On 6 July 2012, the Council of Ministers approved a project enabling online declaration of work accidents.

The purpose of the Belgian Workers' Compensation Fund (Fonds des Accidents de Travail - FAT, in French) is to collect data about all accidents concerning both the private and the public sector. This collection constitutes a European requirement. Public service data are currently provided in several - often outdated - ways, thus greatly reducing the quality and the completeness of information.

Thanks to the new electronic exchange system - the budget for which has already been granted - the collection of data will run more efficiently and the quality of information will meet the European requirements. The system will be largely based on an existing one, which is already in use by FAT for the electronic declarations of the private sector.

From 1 January 2014, the services supervised by the Personnel & Organisation or the staff services will be able to add data concerning work accidents on the Social Security website. The model statements are based on the private sector equivalent.

There is no change regarding the procedure the employees should follow. As is customary, they will have to submit their paper-based accident reports to their employer. The regulatory instruments will soon be adapted to the new operating procedures.

Source: The Federal Public Service Personnel and Organisation / Note: The text was not translated by the author.

Further information:

• Original news article - FedWeb, the Federal Personnel Portal  (in French)
• Workers' Compensation Fund - FAT (in Dutch, French and German)