Safety committees managers/supervisors

Besides these regularly planned inspections, the safety manager, the safety committee, and supervisors should conduct spot inspections as necessary. Inspections should be conducted with a checklist, and findings should be put in writing (Figure 1-2). When unsafe practices are observed during the inspections, immediate action should be taken to correct the practice. A followup inspection should be made soon after the incident to verify that the safe practice is being used. 

Baril and Berthelette s (2000) interviews on early return to work for a sample of Quebec workers compensation claims suggest that upper management support is important. When upper management support is lacking, safety committees are not able to exert any pressure on supervisors to encourage them to comply with the firm s health and safety rules. 

TA-V SOPs require safety committee review. The author shall ensure that they are presented to the appropriate safety review committee (e.g.. Radiation and Criticality Safety Committee). The department manager may informally review a TA-V SOP before it is presented for safety committee review. Department managers approve TA-V SOPs based on the recommendation of the safety review committee they also approve OPs and ADPROs. In addition, approval authority for some lower order, facility-specific OPs may be delegated to a facility supervisor. 

Supervisors and managers from all areas of your company should share notes on their safety concerns and efforts, and work together to identify common problems and develop common solutions. A supervisors-only safety committee could be formed for this purpose. 

Note that it is not the function of the safety committee to bypass line management. Any safety hazard or dangerous occurrence identified must be reported to supervisors for them to initiate corrective action. This is their responsibility for which they have been given authority. No matter should be taken to the safety committee before the supervisor concerned has been given an opportunity to correct it. Only if no action results may the matter be referred to the committee. 

ManagemenUworker discussions can also be useful in the identification of risks. Formal discussions take place during meetings of the safety committee with informal discussions occurring during on-the-job contact or in conversations between supervisor and worker. The concept of incident recallis an example of management/worker discussion. 

The Certificate is intended as a qualification for newly appointed Safety Advisers who have no previous experience and for people such as managers and supervisors whose executive responsibilities include safety and health, safety representatives and safety committee members. It will entitle them to apply for the non>corporate grade of Associate. 

Generally there was very scanty knowledge of the committee structure. Managers, supervisors, and safety representatives were asked specifically about joint union—management safety committees. Those who knew anything were most likely to be in the operations department, but differences among grades of staff were the most marked. 

All of the safety representatives interviewed were representatives of recognized trade unions (HSW Act, 1974, sect. 2(4)) so they had all become safety representatives through their membership of a local departmental council (LDC) or workshop committee. The appointment of safety representatives from those on local departmental council or workshop committees was a point of contention for some as they disapproved of safety representatives being so closely and symbolically aligned with the unions, their argument being that these two should be separate and distinct. For others this was not a problem as they saw no conflict of interest. The majority of managers, supervisors, and safety representatives knew that safety representatives were drawn from the local departmental council and workshop committees. Twenty-one per cent (15/57) of safety representatives did not know that there was such a relationship. 

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. 

Some Robens-based OHS legislation provides a process for issue resolution where a workplace has not agreed on its own process. This is often presented in the form of a flowchart. The usual advice to employees if they have an OHS problem is to raise it with their supervisor in the first instance. Where an atmosphere of tmst prevails this is good advice. However, if the employee feels that raising an issue may result in discrimination, the employee may rightly prefer to go through the health and safety representative, or a union. The health and safety representative or a union may resolve the issue with management or it may be dealt with by the health and safety committee. If it cannot be resolved, an OHS inspector may be asked for a determination and issue a notice. Further review by heads of OHS authorities, or courts varies with the particular jurisdiction. In New Zealand, for example, the District Court resolves disputed notices. 

Roles of individuals, safety representatives, safety committees, supervisors and management in the assessment process... 

Have the views of managers and supervisors, safety representatives and of the safety committee been taken into account ... 

Managers and supervisors should plan to have regular discussions to learn about the problems faced by employees and discuss possible solutions. Some meetings, like the safety committee, are specifically planned for safety matters, but this should be reinforced by discussing health and safety issues at all routine management meetings. Regular one-to-one talks should also take place in the workplace, preferably to a planned... 

A member of the central safety committee should be designated to guide and administer the JHA process. This person would use cross-functional ad hoc teams to develop and maintain diversity and expertise for development of a portfolio of JHAs. The JHA ad hoc teams would develop specific JHAs based on the risk assessment list developed using the risk guidance card. They would draw on experience and expertise of employees and supervisors in the department or area where the job resides. Refer to Chapter 8, Getting Your Employees Involved in the Safety Management System . 

A safety tour is an unscheduled examination of a work area undertaken by a selected group of staff, including the manager with direct responsibility for that area, members of a health and safety committee, supervisors, trade union safety representatives and selected operators. A safety tour can examine predetermined health and safety aspects, such as housekeeping levels, standards of machinery safety, the use of personal protective equipment and the operation of established safe systems of work. Safety tours should be related to and reinforce decisions made by local management or by the health and safety committee. For maximum effectiveness, it is essential that action following a safety tour is taken immediately. 

In complex and serious cases, consider the establishment of an investigating committee comprising managers, supervisors, technical specialists and trade union safety representatives. 

A committee should be reasonably compact but should allow for representation of management and all employees. Management representation commonly includes line managers, supervisors, engineers, personnel specialists, medical and safety advisers. The safety committee should have authority to take action, and specialist knowledge should be available to assist the committee to make decisions where necessary. 

Is being an observer voluntary For most organizations that implement behavioral safety, participation as an observer is voluntary for employees, but this is a decision that should be made by the design team. In some organizations, conducting observations is voluntary for employees but is required of managers, supervisors, and steering committee members. 

In some cases, the companies with the worst safety records had the best safety committees and staff. Factors found to correlate with better incident statistics included management and cultural factors such as management involvement, financial support, management/labor relations, attitudes toward employees, supervisor interactions, planning, and job quaUty (Hansen 1993). 

Injuries should be investigated as soon as practical after they have occurred. Injuries that are minor in nature should be investigated by the supervisor. In some warehouses, employees from the safety committee or safety steering committee may assist in the process. Where serious injuries or incidents occur, a management and employee team approach should be used. This process may help uncover more facts, and a variety of appropriate solutions can be achieved by the group. 

---