H&S Committee

at Work

Why you ask!

Your IRS may need to consider a committee

Workplace safety and health committees and representatives play a valuable role at the office or on the jobsite. They promote a greater safety culture by working to help employers and employees create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace.• The primary role of a safety and health committee

is to monitor the effectiveness of the internal responsibility system (IRS) at the workplace. The IRS is the system of shared duties for workplace safety and health, with employers having the greatest responsibility as a result of having more control over what goes on in the workplace.Committees also act as the go-between for workers and management for occupational health and safety concerns; make recommendations to management to improve workplace safety and health; and ultimately assist in preventing injuries and illnesses at the workplace or on the job site.

Workplace Health and Safety Committee

Health and safety committee consists of worker (employee) and management members. Health and safety legislation specifies how the members on the committee are to be selected. Consult the legislation applicable to your workplace. Joint health and safety committees assist in providing greater protection against workplace injury and illness and deaths. Joint health and safety committees involve representatives from workers and employers. This co-operative involvement ensures that everything possible is done to identify and eliminate or mitigate workplace health and safety hazards. Generally, the management members are selected by the management (employer). The worker members are selected by employees or by the union (if there is one). In some Canadian jurisdictions, the term of office is specified. Where it is not specified, the term of office should be specified in the terms of reference for your committee. The term of office should strike a balance between a short term where a large number of people are introduced to the JHSC and safety and too long when enthusiasm may fade. No matter how long the term is, a staggered rotation is suggested so that new members come in while others continue such that no more than one half of the committee is new at any given time. Note: Reprisals against a health and safety committee member is against the law. An employer, any person acting on behalf of the employer, or any union cannot take discriminatory action against any worker because that person participates in the functions of the committee.

These committees have many duties including the following:• to consider and expeditiously dispose of health and safety

complaints;• to participate in all of the inquiries, investigations, studies

and inspections pertaining to employee health and safety;• to participate in the implementation and monitoring of a

program for the provision of personal protective equipment, clothing, devices, or materials, and, if there is no policy committee, participate in the development of the program;

• to participate in the implementation of changes that may affect occupational health and safety, including work processes and procedures, and, if there is no policy committee, participate in the planning of the implementation of those changes; and

• to inspect all or part of the workplace each month, so that every part of the workplace is inspected at least once a year.

• Employees sitting on the workplace health and safety committee must receive training and compensation for participating in meetings and carrying out their duties.

Policy Committees

The policy committee addresses issues that, because of their nature, cannot be effectively dealt with by individual workplace health and safety committees or representatives. Policy committees strengthen the internal responsibility system by ensuring consistency across an employer's work sites.• The policy committee has many duties including:• to participate in the development of health and safety policies and

programs;• to deal with matters raised by its members or referred to it by a

workplace committee or health and safety representative;• to participate in the development and monitoring of a program for

the prevention of workplace hazards that also provides for the health and safety education of employees; and

• to participate in inquiries, studies, investigations and inspections as it considers necessary.

• The health and safety representative is responsible for addressing workplace health and safety issues. The employees of the workplace who do not exercise managerial functions select, from among those employees, the person to be appointed health and safety representative.

• If the employees are represented by a trade union, then the union selects the person to be appointed after consulting any employees who are not in the union.

IncludeThe health and safety representative's duties include:• to consider and expeditiously dispose of health and safety

complaints;• to ensure that adequate records of work accidents, health

hazards and the disposition of health and safety complaints are kept, and regularly monitor this data;

• to meet with the employer as necessary to address health and safety issues;

• to participate in all inquiries, investigations, studies, and inspections pertaining to the health and safety of employees;

• to cooperate with health and safety officers;• to participate in the implementation planning of changes that

may affect occupational health and safety, including work processes and procedures, and, if there is no policy committee, participate in the implementation planning of those changes;

• to inspect all or part of the workplace each month, so that every part of the workplace is inspected at least once each year; and

• to participate in the development of health and safety policies and programs.

• A health and safety representative may request from an employer any information that the representative considers necessary to identify existing or potential hazards in the workplace.

Should be

Members should be adequately trained in health and safety in order for them to contribute fully to all committee activities. In some jurisdictions, safety training or certification is required by law for employer and worker members. Items in such training should include:• Committee responsibilities/authority. • Occupational health and safety law.• Principles of accident causation. • Hazard recognition.• Job safety analysis.• Industrial hygiene. • Methods of raising safety awareness.• Inspections.• Accident investigation. • Effective oral communication.

A committee person is just not a place at the table