Woerden, November 24, 2025 — More than a quarter of construction companies do not yet meet Level 3 of the Safety Culture Ladder (SCL). This is evident from an analysis by SafetyFirst, part of Pro4all. As of July 1, 2026, this level will be mandatory for participation in government tenders. Consequently, a large part of the construction sector faces a major challenge regarding safety culture.
The Safety Culture Ladder, known in the Netherlands as the Veiligheidsladder, was developed to structurally embed safety and awareness in organizations. The model has five levels, from reactive (step 2) to fully integrated (step 5). According to NEN, the administrator of the SCL 2.0 certification scheme, certification based exclusively on this updated version will apply from 2025. Consequently, the requirements are stricter, and the emphasis is strongly on leadership, exemplary behavior, and culture. The analysis by VeiligWerk and the NEN public register show the following distribution:
Level 1 – 122 unique companies (6.1%)
Level 2 – 426 unique companies (21.3%)
Level 3 – 1,244 unique companies (62.1%)
Level 4 – 187 unique companies (9.3%)
Level 5 – 25 unique companies (1.2%)
This means that more than a quarter of the companies are still below the mandatory standard.
As of July 1, 2026, public contracts may only be awarded to companies that have achieved at least Level 3. Major clients such as Rijkswaterstaat, ProRail, and TenneT have stipulated this in the Governance Code Safety in Construction. Companies that lag behind run the risk of being excluded from participation, regardless of their price or quality.
“The figures show that there is still much to be gained within the sector. This is not just about meeting certification requirements, but specifically about the safety of thousands of employees,” says Bart van Muijen, CEO of Pro4All. “The path to Level 3 can take months to a year. That is precisely why this is the moment for many companies to start and stay ahead of the competition.”
%201.svg)
