Can emergency buttons make Puurs-Sint-Amands staff safer when aggression erupts?
Puurs-Sint-Amands has activated fixed and wearable emergency buttons for municipal employees following incidents of verbal and physical aggression, giving staff a discreet way to summon trained colleagues and, where necessary, the emergency services.
The system gives frontline employees a faster and less conspicuous way to request assistance when a public-service encounter becomes threatening. For residents, the challenge is to preserve open, accessible municipal services while protecting workers and ensuring that misunderstandings, frustration or language barriers are not automatically treated as aggression.
has put a new emergency-button system into operation for municipal employees working at public counters, in meeting rooms and on home visits, following incidents of verbal and physical aggression. The practical change is straightforward: staff who feel threatened can discreetly press a fixed button or activate a wearable device instead of first reaching for a telephone. reported on 25 August that the equipment had been tested and was ready for use.
The Dutch-language system is described locally as noodknoppen or paniekknoppen. Fixed buttons have been installed beneath desks at counters, reception points and consultation rooms in the gemeentehuis, according to . An alert is sent to tablets distributed around the building so trained colleagues can respond and contact the emergency services when required. About 50 watch-style devices are available for employees working away from municipal premises, including those making potentially difficult home visits. The wearable devices can also issue an automatic alert if the user loses consciousness, Mayor Koen Van den Heuvel told the newspaper.
The municipality invested approximately €20,000 in the system, reported. Van den Heuvel said serious incidents remained rare in but included verbal abuse, occasional physical aggression and an episode in which someone threw a brick towards the reception area. The mayor presented the devices as a source of greater reassurance for employees, rather than evidence that ordinary contact with the gemeente or OCMW has become broadly unsafe.
## Why a button is only one part of the response
Official records show that the measure was developed over many months. In November 2025, the OCMW council considered a proposal for a discreet alarm system for social workers on home visits. The approved municipal record says an organisation-wide working group had already reviewed procedures after incidents in the town hall and the killing of OCMW social worker Erik Boone during a home visit in August 2025. The review covered not only social workers but also reception and civil-status staff, technical employees, library and community-service personnel, carers and cleaners working in residents’ homes.
also began providing EHBA training—Eerste Hulp Bij Agressie, or first aid in cases of aggression—and continued developing response procedures alongside the procurement of the alarms, according to the council decision. The supplier is expected to provide further training so employees know what an alert means, who should respond and when police or medical assistance should be requested.
That operational detail matters. An emergency button can shorten the time needed to call for help, but its value depends on reliable coverage, rehearsed procedures, available responders and systematic follow-up after an incident. The Belgian says employers must assess psychosocial risks, including violence from customers, clients and other third parties, and adopt suitable preventive measures. For workers exposed to potentially traumatic events, employers must also establish emergency procedures intended to prevent or limit post-traumatic stress.
## What employees elsewhere in Belgium can do
Anyone working for a Belgian commune, gemeente, OCMW or CPAS who faces aggression should first follow the employer’s immediate safety procedure and contact the emergency services where danger is imminent. Afterwards, the employee can ask the vertrouwenspersoon in Dutch, personne de confiance in French, or the prevention adviser responsible for psychosocial matters how the incident will be recorded and what support is available. These contact details should appear in the work regulations or internal staff information.
Belgian employers whose personnel deal with members of the public must maintain a register of incidents involving third parties, the federal employment administration explains. An employee who believes they experienced workplace violence, harassment or unwanted sexual conduct by a third party must be able to have a statement entered in that register. Entries are normally kept for five years, and the employee’s identity is generally omitted unless they agree to its inclusion.
There is an important legal distinction: recording an event in the register is not the same as filing a formal request for psychosocial intervention, and registration alone does not automatically activate protection against reprisals. Employees considering a formal procedure should therefore speak to the prevention adviser for psychosocial aspects rather than assume an incident report completes every necessary step. The federal portal werk.belgie.be provides Dutch and French explanations, procedures and a model third-party incident register.
Employers must also designate specialised psychological support for workers affected by violence from third parties, according to the same federal guidance. Where the cost is not covered through social security—for example through recognition as an occupational accident—the employer must pay for that specialised intervention.
## A wider Flemish reassessment
The installation belongs to a broader review of safety in Flemish public services after Boone’s death. The Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities, , said in August 2026 that numerous OCMWs had revised aggression protocols, altered waiting and interview rooms, introduced alarms for home visits and made incidents a regular subject of team discussions. VVSG’s recent monitoring nevertheless found that most client conversations remained neutral or smooth. It classified an average of 14% as more difficult while stressing that a difficult conversation does not automatically involve aggression and that explicit aggression was reported infrequently.
This distinction is important for residents, including newcomers who may already find Belgian administration intimidating. Safety measures should protect employees without turning an ordinary disagreement, incomplete file or language difficulty into a security event. In Dutch-speaking , residents should expect municipal services principally in Dutch. Someone who does not understand a decision or requested document can ask staff to repeat the explanation, provide written instructions or indicate whether interpretation support is possible; availability is not guaranteed, and bringing a trusted interpreter may be useful for a complex appointment.
For the municipality, the next test is no longer installation but performance: whether alerts reach the right people, whether staff feel confident using them and whether incident records reveal recurring risks that require changes to rooms, staffing or appointment procedures. has not publicly provided a target response time, a full incident count or evaluation criteria for the system. Those are the figures to watch when the gemeente assesses whether the buttons deliver more than a safer feeling.
Impact
Regional — The measure reflects a wider reassessment of aggression protocols among Flemish local authorities and OCMWs following the killing of a Ghent social worker during a home visit in August 2025.
Local — Employees at the Puurs-Sint-Amands municipal building can now trigger fixed alarms that send alerts to tablets held inside the premises, allowing trained colleagues to respond without an overt call for help. About 50 wearable devices extend that protection to staff working elsewhere in the municipality, including employees making home visits or working alone. Residents should continue to have access to municipal and OCMW services, but threatening encounters can now prompt a faster internal response and, where necessary, contact with emergency services.
What it means for you
Residents using Puurs-Sint-Amands municipal or OCMW services do not need to register, pay a fee or take action because of the new system. During a threatening encounter, an employee may discreetly activate an alarm, bringing trained colleagues and potentially emergency services into the response. Municipal employees should follow their employer’s alarm, reporting and follow-up procedures and record relevant third-party aggression in the required register. Staff should also know that logging an incident alone does not amount to submitting a formal psychosocial-intervention request; that remains a separate workplace procedure.
Opposing perspectives
- Municipal management and frontline staff
The municipality presents discreet alarms, trained responders and aggression-response instruction as practical safeguards that can shorten the time needed to summon help and give employees greater confidence at counters or during home visits.
- Public-service accessibility advocates
Residents’ advocates and social-service professionals have an interest in ensuring that tighter security does not stigmatise OCMW clients or turn ordinary frustration, incomplete paperwork and language difficulties into security incidents. They favour prevention, clear communication and de-escalation alongside alarms.
- Workplace-prevention specialists
Belgian federal guidance treats equipment as one component of a broader prevention policy. Risk assessment, staff training, incident registration, room design, emergency procedures and psychological support remain necessary because a button cannot prevent every confrontation or address its causes.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
City where a social worker was killed during a home visit in August 2025, intensifying concern about staff safety.
Flemish province in which Puurs-Sint-Amands is located.
Antwerp province municipality introducing fixed and wearable emergency alarms for its employees.
Municipal building where fixed alarms transmit alerts to tablets held inside the premises.
Public-service news outlet reporting on the Puurs-Sint-Amands alarm rollout.
Show the full library (13)
Antwerp province municipality introducing fixed and wearable emergency alarms for its employees.
Flemish province in which Puurs-Sint-Amands is located.
Municipal building where fixed alarms transmit alerts to tablets held inside the premises.
City where a social worker was killed during a home visit in August 2025, intensifying concern about staff safety.
August 2025 incident cited as a catalyst for wider safety reassessments by Flemish local authorities and OCMWs.
Belgian workplace framework requiring risk assessment, preventive measures and registration of relevant incidents involving third parties.
Separate workplace procedure that is not initiated merely by recording an aggression incident.
Public-service news outlet reporting on the Puurs-Sint-Amands alarm rollout.
Local public social-welfare institution whose public-facing and visiting staff are covered by the safety measure.
Federal authority explaining employer duties concerning psychosocial risks and misconduct by third parties.
Association of Flemish cities and municipalities highlighting the continuing importance of social-worker and local-government staff safety.
Belgian newspaper reporting the approximately €20,000 investment in emergency alarms.
Fixed and wearable safety system used to summon trained colleagues and, where necessary, emergency services.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceVRT NWS — Noodknoppen moeten personeel van Puurs-Sint-Amands een veiliger gevoel geven na gevallen van agressiePrimaryprimary· vrtnws.be· 25 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 38 days ago· Dated
- View sourceHet Nieuwsblad — Puurs-Sint-Amands investeert 20.000 euro in noodknoppen tegen agressiecorroborating· nieuwsblad.be· 25 August 2026Retrieved 26 August 2026· 38 days ago· Dated
- View sourceOCMW Puurs-Sint-Amands — Council decision list on a discreet alarm systemofficial· puurs-sint-amands-echo.cipalschaubroeck.be· 24 November 2025Retrieved 26 August 2026· 312 days ago· Dated
- View sourceFederal Public Service Employment — Risk analysis and preventive measures for misconduct by third partiesofficial· werk.belgie.beRetrieved 26 August 2026
Related topics
Related to this story
Pulse Insight — This topic connects to 10 associations and 2 funding programmes through the Flanders ecosystem.
Live connections from the Belgium Impulse ecosystem — not recommendations.
This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.