NBN R 03-001: what automotive employers need to know

Electric and hybrid vehicle safety in Belgium is often discussed in terms of certificates. HEV1. HEV2. HEV3. Who has which level? Is the certificate still valid? Who needs to renew?

Those are useful questions. But they are not the first questions an automotive employer should ask.

The more fundamental question is: how are we controlling the risks created by work on electrically propelled vehicles in our organisation?

That is why NBN R 03-001 deserves more attention than it often receives. A sectoral HEV certificate can show that an individual has completed a defined programme and passed the corresponding assessment. NBN R 03-001 goes one level higher. It provides a framework for controlling risk during interventions on electrically propelled road vehicles and for organising safe work around those vehicles.

A certificate belongs to a person. Safety belongs to the employer.

Belgian occupational-safety rules place responsibility on the employer to analyse risks, define preventive measures, provide appropriate training and instructions, and ensure that people performing electrical work have the competence required for the tasks assigned to them.

That principle is important because it prevents a dangerous shortcut: “The technician has a certificate, therefore we are covered.” You are not.

A certificate can be valuable evidence. It can support a competence decision. It can give the employer confidence that a recognised learning and assessment pathway has been completed. But it does not replace the employer’s own risk analysis, work organisation, procedures, equipment, authorisations or supervision.

"This is exactly the difference between certification and risk management."

What NBN R 03-001 actually does

NBN R 03-001:2021 is the Belgian standard titled “Electrically propelled road vehicles - Controlling risks during interventions”. It is active and was published in May 2021.

Its scope is deliberately practical. It addresses the control of risks during technical interventions on electrically propelled road vehicles in categories M, N and L. It also covers the safe storage of damaged or potentially damaged vehicles and components that present electrical hazards.

In other words, the standard is not simply about what a technician should know. It is about how work should be organised so that people can intervene safely. That immediately broadens the conversation from training into operational safety.

Sectoral HEV certification is valuable, but it is one part of the system

The Belgian automotive sector has a well-established HEV certification structure. EDUCAM, for example, uses several levels linked to the activities people perform, from sensitised employees through qualified and specialised employees. Certificates are obtained after defined training and assessment and are valid for a specified period.

That structure has real value. It creates a common language. It provides an objective assessment pathway. It makes competence more visible across employers and training providers.

But even EDUCAM’s own guidance starts from the workplace. The organisation explicitly links HEV training choices to the employer’s risk analysis and to the tasks employees perform.

That is the crucial point. The certificate should follow the risk and the job. The job should not be designed around the certificate.

Why the standard is the more important starting point

Imagine two workshops.

Workshop A has ten HEV2-certified technicians. But nobody has clearly defined who may make which vehicle safe, the isolation procedure differs by brand, damaged EVs have no designated storage process, PPE inspection is inconsistent and responsibilities are assumed rather than assigned.

Workshop B has fewer certificates. But the employer has completed a robust risk analysis, mapped tasks and responsibilities, defined who may perform which interventions, trained people accordingly, documented procedures, provided appropriate equipment and created clear escalation rules.

Which workshop has the stronger safety system? The answer should be obvious. Certification matters. But certification without organisational implementation creates false confidence.

Competence has to be task-specific

Not everyone who encounters an EV needs the same capability. A receptionist who moves a vehicle, a roadside technician, a body repairer, a diagnostic technician and someone working on live high-voltage components all encounter different risks.

The same is true inside one technical role. A technician may be competent to make one vehicle architecture electrically safe and still require additional instruction before performing a less familiar intervention.

Competence therefore needs to connect four things: the person, the task, the vehicle and the risk. That is much more useful than treating “HEV trained” as a binary status.

Training providers cannot authorise your employees for you

This principle is familiar from BA4/BA5 practice more broadly. The Belgian Federal Public Service Employment is explicit that BA4 and BA5 indicate competencies assigned by the employer. A generic course alone does not magically create a universal authorisation. The employer must consider the actual installation, risks, work and procedures, and must determine what the employee is competent and authorised to do.

For automotive employers, the lesson is the same. External training can develop and assess competence. A sectoral certificate can document that achievement. But the employer still owns the decision about how that competence is deployed safely inside the organisation.

Think beyond technicians

One reason NBN R 03-001 is strategically important is that EV risk does not stop at the lift.

• Who accepts a damaged vehicle, and who is allowed to move it?
• Where can it be parked, and how is an electrically hazardous vehicle identified?
• Who controls access to that area?
• What happens when a battery shows signs of thermal instability?
• How are contractors, bodyshops or roadside partners informed?
• Who confirms that an HV system has been made safe before another person begins work?

These are organisational questions. A technician certificate cannot answer them.

The practical hierarchy: standard first, certification second

1. Understand the applicable legal requirements and the NBN R 03-001 framework.
2. Analyse the risks created by the EV-related activities in your organisation.
3. Map roles, tasks, responsibilities and required competence.
4. Define procedures, equipment, authorisations and escalation routes.
5. Select training and, where valuable, sectoral certification that supports those competence requirements.
6. Verify that people can perform the work safely in the real workplace.
7. Reassess when vehicles, tools, procedures or tasks change.

That order matters. Starting with “Which certificate should everyone get?” may feel simpler, but it can create both overtraining and dangerous gaps.

The goal is not certification. The goal is controlled risk.

This is not an argument against HEV certification. Quite the opposite. A strong certification scheme is an excellent component of a professional safety approach. It creates consistency and gives employers useful external evidence of learning and assessment.

But certificates become meaningful only when they sit inside a functioning safety system. For automotive employers, NBN R 03-001 is important because it helps frame that system.

The question therefore should not be: “Are our people HEV certified?” It should be: “Can we demonstrate that the right people are competent, authorised, equipped and organised to perform the right work safely?”

"That is a higher bar. And for high-voltage work, it is the bar that matters."

IAS develops technical safety programmes around the work itself: risk, role, procedure, practice and competence. Sectoral certification can be part of that solution, but it should never be mistaken for the solution.

Sources

• NBN, NBN R 03-001:2021 - Electrically propelled road vehicles - Controlling risks during interventions (active standard, published 26 May 2021).
• Belgian Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue - Electrical installations and AREI: employer risk assessment, training and instructions, BA4/BA5 competence assignment.
• EDUCAM - HEV safety certification framework (HEV1, HEV2, HEV3), validity and recognised operators.