Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Health And Safety Committee?

Recent conversations whilst delivering training have highlighted for me the recognition and growing importance of the Health and Safety Committee (HSC). This important, legal forum for consultation seems to be drawing greater traction in medium to large organisations.

The purpose of this in depth article is to address some of the more common questions that are asked regarding HSCs. As such, it addresses the following:

• When must an employer establish an HSC?
• Who should be on an HSC?
• What are the functions of an HSC?
• How often must an HSC meet?
• Can an HSC determine its own procedures?
• Does membership of an HSC impose legal duties on the employee members?
• How large should an HSC be?
• What applies in a small workplace?
• Should an HSC be used for resolving health and safety disputes?

HAZCON has developed a Training workshop package that may assist you if you are establishing or re-establishing an HSC or wish revisit the effectiveness of a current HSC.

Details may be found here https://www.hazcon.com.au/hsr-health-and-safety-forum.html

The workshop is generic but may be tailored to include any of your relevant OHS policies and procedures.

For more information please contact training@hazcon.com.au  

Introduction

Under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) the responsibility for dealing with health and safety issues at the workplace rests with the employer. The HSC however, has a major consultative role to play on an ongoing basis. HSCs are established by employers in consultation with employees and are a way for employers and employees to meet regularly and work co-operatively to plan and develop policies and procedures that improve health and safety outcomes. HSCs bring together employees’ knowledge and experience of work and the employer’s perspective of the workplace and business requirements.

The Act recognises the benefits of employee involvement in OHS matters. Employees are entitled, and should be encouraged, to be represented in health and safety issues. Employers and employees should exchange information and ideas about risks to health and safety and measures that can be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks.

When must an employer establish an HSC?

An employer must establish an HSC within three months after being requested to do so by a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) or if required by the OHS Regulations 2017 to do so. Penalties may apply to contraventions of this requirement. Note that an employer may decide to establish a HSC without any such request.

Who should be on an HSC?

At least half the membership of an HSC must be employees (and, so far as practicable, HSRs or Deputy HSRs) of the employer. For example, if the number of employee positions on an HSC is less than the number of willing and available HSRs, then all the employee positions should be HSRs. The HSRs should decide jointly which of them will join the HSC.

Employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult with employees when determining the membership of any HSC. Penalties may apply to contraventions of these provisions.

Employer representatives on the HSC should be persons involved at senior management levels in the organisation who are able to make decisions about health and safety. Employer representatives should be drawn from senior managers, line managers, supervisors, safety officers, technical experts and personnel officers. This ensures that the HSC is provided with the necessary knowledge and expertise regarding matters including, for example, company policy, production needs, financial authority and technical matters concerning premises, processes, plant (including machinery and equipment) and systems of work.

Employer representatives should include someone who can either authorise budgets or expenditures. Where specialist health and safety personnel are not members of the committee, the HSC may consider inviting them in an advisory capacity. In other words, the employer representation on the committee should be such that the committee has all the information, experience and skills it needs to deal with health and safety issues in the workplace.

What are the functions of an HSC?

The functions of an HSC as set out in the OHS Act are very broad and aimed at creating an environment of co-operation between employer and employees. The functions include:

• facilitating co-operation between employer and employees in instigating, developing and carrying out measures designed to ensure the health and safety at work of the employees;
• to formulate, review, and disseminate to the employees the standards, rules and procedures relating to health and safety that are to be carried out or complied with at the workplace (where appropriate these should be in other languages).

In addition, other functions may be determined and agreed on by the committee and the employer, provided they are consistent with the OHS Act. HSC members should clearly define and document agreed objectives. In general, HSCs should consider broad concerns, including for example, health and safety issues that are common to the workplace at large, and to planning, implementing and monitoring programs to address these issues in accordance with the OHS Act. In this way, the activities of the HSC will be complementary to the role of the HSRs, whose powers are generally limited to issues affecting their particular DWG unless there is an immediate risk, or another HSR is absent or a member of another DWG asks for their assistance.

How often must an HSC meet?

An HSC must meet at least once every three months and at any other time if at least half of the members require a meeting. However, the committee members may decide that more frequent regular meetings are necessary. Issues that may be relevant when determining the frequency of meetings include the:

• likely volume of work to be handled by the committee;
• size of the workplace or area covered by the committee;
• number of employees and DWGs covered;
• kind of work carried out;
• nature and degree of risk across the workplace or area covered by the committee.

Reasonable time should be allowed during each meeting to ensure discussion of all business. Importantly, the employer should ensure that work arrangements are such that all employee members of the HSC are able to attend, during paid time.

Can an HSC determine its own procedures?

An HSC may determine its own procedures for organising and conducting meetings, subject to the OHS Act. It is recommended that the dates of the meetings, as far as possible, be arranged well in advance, even to the extent of planning a program six months or a year ahead. In these circumstances, all members of the committee and all HSRs and DHSRs in the workplace (not all may be members of the HSC) should be given a personal copy of the program listing the dates of the meetings. Notices of the dates of meetings should also be published where all employees can see them. All HSC members should get a copy of the agenda and accompanying papers at least one week before each meeting. Every effort should be made to ensure scheduled meetings take place. Where postponement cannot be avoided, an agreed date for an alternative meeting should be made and announced as soon as possible.

In certain workplaces, it might be useful for the HSC to appoint sub-committees to study and report on particular health and safety issues. The HSC should decide whether to record full and detailed minutes of meetings or simply to keep summary notes. Where notes are preferred to minutes, these should include details of decisions made, who is responsible for carrying out these decisions, and the timetable for action.

A copy of agreed minutes or notes of each meeting should be supplied as soon as possible after the meeting to each member of the HSC and a copy sent to each HSR for the DWGs covered by the committee. A copy of the minutes or notes should also be sent to the most senior executive responsible for OHS, and arrangements should be made to ensure that senior management is kept informed generally of the work of the committee.

Enough copies of the notes or minutes should be displayed or made available by other means for the information of employees.

Does membership of an HSC impose legal duties on the employee members?

There are no duties imposed by the OHS Act on employee members (including HSRs) of the HSC other than those imposed on all employees in the workplace under section 25 (duties of employees) of the OHS Act.

How large should an HSC be?

The overall aim, while keeping the size manageable, should be to ensure that the HSC is representative of the workplace. In large workplaces, a single committee may be too large and unwieldy or too small to reflect adequately the needs of the workplace. In these circumstances, it may be necessary to set up several committees with communication links for co-ordination between them.

What applies in a small workplace?

Although there is nothing to prevent a small business from establishing an HSC, such committees are more common in medium to large workplaces. Large workplaces tend to involve more complex management structures than small workplaces; therefore, HSCs are often an effective means of coordinating a systematic approach to health and safety across the organisation.

However, small workplaces that do not have an HSC should nevertheless involve staff in developing policies and procedures and in periodically reviewing their effectiveness in line with the employers’ duty to consult with employees on OHS matters. In workplaces with HSRs, this must be done through the HSR.

Should an HSC be used for resolving health and safety disputes?

No. Health and safety dispute resolution is not an appropriate function for HSCs. Dispute resolution requires specific procedures and the nature of committees makes them unsuitable for resolving issues.

Further information on the basics of consultation may be found here on the WorkSafe website. https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/consultation-safety-basics