Joint union-management inspections

Directors and departmental safety officers generally gave less detailed responses to questions about company systems for health and safety than ones about policy. They all referred to two main checks on policy, namely inspections and audits. Only two referred to joint union—management inspections, the majority thinking of inspections as a managerial task. Inspections were the most frequently cited check on policy by the rest of the sample. Audits however were mentioned by just six managers and nobody else, although as one safety officer explained, this is because their introduction was relatively recent ... 

There were a number of important ways in which occupational health and safety legislation incorporates the workforce, through its safety representatives, into the routine regulation of health and safety. Safety representatives, managers, and supervisors were asked about two of these, namely joint union-management safety committees and workplace inspections. 

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