An accident investigation is carried out as soon as possible after a workplace accident has been reported. The Netherlands Labour Authority always asks for the scene of the accident to be left as undisturbed as possible so that the inspector can form a clear picture of what happened. The inspector will also interview anyone who was involved in the accident and any witnesses. The employer and the employee(s) are obliged to cooperate fully with the investigation and to provide all requested information.
Under the Working Conditions Act (Arbeidsomstandighedenwet), workplace accidents must be reported directly by the employer to the Netherlands Labour Authority.
Who is responsible for investigating workplace accidents?
Once the inspector has found out what happened, the employer will be asked to carry out an additional, internal investigation into the accident and to report on it. In exceptional cases, the Netherlands Labour Authority may decide to carry out an investigation itself, for example in the event of a fatal accident, or an accident involving a child (aged 15 or younger) or a young person (aged 16 or 17).
Criminal investigations
In the event of very serious and fatal accidents, the Netherlands Labour Authority will conduct an investigation which is led by the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie). If a criminal offence has been committed, an official report will be drawn up and the parties involved will be notified accordingly. The official report will be forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service for further processing.
Accident investigation procedure
If a workplace accident has occurred within an organisation, the Netherlands Labour Authority will ask the employer to investigate the accident and submit a report on it. The aim of this approach is to raise awareness of health and safety risks within organisations and to ensure that employers take appropriate measures to mitigate these risks as much as possible. The employer then needs to complete a number of steps.
The investigation must answer the question of how the accident was able to happen and identify its immediate and root causes.
Based on the investigation, the employer will draw up a report setting out an improvement plan. The aim is for the employer to learn from the workplace accident and improve safety within the company to help prevent a recurrence.
The Netherlands Labour Authority will assess the employer's report and the improvement plan and if they are deemed satisfactory, the investigation will be closed.
During a follow-up inspection, the Netherlands Labour Authority will check whether the employer has implemented the actions and measures set out in the improvement plan and, if this is not the case, enforcement action will be taken.
If the employer's report and the improvement plan are ultimately deemed to be inadequate, the inspector will then carry out an additional investigation into the accident. If the statutory rules have been violated, the inspector may draw up a penalty report. The employer may then be fined and will have to take steps to prevent the accident from reoccurring.
Accident investigation self-inspection
The Netherlands Labour Authority has produced a guide (Dutch) for employers who need to conduct their own investigation into an accident. Before they submit a report and an improvement plan, they can also go to zelfinspectie.nl/ongevalsonderzoek (Dutch) to check whether all the accident investigation steps have been completed.
Why has this approach been adopted?
Employers investigating workplace accidents themselves leads to a greater focus on safety and improvements in the workplace. 2 studies were carried out to investigate the impact of this approach, which was introduced by the Netherlands Labour Authority in 2023. 1 was a qualitative study, for which 39 interviews were conducted with employers, victims and the victims' colleagues. The other was a quantitative analysis, which is an update of the previous impact assessment from 2024 (Dutch).
Reporting and investigating workplace accidents
Workplace accidents occur
every day across all sectors.
Such as in industry, waste management,
the agricultural sector, and construction.
Does the accident result in hospitalization,
permanent injury, or death?
Then the employer must report it immediately
to the Netherlands Labour Authority.
This applies to temporary agency workers too.
Reports can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
by calling 0800-5151 or using the online form.
The accident investigation begins after the report is made.
The labour inspector examines what happened
and speaks with those involved.
Subsequently, the employer investigates the accident
and prepares an employer's report
and an improvement plan outlining measures.
The inspector assesses these and verifies whether
the measures have been implemented.
In this way, the employer learns from the accident
and improves workplace safety.
Want to know more?
Visit nllabourauthority.nl/accident-investigation