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In March 2004, the Belgian federal government approved PhARAon, a new broad-based action plan for combating work-related accidents. Against a backdrop of a constant rise in the number of serious accidents at work, the plan’s principal aim is to make all actors involved in the field shoulder their responsibilities. The social partners have given the plan a warm welcome, although some believe that several important areas should be further improved.
A federal action plan for reducing accidents at work- known as PhARAon, was presented on 26 February 2004 by Kathleen Van Brempt, Secretary of State for work organisation and welfare at the workplace, and approved at a cabinet meeting on 20-21 March.
The plan aims to reduce the number of work-related accidents drastically, and particularly the most serious ones. Although the overall number of such accidents is falling overall, the number of serious and/or fatal accidents has continued to grow over the years by about 1% per annum. Young workers are most exposed to these hazards, as are temporary agency workers (twice as much as other workers) (BE0211305F). Commenting on these figures, the Secretary of State said: '121 deaths a year [in 2002], victims of accidents at their workplaces. That is quite simply unacceptable.' She also emphasised, referring to her new plan, that 'for the first time, the issue of workplace safety will be tackled systematically and on a broad scale'. The practical arrangements for the measures set out in the action plan will need to be implemented by the end of 2006.
Content of the plan
The PhARAon plan refers to a number of key issues, accompanied by a series of measures and actions. The most important are as follows.
- It is not possible, using currently available information and statistics, to make a sufficiently pertinent assessment of policies dealing with prevention and hazards at the workplace. To help remedy this situation, the plan proposes administrative and legislative simplification: employers will only have to deal with a single law on declaring workplace accidents (this will replace the current 17 Royal Decrees and laws), and they will have to complete only one electronic declaration in the event of a work-related accident. Encouragement will also be given to strengthening scientific research in the field.
- Appropriate tools are also lacking in respect of safety monitoring, and a new instrument, the 'Pharaomètre', will be created to overcome this weakness. This safety barometer will have two components - a prevention index and an industrial work-related accidents index. It will thus help to measure prevention measures as well as the nature and number of work-related accidents. A comparison between enterprises and sectors will be conducted as soon as possible, while inspection policies are being adjusted. These policies will also be strengthened by the recruitment of additional staff.
- A considerable number of actors, such as employers, safety advisers and trade union delegates, are involved in safety at the workplace. Within the framework of the new action plan, it will be important to improve the level of cooperation between the various actors, and to define each one’s responsibilities. As part of this development, the lack of clarity that surrounds the respective responsibilities of prime contractors and subcontractors for safety and protection will be addressed by making the prime contractor jointly responsible in both fields. A number of substantive avenues will be explored together with the social partners.
- The action plan emphasises a sectoral approach in order to address the wide range of situations, and the methods to be put in place. The social partners in each sector will be mobilised and given responsibilities to ensure that they are involved in taking initiatives for themselves.
- Lastly, an financial incentive scheme for accident prevention at the workplace in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be drawn up in cooperation with work-related accident insurers. This will incorporate a variable system that genuinely takes account of company initiatives taken in the field, and which will put enterprises less active in prevention at a disadvantage.
Reactions of the social partners
In response to the new plan, the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (Fédération des Entreprises de Belgique/Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, FEB/VBO) has stated that 'employers will adopt a constructive attitude, and will help to implement the various measures. All actors - employers, managers, prevention services, inspectorates and workers - must shoulder their responsibilities if they are to achieve results in this field.'
The Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV) thinks that the plan is interesting, but stresses the need to give concrete form to the proposed measures as soon as possible. To do this, for FGTB/ABVV, the law needs to be adapted at several levels: on the one hand, when the plan is being put in practice, there will be a need to concentrate particularly on the issue of outsourcing 'by giving union delegates the instruments with which they can establish they way information must be given, and the respective responsibilities of the outside enterprise and the user enterprise'; on the other hand, the plan will require strengthening the inspection services in both human resource and technical terms.
The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) welcomes the plan, but says that some matters, like the system of financial incentives, are still rather vague, and that others, such as the increase in the number of labour inspectors, are simply restatements of decisions taken in the past. Like FGTB/ABVV, CSC/ACV focuses on measures that it believes still need to be taken in the field of temporary agency work. These include minimum safety training for agency workers or a ban on assigning them to high-risk jobs. CSC/ACV also stresses trade union representation as a tool for monitoring the legislation within firms.
The Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicats Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB) is delighted that the government has adopted a plan that really takes account of the preventive aspect of work-related accidents. It also draws attention to the fact that a large number of accidents occur in SMEs where no special preventive measures have been drawn up.
Commentary
The federal government’s PhARAon plan is an initiative that deserves to be given full attention, given worrying figures that show a rise in the number of serious work-related accidents. However, it will also be necessary to take a careful look at the resources available. For example, the increase in the number of labour inspectors is a good thing, but it does not go far enough. Another factor to be taken into account, when explaining the large number of serious accidents, is the ever-growing pace and intensity of work. Action in this area is more closely linked to conditions of employment, and the phenomenon is not peculiar to Belgium. (Alexandre Chaidron, Institut des Sciences du Travail)