Safety committees employees

Safety committees are also an exceptional opportunity by which to express the need for employees ideas and creativity to address specific safety, health, and loss prevention issues and to acquire their ideas. Additionally, the safety committee members or representatives should be provided the appropriate education and training through which to acquire the ideas properly from the employees and to transfer or communicate these ideas to the committee members. 

It is vitally important that the employees who originally bring ideas are provided feedback as to the status of their ideas. This can be done through the minutes of the safety committee meeting, individual notices, verbal communications through safety committee representatives, or by other methods. 

Consider establishing employee safety committees with union representation (if there are unions at the plant). Consider also setting up a plant process safety working group. 

While Eaton and Nocerino (2000) find the existence of safety committees associated with higher injury claim rates, they also find that greater worker involvement in safety committees leads to better safety outcomes. This is consistent with our expectations concerning employee decision making, including both the number of dimensions (decision making, financial returns, and safety process) that woikers participate in and the degree of that participation. 

Safety committees provide a formal channel through which management and the employees can communicate with regard to process safety issues and overall company culture. There are many references to the involvement of employee representatives in the OSHA standard. These would usually be on the safety committee. If the facility is nonunion, it is essential that the employees representative is selected by the employees, not appointed by management. But it is important to ensure that the committee is not isolated the effective implementation of this element requires that everyone participate in the process safety program. 

In response to the changing industrial scene, process employees have assumed a multifaceted role. Today s employees no longer confine themselves to just production work they are active in safety committees, health issues, public relations, and environmental concerns. However, management now regards safety, health, and environmental responsibility a vital part of all employee s jobs (see Figure 1-3), shared with production and quality goals 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. 

Obviously many people can be engaged in a safety program with the use of subteams. If a company does not want to develop and engage their employees in safety improvement, they can hire a safety director to accomplish all that is noted above. A single lean champion cannot build a lean culture nor can a safety director build world-class safety alone. It will take a team or a committee. The team can be composed of new volunteers and a few staff members who are committed to developing the volunteers. Another option is that the committee can be composed of some current staff members who will tell others they were voluntold by their bosses to be part of the safety committee. Who is going to get your plant to world-class safety ... 

The biggest challenge to both leadership and employees is the declaration of safety amnesty, where employees feel free and confident to report and discuss safety issues no matter how sensitive they may be, without the fear of being victimized. Employees need to report near-miss incidents and other unsafe situations without repercussion so that these can be rectified. A mutual trust must be developed between management and employees, and joint communication safety committees are vital for this purpose. 

The nomination of safety committee members should be done on a democratic basis, and the chairperson likewise elected, where applicable. One of the most important committees to be established under these standards would be the joint management and union safety and health committee. This committee would assist in the setting of standards of accountability of the various persons. It also offers a platform for open and frank safety discussion between management and employee representatives. 

Investigating any complaints by employees concerning their health or safety. Making presentations to the employer or the health and safety committee concerning hazards and threats to people s safety and health. 

Make representations to the management, or the safety committee, concerning hazards and threats to employees safety and health. 

The law is different if there are employees within the organisation who are not represented under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977. 

Finally, encourage the development of a safety culture. Adopt policies and procedures that encourage drivers, and all employees for that matter, to become actively involved in the safety of your workplace. Treat employees fairly, set up safety committees, confer with employees on safety issues, and encourage and reward the reporting of safety problems, or imsafe driving behaviors. 

One way to make the most of employee involvement is to develop safety committees to make safety recommendations. Such committees, chaired by a supervisor, are an easy way to... 

In general, employees should report safety violations to you (the safety director) or their immediate supervisor, and such reports should be kept confidential (for example, safety committees should not be informed of the violation or the identity of the whistleblower). 

Similar rights exist for volunteer or management appointed safety representatives under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 as amended. It has been found that tvith good industrial relations and an effective voluntary safety committee, the unions are happy not to exercise their rights of appointment. 

Often we see organizational structures that have various safety committees that approve plans and procedures for fissile material operations prior to startup. This approval system in our estimation does not preclude the operator or supervisor ultimately being responsible for his safety. In other words, where is the buck going to stop in case of an accident it stops with line supervision and his employees. In all probability, those safety committees will be treated as consulting Or advisory groups in such situations. 

Kemi Shipping has two occupational safety representatives one for stevedore workers (who are in the majority) and another for managers and clerical employees. An occupational safety manager is listed in the Finnish occupational safety personnel register as are aU other members of the company s occupational health and safety committee. The goals, responsibilities and competencies of occupational health and safety personnel are written down in the action plan linked to the OHSAS 18001 certificate (BSl 2007). 

The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 give to recognised trade unions the right to appoint safety representatives to act as spokesmen on health and safety matters with the employers for the members they represent. It is not a bargaining right but is aimed at developing an atmosphere of co-operation to improve standards of health and safety in the workplace and so benefit both employer and employee. 

Employees are also empowered. The HSW Act, 1974, provides for regulations to appoint safety representatives from among employees (sect. 2(4)) requites employers to consult with safety representatives (sect. 2(6)) and establishes safety committees where this is requested by safety representatives (sect. 2(7)). These provisions led to the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations which are technical rules detailing the requirements about the appointment and role of safety representatives. ... 

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