Verzamelwet SZW 2026: OHS policy and the inspectorate

The Verzamelwet SZW 2026 (Social Affairs and Employment Omnibus Act) is essentially a maintenance act: many technical and corrective changes. With one change that has a direct effect on employers: the obligation to consult employee representatives on occupational health and safety (OHS) policy is now clearer and enforceable (article 12). The act was passed by the Senate (Eerste Kamer) on 27 January 2026 and published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Staatsblad) on 28 January 2026.

The essentials:

• Employers must consult the OR (ondernemingsraad, works council) or PVT (personeelsvertegenwoordiging, staff representation) on the OHS policy and how it is carried out.
• Only if there is no OR or PVT are the employees concerned consulted directly. The explanatory notes stress that you cannot go “around” the OR or PVT by consulting individuals while a representative body does exist.

In addition, the act states more concretely what this consultation must at least cover when relevant changes occur, including: BHV (bedrijfshulpverlening, in-house emergency response), the RI&E (risico-inventarisatie en -evaluatie, risk assessment), the organisation of expert support (such as the prevention officer), the occupational health services, and information and instruction about work and risks.

The biggest change: enforceability

Until now, “employee participation in OHS” was mainly something that had to be neatly arranged in many organisations. Because of the change, a breach of article 12 (paragraphs 1 and 2) is now linked to enforcement and penalty provisions. In practice, the topic therefore calls for evidence.

Concretely, this means: if an organisation receives attention from the inspectorate (for example due to incidents, complaints or shortcomings in the RI&E or action plan), the absence of demonstrable consultation can become an additional ground for enforcement.

What the employer needs to organise

The pitfall is thinking that “we do talk now and then” is enough. This change in the law is precisely about governance and the burden of proof. Think of: timely consultation when things change, active exchange of information, and recording what was discussed, by whom, which decisions were taken and what the follow-up is.

It helps to link consultation to the regular OHS cycle:

• fixed consultation moments with the OR or PVT about the OHS system provisions,
• explicit consultation moments when policy, interventions or structure change,
• records that can be reproduced later (agenda, role of participants, decisions, actions, owner, deadline).

How Healthguard helps

For Healthguard, this means that governance remains an explicit part of our services, alongside interventions on content. We are available to set up this OHS cycle and have specific tooling to involve employees in OHS and prevention policy. This way, we make sure employers organise employee participation simply and in a structured way, without hassle.

In short: the Verzamelwet SZW 2026 pushes OHS policy from “neatly arranged” to “organised to stand up to inspection”. If you set this up efficiently, it prevents noise later on.