Health and safety officer
Business owners with personnel in the Netherlands must designate one or more health and safety officers. Do you have 25 employees or less? Then you yourself may act as the health and safety officer. A health and safety officer focuses on day-to-day health and safety issues within a company.
When you have selected a health and safety officer, you need approval from the works council or staff representation before you can appoint them.
Tasks of the health and safety officer
A health and safety officer has three statutory tasks:
- Drafting and implementing (either independently or with others) the mandatory risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E).
- Advising and consulting the company doctor and the works council or staff representation on working conditions.
- Implementing health and safety measures at work.
The health and safety officer must:
- be easily and safely accessible
- be given enough time to perform his or her duties
- have enough knowledge and experience to carry out these tasks. Is no one in your company able to perform these tasks? If so, you may call on an external health and safety expert for support.
Basic contracts
There are several ways you can organise health and safety support at work. The basic contract defines the rights and duties of the employer, the health and safety officer and company doctor. This is mandatory for every employer under the Working Conditions Act.