What is the main occupational safety and health law in Belgium and who enforces it?

The main law is the Act of 4 August 1996 on the well-being of workers in the performance of their work, known as the Well-being Act, with its detailed rules in the Code of well-being at work. It is enforced by the Directorate-General Supervision of Well-being at Work of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, and breaches are punished under the Social Penal Code.

Short answer

• Law: Act of 4 August 1996 (Loi relative au bien-être des travailleurs lors de l'exécution de leur travail / Wet betreffende het welzijn van de werknemers bij de uitvoering van hun werk), published in the Moniteur belge on 18 September 1996 and amended many times since.
• Detailed rules: the Code of well-being at work (Code du bien-être au travail / Codex over het welzijn op het werk), ten books, in force since 12 June 2017; the royal decree on temporary or mobile construction sites of 25 January 2001 stays outside the Code.
• Enforcer: the Directorate-General Supervision of Well-being at Work (Contrôle du bien-être au travail, CBE / Toezicht op het Welzijn op het Werk, TWW).
• Sanctions: the Social Penal Code (Code pénal social / Sociaal Strafwetboek), applied to OSH breaches since 1 July 2011, plus the general Criminal Code for involuntary manslaughter or injury (a new Criminal Code has applied since 1 September 2026, so older article numbers have changed).
• Scope: federal, the same in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels; it covers employers and workers and assimilated persons such as trainees, apprentices and students doing work placements.

What the Well-being Act and the Code contain

The Act is a framework law. It defines well-being at work through seven domains: work safety, health protection, psychosocial aspects, ergonomics, occupational hygiene, the embellishment of workplaces, and the company's environmental measures in so far as they affect the first six. It sets the general principles of prevention (avoid risks, evaluate the rest, combat them at source, prefer collective over personal protection, plan prevention as a system), the duties of employers and workers, the rules on prevention services and committees, and specific chapters on construction sites, psychosocial risks and serious accidents.

The Code holds almost all implementing royal decrees, numbered by book and title (for example article I.2-8 is in book I, title 2). Its ten books cover general principles, organisational structures and social dialogue, workplaces, work equipment, physical agents, chemical agents, biological agents, ergonomics, collective and personal protective equipment, and specific groups such as night workers, temporary agency workers, young workers and pregnant workers. The Code mostly sets objectives and leaves the employer to choose measures based on the risk analysis.

The Code replaced the separate implementing royal decrees, which is why older texts and contracts still cite the former General Regulation for Labour Protection (RGPT / ARAB). The Code itself refers to the RGPT only in transitional rules, so check the consolidated Code before relying on an RGPT article.

Who enforces OSH law

The FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue is the responsible ministry. Its labour inspection has two parts: the Supervision of Social Laws (wages, working time, social documents) and the Supervision of Well-being at Work, which handles OSH.

Inspectors carrying their official card may enter workplaces freely at any hour of the day or night without notice (inhabited premises need the occupant's written consent or an investigating judge's authorisation), question employers and workers, and require any information media; these powers are in articles 22 to 49 of the Social Penal Code. Well-being inspectors can also prohibit the use of a workplace, equipment or substance, impose organisational measures on the prevention services, stop work, order evacuation and affix seals when danger appears imminent. The person concerned can appeal to the president of the labour tribunal, but the appeal does not suspend the measure.

After a visit the inspector chooses between a warning, a deadline to comply, or an official report (pro justitia). For level 2 to 4 offences the labour prosecutor then decides between prosecution before the criminal court, a settlement, or leaving the case to the administrative fine procedure; level 1 offences carry only an administrative fine.

Practical points for a new employer or contractor

Check the French or Dutch consolidated text on the FPS Employment website before quoting an article, because translations differ and the Code is amended several times a year (the consolidated version used here is dated 13 June 2026).

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Belgium: law, authorities and employer duties
• What are the penalties for breaking occupational safety rules in Belgium?
• Must an employer in Belgium appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?
• The EU framework directive 89/391/EEC explained

Standards and further reading

• Act of 4 August 1996 on the well-being of workers in the performance of their work, consolidated: FPS Employment PDF
• Code of well-being at work, consolidated version of 13 June 2026: FPS Employment PDF
• FPS Employment, labour inspection: L'inspection du travail
• FPS Employment, inspectors' powers: Les contrôles and L'issue d'un contrôle
• FPS Employment, supervision and sanctions: Surveillance et sanctions

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.