What is the Temporary Workstation Sheet?

Temporary Workstation Sheet - A legally required document

The workstation sheet is a legally mandatory document for temporary work (see Belgian code art. X.2-3). Strictly speaking, a workstation sheet is required by law only for positions associated with health risks and for which a prior health assessment is required (link in French).

Prevention and Interim recommends that you fill out a form for all workstations. In this way, you benefit from a clear and transparent procedure for all workstations in which temporary workers are employed.

Important:

It is forbidden to employ a temporary worker at a workstation that poses a health risk and for which no workstation sheet has been properly completed (Belgian Code art. X.2-17).

If the user undertaking does not provide a complete and correct workstation sheet to the temporary work agency for this type of workstation, the temporary worker cannot work.

In addition, the temporary worker is not allowed to perform tasks that are not mentioned on the workstation sheet.

Content of the form

The minimum information that a worksheet must contain is determined in Appendix X.2-1 of the Belgian code. Only the minimum content is specified in the legislation. The layout of the form/sheet is free.

Prevention and Interim has developed a workstation sheet template based on mandatory content, which is divided into three sections: A, B and C.

Section A (to be completed by the user undertaking) contains:

• The general details of the user undertaking (address, phone number, etc.)
• The name of the workstation
• The issue date of the workstation sheet
• The accurate description of the characteristics of the workstation/function
• The location of the workstation
• The different training requirements, qualifications and professional conditions
• The various preliminary instructions or training
• The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) + the type of work clothing
• A mention as to whether the workstation is prohibited for student workers
• Whether or not health surveillance is required, and the health risks associated with it
• The measures related to maternity protection
• The advice’s dates of the Committee for Prevention and Protection at Work, the internal prevention advisor and the occupational physician.

Section B (to be filled out by the temporary work agency) contains:

• The general details of the agency
• The identification data of the temporary worker
• The date on which a copy of the workstation sheet was forwarded to the temporary worker

Section C (to be completed by the user undertaking if the workstation sheet is used for registering the temporary worker’s induction) contains:

• The name and function of the user's induction officer (must be a member of the hierarchical line of authority)
• The signature of the person in charge of the induction
• The date of the temporary worker's induction

Who fills out the workstation sheet?

It is up to the user undertaking to fill out the workstation sheet (Section A), never the temporary work agency!   (Belgian code, art. X.2-3§2)

The temporary workstation sheet is based on the results of the user undertaking's workplace risk assessment. Only the user undertaking can perform an in-depth risk assessment of the workstations/functions of his company.

The user is also responsible for the safety and well-being of the temporary worker during the duration of the temporary worker's occupation. You can find more information about this by clicking on this link (link in French). The temporary workstation sheet is the first communication channel on risks and preventive measures to protect the temporary worker at a user undertaking's workplace.

To complete Section A, the user undertaking seeks advice from different parties:

• To the internal prevention advisor. If necessary, the prevention advisor from the External Service PPW (link in French)  can also contribute to risk assessment and the subsequent creation of the workstation sheet.
• To the occupational physician (particularly to determine health risks and maternity protection measures (link in French)
• To the Committee for prevention and protection at work (CPPW). In the absence of a CPPW, the user undertaking seeks the advice of the trade union representation. If there is no trade union representation, the user asks the workers for advice directly.

The temporary work agency then completes Section B with its own company details and that of the selected temporary worker. The temporary work agency shall provide the worker with a copy of the temporary workstation sheet and explains its content in an understandable way.

The user undertaking then completes the Section C, only if he uses the workstation sheet as a registration document for the mandatory induction of the temporary worker.

The Temporary Workstation Sheet as a means of communication

The Temporary Workstation Sheet is much more than an official document. It plays an important role in communication between the different parties involved in temporary work:

The User Undertaking (also called the end user undertaking)

• carries out the risk assessment of the workplace (station/function) and completes the workstation sheet on this basis
• The Temporary Workstation Sheet can also be used as a registration document for the temporary worker's induction.

The Temporary Work Agency

• selects the appropriate temporary worker based on the information in the workstation sheet that was previously correctly completed by the user undertaking
• uses the temporary workstation sheet to inform - in advance - the temporary worker of the content of his work, the risks at the workplace and the planned preventive measures
• organizes the preliminary health examination based on the information in the worksheet.

The Prevention advisor – occupational physician

• needs the workstation sheet to be able to carry out the preliminary health examination adapted to the situation.

The Temporary Worker

• receives the information on the content of the function/workstation, risks and precautionary measures at the workplace through the temporary workstation sheet.

Temporary Workstation Sheet - Identification Number

The ID Number of the Temporary Workstation Sheet is a useful way to ensure the traceability of a Workstation Sheet in the communication between the various actors (UU, TWA, TW) during the temporary worker’s assignment.

The ID Number of a fully completed Temporary Workstation Sheet is structured as follows: CBE number / internal number (of the workstation/function) / Issue date of the sheet // Health risks codes.

It therefore contains only the information that must be entered on the workstation sheet.

1. CBE Number of the company (User undertaking). It is the number listed in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises. It consists of 10 digits and begins with 0 or 1. These are the same 10 digits as the company's VAT number.

• Internal Number. The unique combination of numbers, letters and / or symbols that are used in the company to designate a specific position or function.
• Issue Date. The creation date of the TW Sheet.

• Health risks. They are designated by codes. More information on health risk codes can be found here (link in French). The full list of all risk codes can be downloaded here. 

For greater clarity, all documents referring to the workstation sheet (contracts, e-mails, etc.) can include this identification number.

Thanks to the identification number, temporary work agencies can also check the centralized PI-M database to see if a temporary worker selected for a workstation has a valid medical aptitude report relating to the health risks present on his new workstation/function.

User undertakings familiar with quality systems (such as ISO9001, ISO45001) are very experienced with this unique identification process of a document.

Important advice:

• The identification number of the sheet is automatically registered as the data is completed via the online form  available on this site. 
• The identification number at the top of the form is also automatically completed on the PDF form available on this website.