The Safety and Health Representatives

The Five-Star Safety System requires the appointment of part-time safety and health representatives who are allocated a portion of the work area and who have the function of inspecting the area on a monthly basis and reporting to the manager on the findings. The mine, taking this seriously, lifted four union-nominated employees out of the workplace and made than full-time safety and health representatives with the sole function of facilitating the implementation of the Five-Star Safety System. 

This was a radical change in safety culture, as in the past the safety department always had to get along with minimum manpower. A special office was allocated, and so the mine NOSA Task Force was formed. 

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The supervisor, foreman, or manager directly in charge of the area in which the event occurred should be the prime investigator. In some instances, the safety and health representative may have been appointed as the event investigator, but this should not free the immediate manager of his/her responsibilities to investigate the accident or near miss incident. 

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