Functions of Safety Committee Members and Chairpersons

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WHS for Health and Safety Committees – NSW Edition

Lesson 2 – Topic 1: Functions of Health and Safety Committees and Chairpersons


The functions a Health and Safety Committee (HSC) can perform are broad but should consider the management of health and safety across the whole workforce.

1) Legal functions of a Health and Safety Committee:

A To facilitate co‑operation between the person conducting a business or undertaking and workers in instigating, developing and carrying out measures designed to ensure the workers’ health and safety at work; and
For example, HSC members are facilitators.  They help to instigate new projects, improve existing WHS measures and carry out other work such as WHS inspections.
B To assist in developing standards, rules and procedures relating to health and safety that are to be followed or complied with at the workplace; and
For example: Review and further develop existing procedures and policies and/or initiate new ones.  Make recommendations for change
C Any other functions prescribed by the regulations or agreed between the person conducting the business or undertaking and the committee.
At this point, the WHS Regulation 2017 does not deal with the HSC.  See below for examples.

The above 3 legal functions clearly show that HSC members, or the HSC itself, is NOT responsible for safety.
A Health and Safety Committee is a resource to assist the PCBU in the management of Work Health and Safety.

2) Examples of additional functions that need to be agreed to between PCBU and the Health and Safety Committee

Below are examples of what these other functions could include. The HSC makes recommendations to the PCBU about what functions they want to get involved in. Management always has the decision making authority.

Representing workers on safety matters.
Discussing WHS issues with workers, providing guidance as to what process to follow to have the issue addressed and if necessary, raise the issue with the HSC.

Review and monitor measures taken to ensure compliance with the Act
HSC members can review any measure or action taken by the PCBU, evaluate it for its effectiveness and make recommendations to the PCBU for further improvements if needed.

Investigating complaints from workers
HSC members to help investigate safety issues raised by workers. E.g. inspect plant or an area, collect data, talk to affected workers, take notes etc. with the aim to help bring about a resolve.

Make recommendations to the PCBU on safety matters.
HSC members can make recommendations to the PCBU about how to control hazards, or how to manage safety issues.

Inspect workplace after giving reasonable notice to PCBU
HSC members can carry out workplace safety inspections. These inspections can be scheduled or ad hoc when a need arises.
Issues to consider when carrying out safety inspections include:
– Who is going to carry out the inspections
– What tools are going to be used e.g. checklists, hazard forms
– Who and when is going to review the inspection results
– Who will confirm, authorize and implement corrective actions

psychosocial risk assessment

Assist in a Training Needs Analysis
HSC members can take part in the process of identifying what WHS training should be delivered to which workers, how often and by whom.

Take part in incident investigations
HSC members to take part in incident investigations. This includes interviewing workers, inspect the incident area, record data etc.. For incident investigation process and tools.
Legal requirements exist for serious incidents.

Take part in OHSMS audits and review audit reports
Auditing is the on-site verification activity, such as inspection or examination of a management system against a predefined standard.  An audit can apply to an entire organization or might be specific to a function, process, or production step.

Assist in the design of the organisation’s health and safety plans and programs
A health and safety plan is a set of activities and procedures, including responsibilities, targets and objectives, designed to manage and improve the organization’s health and safety performance within a specific timeframe.
A program is a set of actions to address a particular safety topic, e.g. manual handling, safety inspections, confined space entry, lockout/tagout etc.

Review and development of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) or Safe Operating Procedures etc.
The HSC can be involved in reviewing procedures to help identify areas for improvement, relevance and ensure they reflect current workplace safety needs. Procedures should be reviewed regularly. The HSC can also provide assistance with the development of new procedures.

Review the organization’s Work Health and Safety Policy
The HSC should be involved in reviewing the organization’s WHS Policy to ensure its relevance to the activities of the organization. This review should be done regularly and immediately whenever there are legislative changes or as a result of workplace incidents.

Assist with the design and or conduct Site Safety Inductions
Site safety inductions introduce workers to workplace safety requirements. All staff should be inducted when first commencing employment. Refresher inductions should be considered. Safety inductions for other workers e.g. contractors may include additional information specific to the tasks they are required to perform.

Have input into identifying employees’ safety duties and how they may be communicated
All employees should be informed about their safety responsibility, accountability and responsibility. This may be achieved through e.g. job descriptions or Statements of Safety Duties for each employee. The HSC should be involved in identifying the relevant legislative requirements as well as any additional requirements required by the organization.

Conduct Hazardous chemical audits and inspections
Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are required for all hazardous chemicals. SDSs must be reviewed at least once every 5 years by its manufacturer or importer. A hazardous chemicals register must be kept. The HSC can take part in an audit of an organization’s use of hazardous chemicals and SDSs against the requirements of the Regulation. For certain quantities of hazardous chemicals, placards or a manifest must be prepared.

Statistical analysis of incidents
The HSC should be involved in the analysis of statistical data with regards to safety incidents in the workplace. The HSC can help to identify trends and help set priorities in the management of work health and safety.

However, except if affected worker(s) give specific permission, HSC members do NOT have access to personal information or information that could lead to the identification of the workers.

Dissemination of WHS information
The HSC should be involved in disseminating or, recommending how WHS information is communicated to all workers.
This could include presentations to management and non-management staff, contractors and others at the workplace.

The above functions are suggestions.  Apart from the 3 legal functions, the HSC must agree with the PCBU as to what additional functions they will become involved in.

Have HSC members an increased safety liability as a result of being a HSC member?
This is a common concern expressed by many HSC members or would be members.
The answer to this question is simple:   NO

Functions are NOT duties.  HSC members are not duty holders under the safety legislation in that capacity.
Each member though, has safety duties in their capacity as Workers and can be held accountable for those.

The Role of the HSC Chairperson

The HSC Chairperson is not responsible for the effectiveness of the HSC or it’s meetings.  Management is.

The role of the HSC chairperson must be agreed on by the HSC membership and clearly documented, possibly in the HSC constitution.   As there are no legal requirements regarding this role an organization can determine what the role of a chairperson should be.

Any HSC member can be a chairperson.  It can be beneficial to individual members for the chairpersonship to be shared so each get additional experience in how to manage a meeting but also to get additional exposure to different levels of management within the organization.

Key to a successful chairperson is a clear description of what this person’s responsibilities and duties are. These responsibilities and duties must be approved by management, agreed on by the HSC and documented so that each member can support this person in their role.

It must be remembered though that the ultimate responsibility for effective HSC meetings lies with the PCBU, not the chairperson.

So what is the role of the chairperson? Here are some suggestions:

● schedule meetings and notify members (a HSC must meet at least once every three months)

● prepare and circulate the agenda and include items submitted

● invite specialists if and when required

● guide the meeting according to the agenda and time available

● propose additional “off line” meetings should certain safety items require additional time for discussion or investigation

● help ensure all discussion items end with decisions and clear courses of action

● review and have draft minutes approved for distribution

● help ensure the committee carries out its functions as agreed.

The chairperson should ensure discussions are balanced and that each member has adequate opportunity to contribute to the meeting.
Chairpersons also need to be attentive, impartial, good listeners, diplomatic and flexible.