Employee participation, developing safety committees

Enough can t be said about the importance of employee participation in safety. The more participation, the more ownership. When employees believe they own something, they will value it. Management must develop a system that invests time and money in employee participation. The system should include and encourage participation in safety education, membership in the safety committee, making safety suggestions, and communication. 

Safety committee members are selected in a number of ways, such as appointed by members of management, election, volunteers, etc. Length of term may vary from 12 months to 2 years or more. The structure of any committee will be determined by the company philosophy however, it is always beneficial when the employees have a more vital role in the committee. It is important to have a safety professional on the committee to act as a reference and provide direction. The committee must develop clear cut goals and expectations. Employee participation on these committees is discussed in more detail below, along with typical safety and health roles and responsibilities. 

If all of the above listed positions are filled, you will have a large safety committee. The advantage of this is that many safety champions are being developed at one time. That is in alignment with lean thinking—engaging employees in continual improvement activity. Smaller companies may not have the resources to staff a team of that size and may have to ask participants to wear more than one hat. 

In practical terms, employee participation in an effective safety program means providing a role for supervisors, hourly employees, and employee representatives in activities such as procedure development, training development, job safety analysis, incident investigations, health- and safety-related audits, and all aspects of the safety program planning and development process. Probably the most common mechanism for employee participation is participation in health and safety committees (adapted from ANSI/AIHA ZlO-2005). 

So had the safety culture changed Yes The entire culture moved from a reactive mode into a proactive safety mode with the implementation and maintenance of a world s best safety management system led by the management teams. They provided the resources and allowed for the development of those resources, and also participated in the development process by attending the training and getting involved in safety inspections, committees, and recognizing employees. 

---