ANVS and 8 inspectorates and authorities are working on a safe notification process for whistleblowers
The Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) will be working even more closely together with other government bodies to make things easier for whistleblowers. Thanks to the cooperation agreement we signed with eight other authorities, whistleblowers will have a clearer idea of where to go.
Safe working environment important to nuclear safety
Whistleblowers expose wrongdoings. Increasing attention is being paid to integrity and social safety in the workplace, leading to more and more people speaking out about situations that they believe do not meet the standard.
Our chair of the board, Annemiek van Bolhuis, explains: “The system of nuclear safety cannot function without a safe working environment in which employees dare to talk about wrongdoings that can lead to unsafe situations. This is why we have been working hard for many years to protect whistleblowers working for our licensees. Since 2016, they can notify us anonymously if they are unable or unwilling to notify their own employers.”
Cooperation protocol is a real milestone
Eight inspectorates and authorities will be working more closely in various policy areas. These government institutions will share experiences, and will agree on how to work together if a notification is of interest to multiple inspectorates or authorities. This will make it easier for whistleblowers to report wrongdoings. “This cooperation protocol is a real milestone: inspectorates and authorities in various policy areas will be working even more closely together to better protect whistleblowers”, says Annemiek.
We will be working more closely with the following inspectorates and authorities:
- the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets;
- the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets;
- the Dutch Data Protection Authority;
- de Nederlandsche Bank N.V.;
- the Whistleblowers Authority;
- the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate;
- the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and
- the Dutch Healthcare Authority.
ANVS has been appointed the competent authority
On 18 February 2023, the new Whistleblower Protection Act took effect. The Act provides even more legal protection for whistleblowers. Various authorities have also been appointed competent authorities. In the aforementioned Act, the Authority has been appointed the competent authority as regards notifications of wrongdoings in the following areas:
- nuclear safety and radiation protection;
- the relevant Euratom Directives such as those that apply to the nuclear safety of nuclear facilities and the basic safety standards for radiation protection.
More information
Do you think that a company you are working for or with is violating the rules? And are the rules in question ones that the Authority monitors? For example, a possible violation or wrongdoing in the area of nuclear safety or radiation protection at one of our licensees? If this is the case, please notify the Authority (in Dutch).