BHV-Weesp
New rules under the Dutch Working Conditions Act (Arbowet) have applied since 1 July 2026. For employers in Weesp and the surrounding area this is a good moment to check whether their emergency response organisation still meets the legal requirements, and whether employees are sufficiently involved. This article explains what has changed and what you can do now.
What exactly has changed?
The main change is in article 12 of the Working Conditions Act. Until 1 July 2026 employers had to “cooperate” with their employees on health and safety policy. In practice that term was non-committal: a poster in the canteen or a single email was often enough. Since 1 July 2026 “cooperate” has been replaced by “consult”. That is a fundamentally different, active obligation.
Consulting means that you, as an employer:
- hold a genuine dialogue with your employees about safe and healthy working;
- respond seriously to what they raise;
- exchange information actively instead of informing them one way;
- give employees the right to put forward proposals themselves.
Is there a works council (OR) or an employee representative body (PVT)? Then the consultation runs through them. If your company has no works council or representative body, which is the case for many small and medium-sized businesses in the Weesp region, you must consult the employees involved directly. This obligation therefore explicitly applies to small organisations as well.
Emergency response is explicitly on the list
For employers who take emergency response seriously, one point is especially relevant: the duty to consult applies specifically to matters that are of material importance for safe and healthy working. These include:
- the risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E);
- preventive measures;
- company emergency response (BHV);
- expert support;
- the deployment of the occupational health service.
In other words: how you have organised emergency response within your company is no longer something you decide on your own. You must consult your employees about it, and you must be able to demonstrate that you have done so.
“An emergency response plan drawn up purely from the top down, without any consultation with staff, no longer complies with the law.”
How is this enforced?
Since 1 July 2026 the Netherlands Labour Authority has been able to enforce the duty to consult under administrative law. This means that you, as an employer, must be able to demonstrate that consultation took place, and on which subjects.
The Labour Authority is also carrying out stricter checks this year on the presence of active safety protocols. An emergency response certificate in a drawer is not enough. The organisation around it must be sound and demonstrably supported by your team.
What can you do now?
The new rules already apply, so do not put this off. Four steps to start with:
- Map out how employees are currently involved in your health and safety policy, the RI&E and the emergency response organisation.
- Schedule a meeting in which you discuss emergency response, evacuation plans and preventive measures with your team or works council.
- Record what was discussed and which proposals employees put forward. That is your evidence for the Labour Authority.
- Check that your emergency response organisation is up to date: are there enough trained responders, is the annual evacuation drill scheduled, have first aid kits, AEDs and fire extinguishers been inspected?
Need help with your emergency response organisation?
As an emergency response trainer in Weesp and the surrounding area, we have been helping employers for years to set up and maintain their emergency response, from training courses to evacuation drills on site. Would you like to know whether your current emergency response organisation meets the requirements that have applied since 1 July 2026? Feel free to get in touch for a no-obligation conversation.
Questions about the new duty to consult or about your emergency response organisation? Get in touch with BHV-Weesp, we are happy to think along with you.