Occupational health and safety rules for specific employees

Employees who fall ill

Is your employee on long-term sick leave? Then you and your employee should do as much as possible to get your employee to return to work. There are several ways to get your employee back to work. For example, through an adapted workplace. Is this not possible in the old job? Then you need to find other work within your business. Your company doctor will help you with this. If not, you will have to look for work at another company together.

Pregnant employees and women who are breastfeeding

Do you have a pregnant employee? Then you must ensure that there is no danger in the workplace to her and the unborn child. Your employee must be able to work safely and healthily at all stages of pregnancy. What does that mean?

• There must be no risk of impairing the woman's fertility.
• The pregnancy must not be at risk.
• The baby must not be at risk during pregnancy.

Hazardous substances and physical work

Does your pregnant employee work with hazardous substances? Or does your employee have to lift and carry? Then you need to adjust the work. There are legal obligations (in Dutch) for this. Pregnant and breastfeeding workers are not allowed to:

• be exposed to lead and lead compounds
• be exposed to toxoplasma and rubella (the rubella virus)
• work under overpressure such as diving and caisson work (working in a high-pressure room)
• work in underground extractive industries, such as mines.

Duty to inform in case of pregnancy

After your employee has told you she is pregnant, you must give her information within 2 weeks about:

• the possible dangers of work for her and the unborn child
• what you can do together to prevent these dangers
• the right to adjust working and rest times when pregnant (and afterwards). And the right to other (safe) work
• the availability of a specific space on the premises for during pregnancy or breastfeeding

Is your employee breastfeeding, or does she want to pump? If so, you must provide an area that can be closed off.

Older employees

With all employees you must take into account what they are capable of. This is even more important for the older employee (in Dutch). You should pay extra attention if your older employee has to deal with:

• high time pressure
• heavy physical load
• rapidly developing technology
• irregular working hours and shifts

If the work threatens to become too hard, the content of the work or the working environment should be examined to see if it can be adapted. You then must find alternative tasks and positions in time. You also need to prepare the older employee for the possibility of other work.

Temporary workers

If you hire temporary workers, the main responsibility (in Dutch) for health and safety lies with you. So, you must ensure a safe workplace and good working conditions. For example, you must send (part of) the RI&E to the temporary employment agency in advance. The temporary employment agency must inform the temporary worker of any possible risks in the workplace.

Employees with a disability

Do you want to retain or employ an employee with a disability or partial incapacity for work? For example, by finding suitable work or by adjusting the workplace. The government encourages this and UWV offers various allowances (in Dutch) to employ a disabled person.

For example, you can get allowances for facilities that an employee cannot bring along himself. Such as an adapted toilet, a stair lift or an adapted workplace.