sectors and/or occupations have introduced “policy rules”.2
Eventually, many of these will expire, specifically at the point that the sector
concerned has properly covered the risk targeted by the policy rule in its Health
and Safety Catalogue (in other words, when the Labour Inspectorate has approved the Health and Safety Catalogue). Ultimately, all policy rules will expire
2
Policy rules are rules established by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment that explain the provisions
of health and safety legislation. The Labour Inspectorate uses these policy rules in its regulatory role. The basic
idea is that if a company acts in accordance with the policy rule, then the Inspectorate can assume that it is
complying satisfactorily with the relevant statutory rule. Policy rules cannot be made compulsory. Companies
may comply with statutory provisions in other ways, provided that their methods are equally effective or better.
15
Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
on 1 January 2010 (the end date of the transitional period for the amendments
introduced on 1 January 2007). The policy rules often consist of measures and/
or standards that seek to eliminate a certain risk, or to offer a level of protection (or a combination of the two). The parties drawing up a Health and Safety
Catalogue must consider whether the existing policy rule should be incorporated into the Health and Safety Catalogue, and, if so, how this should be done.
Labour Inspectorate publications: The Labour Inspectorate publishes the results
of its inspection programmes in the public domain. It drafts reports of each inspection project, and often makes these available to the sector. In addition, the
Labour Inspectorate also recently began publishing “sector leaflets” in which it
describes its working methods, the risks it investigates during inspections in
the sector, and the standards that it applies.
In addition to the sources listed above, parties can also make use of other sources, such as existing guidelines drawn up by many of the sectors, current NEN
standards, and Labour Inspectorate fact sheets.
1.4. The “parties” of the Health and Safety Catalogue
In the introduction to this section, we indicated that a Health and Safety Catalogue must be signed by at least two parties: at least one employers’ association and at least one trade union. In most cases, more than two organisations will
sign the Health and Safety Catalogue, however. That is also the case for most
collective agreements, and it was the case for working conditions covenants. In
generating broad support for the Health and Safety Catalogue, it is important
to involve all the relevant parties in drafting it.
However, because the Labour Inspectorate also assesses the Health and Safety
Catalogue (described in detail later in this booklet), it is also important to demonstrate that the parties signing it actually do represent the employers and
employees that it covers (see also Section 2.3).
Representative employers’ associations and trade unions are the obvious parties to draft a catalogue. In order to do so, these parties must agree or reach
agreement:
• on the proposal that a Health and Safety Catalogue is needed in their sector
or industry (decision on principle),
• on the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue, and
• on the way in which and when the Health and Safety Catalogue will be drafted (the procedure).
The foregoing also means that documents distributed under the title “Health and
Safety Catalogue” but not drawn up with the involvement of the social partners
cannot be regarded as a Health and Safety Catalogue within the meaning of the
Working Conditions Act. A Health and Safety Catalogue of this kind has no official
status for a sector or company.
A Health and Safety Catalogue only gains official status after it has been assessed by the Labour Inspectorate. The catalogue is then added to the “collective policy rule”, i.e. the policy rule that will eventually list all Health and Safety
Catalogues that have passed the Labour Inspectorate’s assessment.
The Social and Economic Council’s advisory report and the Explanatory Memorandum to the amendments of the Working Conditions Act are primarily concerned with the sector or industry level in their discussions of the form and
content of the Health and Safety Catalogue. The decision to draft a Health and
Safety Catalogue is left entirely to the social partners, however. The Labour
Foundation recommends that the parties first consider at sector or industry level whether a Health and Safety Catalogue is desirable and possible. This may –
or should – avoid a situation in which each party ends up reinventing the wheel,
despite there being a great deal of overlapping material. It should also avoid a
situation in which no one has or can obtain an overview of the catalogues applicable to occupations in the sector.
One obvious strategy in creating a Health and Safety Catalogue at sector level
is to adopt the structure or organising principle of the industry or sector collective agreement, or the working conditions covenants as implemented in recent years.
There are, of course, sectors that cover different domains but are subject to
identical risks. One example is private bathing pools and public bathing pools.
Another is private gardening and landscaping firms and municipal service organisations that carry out the same work. Although they are covered by different collective agreements, the rules arising from the Working Conditions Act
are identical for similar work. In such situations, the Foundation recommends
consulting with the social partners of the “opposite number” about whether a
joint Health and Safety Catalogue would be possible for these sectors. Collaboration between multiple sectors is certainly advisable with respect to particular risks. Issues such as aggression and violence play a role in various sectors in
which employees deal with customers, for example ambulance services, banks,
utility companies, and various government institutions. It is possible that specific solutions must be found for each of these sectors, making a sector-specific Health and Safety Catalogue an obvious choice. It may, however, also be the
case that the solutions or overall solutions are identical, in which case it would
17
Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
Risk: danger of collision
(photo: Ton Poortvliet/Hollandse Hoogte)
be advisable to draw up a single Health and Safety Catalogue that can be utilised by the various sectors.
In a few cases, a national Health and Safety Catalogue might be considered.
There are a number of topics that apply in all sorts of enterprises and sectors,
for example protective measures for pregnant women or agreements on the
statutory obligations concerning company emergency procedures. The CBA will
investigate whether such national Health and Safety Catalogues are desirable
and how best to produce them.
1.5. The temporary nature of a Health and Safety Catalogue
Parties may indicate the catalogue’s period of validity in the Health and Safety Catalogue. As the nature of the work and the way it is organised are subject
to constant change, it is advisable to agree on the Health and Safety Catalogue
for a limited period of time, with three to five years being a logical option. That
would be enough time to ensure that the measures are effectuated sector-wide
(insofar as they have not been already). After the three to five-year period, the
parties can decide whether there have been any major changes in the nature of
the work or in the measures or working methods applied. If so, the content of
the Health and Safety Catalogue can then be adjusted accordingly.
1.6. The status of the Health and Safety Catalogue
This section answers two questions. First of all, are the social partners obligated
to draw up a Health and Safety Catalogue, regardless of the level at which they
operate, and if so, to what extent? Secondly, to what extent does having a Health and Safety Catalogue in a sector also impose obligations on the employers
and employees in that sector?
To answer the first question: a Health and Safety Catalogue is not compulsory.
No one can or will order the parties to draw up a Health and Safety Catalogue. It
is a voluntary agreement between the social partners. Since the Working Conditions Act was amended on 1 January 2007, parties have the option of developing
a Health and Safety Catalogue. That catalogue allows them to arrive at agreements that will guarantee a certain level of protection. The Labour Inspectorate
uses the Health and Safety Catalogue in its inspection projects.
There are, however, consequences if the sector decides not to draw up a Health
and Safety Catalogue, or if it cannot agree on one. The first consequence is that
the Labour Inspectorate, bearing in mind the risks in the sector, may decide to
conduct more inspections in that sector than in sectors that do have a Health
19
Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
and Safety Catalogue. Another consequence is that the Labour Inspectorate will
use the existing policy rules as a basis for enforcement during its inspections.
There are also consequences if the sector decides to draft a Health and Safety
Catalogue, however. To begin with, the sector will be subject to fewer inspections than sectors that do not have a Health and Safety Catalogue. Secondly, the
Labour Inspectorate will use the Health and Safety Catalogue as its standard for
enforcement.
In other words, the Health and Safety Catalogue is not free of obligation. Once
it has been adopted and positively assessed by the Labour Inspectorate, then
companies operating within its scope are expected to use the working methods
or measures set out in the catalogue. That is certainly true for the measures
and methods focusing on risks for which the law prescribes health-related occupational exposure limits. It also applies to risks for which process standards
have been established. Wherever levels of protection have been identified in the
Health and Safety Catalogue, individual companies will be expected to achieve
those same levels of protection.
This does not mean that companies in the sector covered by the Health and
Safety Catalogue cannot deviate from the measures it specifies. They may certainly do so, but if they do, they will be obliged to prove that they are maintaining at least the required level of protection defined in the Health and Safety
Catalogue or the Working Conditions Act!
1.7. Health and Safety Catalogue versus RI&E
Various publications have suggested that the Health and Safety Catalogue
should be drafted primarily at individual company level. This idea does not concur with the advice on this subject published by the Social and Economic Council. It is also contrary to the general principles of the amended Working Conditions Act.
Assuming that in most cases, the Health and Safety Catalogue will be established at sector level, the question is what added value would a Health and Safety
Catalogue have at company level. Occupational risks that arise within the company are covered in the RI&E, and the associated measures are obviously set out
in the related action plan, drawn up in consultation with the employee representatives. So in that situation, the Health and Safety Catalogue has no added
value at company level.
The same arguments apply to company-specific risks and measures that deviate
from the overall picture at sector level: these too should be included in the RI&E
and related action plan. A Health and Safety Catalogue is therefore unnecessary.
A company may have developed specific measures that improve in some way or
another on those provided for in the sector’s Health and Safety Catalogue. Serious consideration should then be given to including these specific measures in
the sector’s Health and Safety Catalogue as a good practice or best practice, in
order to encourage other parts of the sector to adopt them as well.
“Better” should be understood to mean that the measures are more effective
in eliminating or minimising the risk, that they can be effectuated much more
quickly, and/or that they are much less expensive. In every case, the measures
should guarantee at least the same level of protection as the measures listed in
the Health and Safety Catalogue.
The same argument holds for large corporations, many of which have long had a
health and safety policy, including an RI&E and action plan. Many also have their
own health and safety experts or an internal health and safety service. It would
be useful in these situations to investigate whether a Health and Safety Catalogue would be of added value, but there is nothing that says that the catalogue is a “must”. The social partners may reach different conclusions, however.
We pointed out earlier that the core of the Working Conditions Act has been retained: the obligation on the part of every employer to devise a health and safety policy for its own company and to draft an RI&E and action plan, in consultation with the employee representatives.
Below we once again compare the RI&E and the Health and Safety Catalogue.
Health and Safety Catalogue RI&E
Scope
• mainly at sector level
• employers’ associations
and trade unions
Parties involved
• by company
• employer and works council/employee representatives or employees concerned
Content
• solutions to priority risks
(as determined)
• choice of approved
measures
Status
• frame of reference for en- • compulsory for employer
forcement
• policy instrument
• option for social partners
• all risks plus measures
• implementation of measures indicated
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Section 1 - What is a health and safety catalogue?
1.8 Health and Safety Catalogue and collective agreements
It is possible to link a collective agreement and a Health and Safety Catalogue.
The advantage of doing so is that this emphasises the official nature of the Health and Safety Catalogue. If the collective agreement is made effective throughout the entire sector [algemeen verbindend], it then becomes possible to extend coverage of the Health and Safety Catalogue to employers and employees
who are not members of the signatory organisations. Individual employers and
employees may then enforce compliance with the agreements through private
law.
Consultations concerning the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue must
be kept separate from the consultations or negotiations concerning the collective agreement, however. Health and safety aspects are non-negotiable and
cannot be traded in for other employment terms. There are various ways of linking the Health and Safety Catalogue to a collective agreement as an “annex”
or “schedule”, thereby keeping discussions of the two separate.
Brief summary of Labour Foundation’s recommendations for drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue
Brief summary of Labour Foundation’s recommendations
for drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue
1. The Foundation recommends that the Health and Safety Catalogue
should be agreed primarily at sector level.
2. The content of the Health and Safety Catalogue should consist in
any event of measures and/or working methods related to priority
risks.
3. The Health and Safety Catalogue is a document adopted by the social partners at sector level. It is advisable to consider whether the
catalogue should be updated after a period of three to five years.
4. Those directly affected should be actively involved in developing
the Health and Safety Catalogue.
5. The draft catalogue should be submitted to the Labour Inspectorate
in order to speed up the process of formal assessment.
6. The parties responsible for drafting the Health and Safety Catalogue should discuss how it will be made available and accessible to
the sector.
23
Section 2 - What steps must be taken to develop a health and safety catalogue?
Risk: danger of falling
(photo: Stichting Arbouw)
Section 2:
What steps must be taken
to develop a health and
safety catalogue?
The entire process for drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue can be divided
into four steps. It begins when the social partners take a decision on principle
in which they agree
a. whether to develop an Health and Safety Catalogue,
b. what risks the catalogue will cover,
c. and the procedure for developing it.
The second step is to discuss the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue. In
the end, that will result in a text that the social partners then sign.
The third step is to submit the text to the Labour Inspectorate for assessment.
The fourth step, finally, is to ensure that the Health and Safety Catalogue is
made easily available to the sector’s employers and employees, as well as to
other interested parties, and to see that it actually fulfils the purpose for which
it was designed.
Step 1: The decision in principle
Should we develop a Health and Safety Catalogue?
Many sectors have already examined the question of “where do we go from
here?” upon concluding working conditions covenants. In several of them, the
employers’ associations and trade unions involved have already reached agreements in principle on converting their covenants into a Health and Safety Catalogue. Consultations on the Health and Safety Catalogue have yet to begin in
many other sectors.
An agreement in principle is important in ensuring that all the parties understand the consequences. Drawing up a Health and Safety Catalogue takes time,
money and effort. Last but not least, budget arrangements should be part of
25
Section 2 - What steps must be taken to develop a health and safety catalogue?
the agreements concerning the content of the catalogue. After all, there are
costs associated with developing a Health and Safety Catalogue. There is the
expense of producing and distributing the catalogue, but there is also the possibility that more research will be required or that external experts will need to
be called in, for example.
What risks should it cover?
Section 1.2 has already examined the various choices that must be made with
respect to the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue. The Labour Foundation believes that the parties should in any event try to develop a Health and
Safety Catalogue that, as a minimum, covers all risks arising across the board
in the sector. In addition, it should also cover risks that apply to only a limited
group of employees but that put that group and/or their colleagues in the immediate vicinity in serious danger.
When discussing these risks, the parties should make use of the working conditions covenants (and their results), the policy rules applicable in the sector, reports by the Labour Inspectorate, and/or studies describing the risks that prevail
in various sectors, such as the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey. Studying this material will in many cases lead automatically to the determination of
“priority risks” and what other issues should be addressed.
The procedure
The more risks are addressed in the Health and Safety Catalogue, the more time
the parties will spend developing the procedure for drawing up the Health and
Safety Catalogue. It is possible that a project plan will need to be drafted because the work has to be divided into subsidiary projects involving multiple contributors. It is also possible that the catalogue covers so many subjects that is
must be completed in stages.
Step 2: Discussing the Health and Safety Catalogue
Elsewhere in this booklet, we indicated what sources can be used to develop the
content of the Health and Safety Catalogue. They are: policy rules, working conditions covenants, Labour Inspectorate publications, and research reports that
identify risk exposure.
Each sector or industry must naturally consider whether and to what extent the
information in the RI&E can be used as Health and Safety Catalogue content.
This will naturally involve a great deal of work, which can perhaps be undertaken by health and safety services.
In describing the measures, the parties should follow the “occupational health strategy”. According to this strategy, the parties should begin by seeing
whether the relevant risk can be tackled at source. If not, they should then consider whether collective measures can be introduced to control the impact of
the risk. If that too is not possible, then personal protective equipment should
be used.
Step 3: Assessment by the Labour Inspectorate
Once the parties have signed the Health and Safety Catalogue, it can be submitted to the Labour Inspectorate for assessment. If the assessment is positive,
the Health and Safety Catalogue will be entered into a collective policy rule, the
only one that will remain after 1 January 2010. The Health and Safety Catalogue
must be listed in this rule if the Labour Inspectorate is to use it as a frame of reference during its inspection projects. Listing in the collective policy rule is also
a sign that the sector is on the right track. As a result, it may be subject to fewer inspections.
The sector is also obligated to demonstrate that the Health and Safety Catalogue “has an effect”, in other words that it serves as a guideline for health and
safety policy at company level. That effect can be demonstrated in a survey
study.
The Labour Inspectorate can take up to ten weeks to assess the Health and Safety Catalogue, but it may complete its work much sooner. Officially, the assessment is “marginal” in nature. The Health and Safety Catalogue is assessed on
the following factors:
Scope: Does it clearly identify the employees or groups of employees for which
it is intended?
Disclosure: Can all the employers and employees involved obtain a copy of the
Health and Safety Catalogue? If so, what arrangements have been made in this
regard?
Accessibility: Is the Health and Safety Catalogue written in such a way that everyone can understand what it says?
Representation: Do the parties signing the Health and Safety Catalogue represent organisations of significance for this sector? And if so, how is that apparent?
Contrary to legislation: The Labour Inspectorate assesses the content of the Health and Safety Catalogue only insofar as it checks for provisions contrary to or
at loggerheads with legislation. A quick scan shows whether the measures reported in the Health and Safety Catalogue contribute to achieving the target
requirements. The Health and Safety Catalogue must provide at least the same
level of protection against risks for which the Working Conditions Act sets occupational exposure limits.
27
Section 2 - What steps must be taken to develop a health and safety catalogue?
Risk: hazardous substances
(photo: Felix Kalkman/Hollandse Hoogte)
The Labour Inspectorate will provide the sector with a written report on the results of the assessment. Depending on the assessment, the report may also contain advice to the sector. A sector that submits a Health and Safety Catalogue
on only one risk when there are generally known to be multiple risks may expect the Labour Inspectorate to address this.
Finally, it is advisable to discuss the text of the Health and Safety Catalogue
with the Labour Inspectorate as it nears its final stage of composition (the “final
draft”). This may help speed up the assessment process, and prevent disappointment on the part of the social partners.
Step 4: Communication with the sector
We already indicated above that during inspections, companies will be assessed on whether they have introduced the measures described in the Health and
Safety Catalogue. This indicates that the Health and Safety Catalogue is not
free of obligation.
In order to ensure that, where necessary, companies have the opportunity to
adjust their operations so as to comply with the measures set out in the Health and Safety Catalogue, the employers’ associations and trade unions should
communicate with the sector at the earliest possible stages . Specifically, this
means communicating with employers, the works council, the company health
and safety officer, and the health and safety service. Solid support for the Health and Safety Catalogue in the sector can naturally be ensured by getting individual companies actively involved in its development. This also gives more
meaning to the concept of “customisation”.
It must be possible for every company officer directly involved in health and
safety policy to obtain a copy of the Health and Safety Catalogue. They include the “employer” within the meaning of the Working Conditions Act, the employee charged with coordinating health and safety policy, the members of the
works council, and the health and safety service.
The sector must itself determine the best way of making the catalogue available. It can do so by placing a downloadable digital version on its website, or by
distributing a print version throughout the sector. It can also make use of various sector publications, for example specialist journals, magazines published by
industry organisations, or bulletins published by the social partners, and trade
fairs.
29
Section 2 - What steps must be taken to develop a health and safety catalogue?
The communication campaign should devote separate attention to the role of
the works council. Works councils in various sectors have sector-level consultation structures. Involving such consultation structures actively in developing
the Health and Safety Catalogue may help generate support for implementing
the measures at company level. Active involvement on the part of the works
council also leads to more support for the Health and Safety Catalogue. After
all, the works council has statutory powers with respect to the implementation
of measures at company level. It will often have the right of approval [instemmingsrecht] with respect to health and safety policy.
Finally, there are the health and safety services. Many sectors have multiple
health and safety services. It is advisable to consult these services when developing the Health and Safety Catalogue. They are up to date on the “latest scientific research and professional services” in the sector. They may also be able
to judge whether and to what extent the proposed measures will actually help
achieve the target requirements. They can also help implement those measures.
A serious effort should therefore be made to obtain the active involvement of
the health and safety services.
Annex 1:
New terms in the working conditions act
target
requirement
Statutory provision that describes the target to be met. The
target requirements set out in the Working Conditions Act
describe the level of protection that should be provided for
employees while they work.
means
requirement
Statutory provision indicating the means that must be used
to meet the target defined in a target requirement. Means
requirements describe the way or ways in which the specified level of health and safety protection can be achieved.
specific target
requirement
A target requirement linked to a health-related or safety-related occupational exposure limit that indicates the boundary between what is and is not safe or healthy.
general target
requirement
A target requirement that is open to interpretation because
it is not linked to a health-related or safety-related occupational exposure limit.
Statutory provision for an industrial risk for which an occupational exposure limit has not (yet) been determined. The
process standard
provision indicates how the relevant risk should be dealt
with in the company.
Part of a process standard that belongs in the Health and
Safety Decree.
The agenda provision lists the elements that are part of the
agenda provision
health and safety policy related to the relevant subject. The
details are settled in the consultations between the employer/employers and employees.
occupational
exposure limit
An occupational exposure limit marks the boundary between healthy and unhealthy, safe and unsafe. The exposure
limit quantifies the statutory level of protection against a
specific risk to the employees’ health and safety.
system provision
Provisions in the Working Conditions Act that focus on encouraging good health and safety management.
Statutory health and safety provisions that do not arise dinational health &
rectly from European legislation or ILO conventions ratified
safety law
by the Netherlands.
Health and Safe- A document in which employers and employees define what
measures can or must be taken to control a particular risk.
ty Catalogue
31
Annexes
Risk: dust
(photo: Stichting Arbouw)
Annex 2:
CBA address list
The following organisations are represented on the CBA (Health and Safety Catalogue Guidance Committee). The VSO serves on the committee as an observer.
Stichting van de Arbeid (Labour Foundation)
Bezuidenhoutseweg 60
P.O. Box 90405
NL-2509 LK The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 499 577
F +31 (0)70 - 3 499 796
E info@stvda.nl
Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging
FNV (Federation of Trade Unions )
Naritaweg 10
P.O. Box 8456
NL-1005 AL Amsterdam
T +31 (0)20 - 5 816 300
F +31 (0)20 - 6 844 541
E info@vc.fnv.nl
Vereniging VNO-NCW (Confederation
of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW)
Bezuidenhoutseweg 12
P.O. Box 93002
NL-2509 AA The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 490 349
F +31 (0)70 - 3 490 300
E informatie@vno-ncw.nl
Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond
CNV (National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands)
Tiberdreef 4
P.O. Box 2475
NL-3500 GL Utrecht
T +31 (0)30 - 7 511 100
F +31 (0)30 - 7 511 109
E cnvinfo@cnv.nl
Kon. Ver. MKB-Nederland (Royal Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Netherlands)
Brassersplein 1
P.O. Box 5096
NL-2600 GB Delft
T +31 (0)15 - 2 191 212
F +31 (0)15 - 2 191 414
E redactie@mkb.nl
Vakcentrale voor middengroepen
en hoger personeel MHP (Trade Union Federation for Intermediate and
Higher Employees)
Multatulilaan 12
P.O. Box 575
NL-4100 AN Culemborg
T +31 (0)345 - 8 519 00
F +31 (0)345 - 8 519 15
E info@vc-mhp.nl
LTO Nederland Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie (Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture)
Bezuidenhoutseweg 225
P.O. Box 29773
NL-2502 LT The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 382 700
F +31 (0)70 - 3 382 710
E secretariaat@lto.nl
Verbond Sector werkgevers Overheid VSO (Association of Public Sector Employers)
P.O. Box 20011
NL-2500 EA The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 426 65 94
F +31 (0)70 - 426 66 53
E vso@minbzk.nl
33
Annexes
Annex 3:
CBA correspondence address
Correspondence:
CBA/Labour Foundation
Bezuidenhoutseweg 60
P.O. Box 90405
NL-2509 LK The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 499 577
F +31 (0)70 - 3 499 796
E info@stvda.nl
Project manager: J.H. Hooiveld MSc
E j.hooiveld@stvda.nl
T +31 (0)70 - 3 499 585
M +31 (0)6 - 10 175 536
Annex 4:
List of relevant websites
FNV:
www.fnv.nl
www.arbobondgenoten.nl
CNV:
www.cnv.nl
www.veiligengezondwerken.nl
MHP:
www.vakcentralemhp.nl
VNO-NCW:
www.vno-ncw.nl
MKB:
www.arbo.mkb.nl
LTO:
www.lto.nl
StvdA:
www.stvda.nl
SZW:
www.arbeidsinspectie.szw.nl
www.arbo.nl
www.arboconvenanten.szw.nl
www.arbonieuwestijl.nl
www.arboportaal.nl
VSO:
www.vsowerkgevers.nl
35
Labour Foundation
What is a health and
safety catalogue?
Labour Foundation
Bezuidenhoutseweg 60
P.O. Box 90405
NL-2509 LK The Hague
T +31 (0)70 - 3 499 577
F +31 (0)70 - 3 499 796
E info@stvda.nl
www.stvda.nl