Work organisation
How the work is organised: structure, how tasks are divided, changes, the way people are managed.
domain 1/5 Guide · Psychosocial risks at work
Psychosocial risk analysis: what do you have to do?
Every employer in Belgium is required to map which situations at work can cause stress, burnout, conflict or unwanted behaviour. From one employee onwards, with no lower limit. Here you read in five minutes what the law asks exactly and how to get started.
Looking for the difference with a classic trajectory instead? Compare elli with a psychosocial risk analysis
The short answer
- Required for every employer, from one employee onwards
- You examine five domains, not just workload
- Employees have to take part, that is in the law
- Results go into your global prevention plan and annual action plan
- An analysis without measures does not count
The five domains you have to examine
The law requires you to look at five domains of the work. In Dutch they are known as the five A’s.
Job content
The work itself: workload, emotional demands, variety, how clear the task is.
domain 2/5Terms of employment
The arrangements around the work: schedules, type of contract, career opportunities, appraisal.
domain 3/5Working environment
The surroundings people work in: noise, temperature, workstation, tools.
domain 4/5Interpersonal relationships
The relationships at work: with colleagues and managers, conflict, unwanted behaviour.
legally: "interpersonal relationships at work" Watch out
The most common mistake: asking only about workload and skipping unwanted behaviour because there are no complaints. The law asks for all five domains.
What the law asks exactly
Who
Every employer, from one employee onwards. There is no lower limit and no exception for small companies.
What
A written analysis of the five domains, drawn up with the participation of the employees. Their input is not a courtesy, it is in the law.
How often
The Code sets no fixed interval. The analysis has to be current and the measures are evaluated every year. In practice it runs along with the five-year global prevention plan.
Where it lands
The results and the measures go into your global prevention plan and your annual action plan. That is what the inspectorate looks at.
Code on well-being at work, Book I, Title 3 · art. I.3-1The employer identifies the situations that may give rise to psychosocial risks, determines and evaluates them, and takes the appropriate prevention measures. This is done with the participation of the employees.
What changes with my size?
| Size | What applies on top |
|---|---|
| 1–19 | The employer may take on the role of internal prevention adviser themselves. The analysis stays fully required. |
| 20–49 | A designated internal prevention adviser is required (this may be an employee). |
| 50+ | A committee for prevention and protection at work, and since 1 December 2023 a confidential adviser as well. |
The practical manual, free
Everything on this page, worked out into a document you can start with tomorrow.
- Step-by-step plan with fields to fill in
- 50 example questions, per domain
- Checklist: are you in order?
- The questions to put to your prevention service
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11 pages, PDF in Dutch.
Which methods exist?
The law prescribes no instrument. It requires an analysis that covers the five domains and leads to measures.
| Instrument | What it does | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| FPS Employment questionnaire | Free official questionnaire method, covers the five domains. | You organise the processing and the follow-up yourself. |
| COPSOQ III | Internationally validated questionnaire, strong for benchmarking. | Long; needs interpretation to arrive at actions. |
| Deparis (SOBANE) | Discussion per workstation, strong on the shop floor. | Qualitative; no figures to follow change over time. |
| OiRA | Free online risk analysis per sector (EU-OSHA). | Generic; the psychosocial part stays limited. |
| Interviews and focus groups | Give context and explanations for what you measure. | Not anonymous and hard to compare over time. |
The combination works best: a questionnaire tells you where it hurts, a conversation tells you why.
Looking for the questions themselves? See our survey library
Where it usually goes wrong
The report in the drawer
The analysis happens, the measures do not. Legally that does not count as prevention, and your people notice.
Response too low
Whoever does not reach the shop floor measures only the desks. The picture then looks better than reality.
Reporting too coarsely
One company average hides the teams where it really hurts. There is nothing targeted you can do with that.
Five years of silence
One measurement and then nothing. Risks change faster than your prevention plan; keep looking in between.
And this is how we do it
The five domains, built in
The five domains sit in the questionnaires of elli, built on validated frameworks.
Everyone reached
Digital and on paper, in Dutch, French and English. People without a work mailbox count too.
From finding to action
Every signal becomes a measure with an owner and a date, ready for your annual action plan.
elli does not replace your external prevention service or your prevention adviser for psychosocial aspects. They stay legally in charge. We provide the measurement and the follow-up.
Want to see it next to a classic trajectory? elli compared with a psychosocial risk analysis
Frequently asked questions
What exactly are psychosocial risks?
All situations at work that can cause psychological harm, possibly together with physical complaints: stress, burnout, conflict, bullying, unwanted sexual behaviour and violence. The law looks at the causes in the work organisation, the content of the work, the terms of employment, the working environment and the relationships at work.
Is a psychosocial risk analysis required for small companies?
Yes. The obligation applies to every employer, from one employee onwards. There is no lower limit. Smaller companies may take a simpler approach, as long as the five domains are covered and measures follow from it.
How often does the analysis have to be repeated?
The law sets no fixed interval. The analysis has to be current and the measures are evaluated every year through the annual action plan. In practice many organisations redo the full analysis every five years, along with the global prevention plan, and sooner after a major change such as a reorganisation.
Which questionnaire do you use for a psychosocial risk analysis?
The law prescribes no instrument. Commonly used options are the free questionnaire method of the Belgian FPS Employment, COPSOQ III, Deparis (SOBANE) and OiRA. What matters is that the instrument covers the five domains and that you turn the results into measures.
May we run the analysis ourselves or does the external service have to?
You may organise the analysis yourself, but the prevention adviser for psychosocial aspects has to be involved. For most SMEs that is someone from the external prevention service. Measuring yourself and having the external service validate it is a common and lawful approach.
What does a psychosocial risk analysis cost?
That depends on the approach: a trajectory through the external prevention service is usually charged per assignment or through prevention units, while measuring yourself mainly costs internal time. The biggest cost is an analysis that ends up in a drawer: then you pay twice, with nothing to show.
Start with the manual
Step-by-step plan, 50 example questions and the checklist. 11 pages, free.
Sources: Act of 4 August 1996 on the well-being of workers in the performance of their work, Code on well-being at work (Book I, Title 3), Royal Decree of 10 April 2014 on the prevention of psychosocial risks at work. This page is informative and does not replace legal advice.