Brussels, 15 September 2026

Note for the attention of Mr Piotr Serafin

Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration

Subject: Serious workplace accident on 14 August 2026 at Treurenberg – Follow-up, protective measures and preventive actions implemented

On Friday 14 August 2026, shortly before midday, an accident occurred at Treurenberg in Brussels, where the SRB’s headquarters are located.

The fire brigade and Sibelga attended the scene to stop the gas leak. Unfortunately, whilst they were carrying out their work, two explosions occurred inside the building. Sergeant-Major O.F. succumbed to his injuries. A firefighter and two Sibelga staff members were seriously injured.

This serious accident, which resulted in the death of a rescue worker, took place in a European Union building. Fortunately, the SRB colleagues were able to be evacuated before the explosions occurred.

Solidarity is one of the fundamental values of our institution and the European Union. We would therefore like to be informed of the support measures and/or specific actions that the institution has put in place to support the families of the victims Sergeant Major O. F., who lost his life during this operation, as well as the three injured persons.  True to its values, R&D is committed to demonstrating its practical support for the families of the victims of the deceased and the three injured persons.

The Belgian Code on Well-being at Work, Book 1, Title 6, Chapter I^{er 1} sets out the measures to be taken in the event of a serious accident at work, including, amongst other things, an investigation by the prevention services into the accident to establish the causes, propose preventive measures to prevent a recurrence of the accident, and draw up a detailed report comprising at least the following elements:

1. The identification of the victims and their employers;
2. A detailed description of the scene of the accident;
3. A detailed description of the circumstances of the accident, including visual evidence;
4. The primary, secondary and tertiary causes identified ² ;
5. Any other causes identified, including psychosocial causes such as work-related stress or burnout, work-related conflicts, or violence, psychological or sexual harassment at work;
6. Recommendations aimed at preventing a recurrence of the accident;
7. The identification of the person or persons referred to in Article I.6-4 and the occupational health and safety services that contributed to the preparation of the report;
8. The identification of the persons who drew up the report;
9. The identification of the persons to whom a copy of the report was sent.

Given that this accident took place on premises reportedly managed by the OIB/SIPP and in accordance with the host country’s current regulations, as a social partner and with a view to preventing a recurrence of the accident in all buildings across all places of employment, we would like to know:

• Who commissioned the works?
• Was a risk assessment carried out before work began, including, in particular, plans of the gas pipework?
• Was this risk assessment provided to the contractor before work commenced?
• Who gave the go-ahead for the works to commence, and on what grounds?
• Was Sibelga informed of these works?

We request that the host country’s current regulations be strictly enforced and that the following be officially communicated to SRB staff:

• The measures to be taken to prevent a recurrence of the accident;
• An action plan, including the timeframes within which the measures will be implemented and the justification for these timeframes.

Furthermore, we request that the report, together with the action plan and the measures to prevent a recurrence of the accident, be presented to the Health & Safety Committees, CPPT and the CSHT, so that the relevant committee can monitor the situation and to serve as a preventive measures for other committees.

Finally, we would like to know whether this building has been the scene of any other accidents in the past, whether there is a record of all accidents, near-misses or other incidents, and how the SRB and the SIPP/OIB have responded to prevent further accidents from occurring.

Cristiano SEBASTIANI,

Chair

Copy:

Mr Grzegorz RADZIEJEWSKI, Head of Cabinet Serafin ; Ms Ana CARRERO YUBERO, Member of Cabinet Serafin

Mr Stephen QUEST, Director-General; Mr Christian ROQUES, Deputy Director-General for Operations;

Mr Ilkka SALMI, Deputy Director-General – Security, Workplace and Wellbeing, Ms Susan PANTER, Director Workplace

& Wellbeing;  Mr Christian LINDER, Director HR.F; Mr Stanislav DEMIRDJIEV, Head of Unit HR.F.4 – HR

Mr John BERRIGAN, Director-General FISMA

Ms Dominique LABOUREIX, Chair of the Single Resolution Board (SRB)

Mr Morten FJALLAND, Director OIB; Ms. Marie SODER HIGGINS, OIB.RIPP; Mr Carlo CHEMALY, SIPP

Health & Safety Committees: CPPT and CSHT

SRB Staff Committee

Staff

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¹ Code on Well-being at Work | FPS Employment – Labour and Social Dialogue

² The following definitions apply:

a) primary causes: the material facts that made the accident possible, in particular, missing or incorrectly used PPE, or a missing or bypassed safety guard on a machine;

b) secondary causes: causes of an organisational nature, as a result of which the primary causes arose, in particular, a risk assessment not having been carried out, a missing instruction, inadequate monitoring of compliance with instructions, or an internal department not functioning correctly;

c) tertiary causes: material or organisational causes attributable to third parties, in particular, a design or manufacturing fault in a machine imported from abroad, or incorrect advice provided by an external department or by a SECT.

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Annex :

SRB statement on the tragic incident on its premises

Firefighter killed in gas explosions near Brussels Central, three others injured

Bruxelles-Central : un pompier décède après l’explosion de gaz · InfoMinute

Explosions dans le centre de Bruxelles après une fuite de gaz : un pompier décède, trois autres personnes grièvement blessées (VIDÉO) – La DH/Les Sports+

https://www.dhnet.be/videos/2026/08/14/deux-deflagrations-dans-le-centre-de-bruxelles-suite-a-une-fuite-de-gaz-trois-blesses-3vff0uz/ Un pompier tué et trois personnes blessées par deux explosions de gaz dans un immeuble au centre de Bruxelles | VRT NWS: le site d’information de référence