Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Safety
representatives
Safety representatives are appointed by trade unions to represent their members on health and safety issues. In some workplaces, they have agreed to represent the entire workforce. The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 set out their legal functions, which include:
Safety representatives are entitled to be consulted ‘in good time’ about health and safety measures. ‘In good time’ means that the employer must allow enough time to tell the safety representatives about what is proposed, and for the safety representatives to consult with their fellow workers and get their views. Those views then need to be reported back to the managers before any final decision is made or any action is taken. In emergencies or urgent situations, however, action needs to be taken first.
This process allows the workforce to consider the effect of health and safety changes before they are made. Not only does this mean that procedures or work practices are improved, but workers are more likely to follow procedures they themselves have helped develop.
If two or more safety representatives request the employer to set up a safety committee, the employer must do so within three months of the request. Safety committees can help the employer develop, promote, monitor and amend their health and safety management systems.
Safety committees should:
Managers and representatives should agree who chairs the meetings, how often meetings should be held, and what they hope to achieve.
It is important that safety committees actually review health and safety systems. They should not become reporting centres for matters that should be dealt with by managers.
Occupational accidents and ill health can be signals that risk control measures have failed. If they are properly investigated, this can reveal weaknesses in the control systems which need to be remedied.
A joint investigation with the safety representative is more likely to give employees the confidence to co-operate fully in any investigation, because those involved may not wish to reveal any details in case they are blamed for the accident. Also, what someone says immediately after an accident may affect any subsequent civil compensation claim.
Safety representatives are entitled to contact enforcing authority inspectors, ie a HSE inspector or Local Authority Enforcment Officer. If this is just for information, they can be contacted directly. However, where it is a formal complaint about conditions at the workplace, the inspector will want to know whether it has been reported to the employer.
Inspectors can be contacted anonymously. They will keep the person’s identity secret in such circumstances.
Safety representatives are legally entitled to paid time off for training, which is usually freely available from their trade union or the TUC.
Training course topics can include:
The employer is also required to provide ‘such facilities and assistance as safety representatives may reasonably require’ to carry out their function.
Depending on the circumstances, these could include:
However, this should also include access to specialist assistance. Some information will involve technical details that may not be easily understood. During inspections, safety representatives may need to have detailed points explained. Therefore employers should also make sure that support is given to safety representatives so that technical information can be more easily understood.
Any disagreements between employers and employees about the interpretation of the Regulations should be resolved through the normal ways of resolving employment relations disputes. In certain circumstances it may be helpful to involve the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).