Forming committees
Page 74
Page 75
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IN THE first article in this series on the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1978, I dealt briefly with Regulation 6, which empowers safety representatives to carry out inspections following notifiable accidents, occurrences and diseases.
In the guidance notes in the Health and Safety Commission's booklet, it is suggested that the main purpose of this examination should be to determine the cause of the accident, so that the possibility of action to prevent a recurrence can be considered.
For this reason it is important that the approach to the problem ,should be a joint one by the employer and the safety representative. These examinations may include visual inspections of the scene and discussions with witnesses of the occurrence. The guidance notes go on to say that there must be no interference with any evidence or the testing of any machinery, plant, equipment or ,substance which could disturb or destroy the factual evidence before any inspector from the appropriate enforcing authority has had the opportunity to investigate as thoroughly as is necessary all the circumstances of the accident or occurrence.
This is an extremely important point; vital evidence can be so easily destroyed by the thoughtless action of a well-meaning but unskilled person.
The notes also point out that the necessary expertise may be available within the undertaking, or that it may be necessary to seek advice from the appropriate university or polytechnic, and that such arrangement should be agreed between the safety representative and the employer.
Safety Committees
When two safety representatives request the employer, in writing, to form a safety committee, he is obliged to do so within three months (Regulation 9).
On receiving the request, he must consult with the safety representatives who made the request and the representatives of the trade unions whose members work in the workplace.
The employer must post a notice, in a place where it may easily be read by the employees, stating the composition of the committee and the workplace or workplaces covered by it. Nothing is said in the Regulations about the composition or op of safety committees, but in the guidance notes the following poil emerge '(a) The membership and structure of the committee should settled in consultation between management and trade union; I 'aim should be to keep the total size as reasonably compact possible.
(b) Management and employees should be equally represent( Serving on the committee on the management side should b( ,representative of line management, the works engineer, personr manager and supervisors, Quite obviously in smaller firms thE • posts will be filled by one and the same man so, presumably, he v sit on the committee and represent all the varying interests.
(c) Management representation should be aimed at ensuri adequate authority to give proper consideration to views a recommendations and to provide the necessary knowledge a expertise to give accurate information to the committee on compa policy in relation to premises, processes, plant, machinery a equipment. Certain experts may be ex-officio members of t committees and other company specialists may be co-opted particular meetings when subjects on which they have exp, knowledge are to be discussed. Membership of safety committees must be regarded as a part of an individual's normal work; he must not suffer loss of pay through attendance at meetings or at other agreed activities, such as inspections.
Safety committees should study accidents which occur at their works, not for the purpose of allocating blame but to stop similar accidents happening again.
The guidance notes point out that there are advantages in looking not only at notifiable cases but also at selected groups of minor injuries. The record of such injuries can yield valuable information if it is extracted and analysed.
Meetings should be held as often as necessary, the frequency depending on the volume of business to be dealt with. The size of the workplace, the number of employees and the kind of work undertaken are all factors which will contribute to the number of meetings to be held each year.
It is suggested in the guidance notes, that a programme of .3etings six months or a year ahead should be planned and that ch member of the committee should be sent a personal copy of a programme. Meetings should not be cancelled except in very ceptional circumstances.
The committee should be run on business-like lines, agreed nutes should be kept and a personal copy supplied to each rnber of the committee and to the safety representatives. Copies of the minutes should be sent to the most senior executive responsible for health and safety and the board of directors should be kept informed about the general work of the committee.
All that has been said is very relevant where big companies are concerned. One can imagine a very active and perhaps successful safety committee looking after a big vehicle repair shop.
There is nothing in the Regulations, however, which limits the requirement for safety committees to large undertakings. A haulier, with a staff of 20, is just as liable to have to set up a safety committee if requested to do so by two safety representatives as a large bus company with several hundred employees.
It will be remembered that the safety representatives are appointed by the trade unions, so it is really at the requirement of the unions that the safety committee is set up.
The work of safety committees would appear to be particularly difficult in looking after the safety of drivers. Supposing, for example, that a driver complains of a dangerous situation at a customer's loading bay 200 miles from his base, where he regularly unloads. How does the safety committee deal with this situation?
Presumably the management's representative on the committee could inform the customer of the complaint, but it would seem impossible for him to insist on anything being done. The trade union representatives could get in touch with their "'brothers" at the customer's premises, but suppose it is a non-union shop, or the staff belonged to a different union. What then?
Whether we like it or not, there is no doubt that there will be many requests for safety committees to be set up when the Regulations become effective on October 1, 1978.
It is also certain that there will have to be the closest co-operation between management and the trade unions if the committees are to run harmoniously and do the job which government intends them to It might be prudent to start organising a safety committee now rather than to wait until one is forced by the trade unions to do so. After all, the object of the safety committee is to stop accidents and perhaps to save lives. If the initiative comes from management, it may be regarded as a gesture of goodwill and may get the organisation off to a good start.