Safety and health representatives

Safety and health representatives are an effective workplace mechanism for providing participation and improved consultation between employers and employees.

Safety and health representatives are not the same as safety and health officers or coordinators and are not responsible for solving safety and health matters in the workplace.

Safety and health representatives are the key to communication between management and employees. Their functions include:

• Regular inspections of the workplace (every 30 days is the minimum requirement of the Occupational Safety and Heath Act 1984);
• Immediate investigation of any accident, dangerous incident or risk of serious injury/harm to any person (either in conjunction with management or individually);
• Keeping up-to-date with safety and health information available from WorkSafe and other bodies;
  Reporting hazards in the workplace to management;
• Consulting and cooperating with management on any safety and health matters;
• Referring any relevant matters to a safety and health committee if there is one at the workplace; and
• Liaising with employees about safety and health matters.

WorkSafe has bulletins on electing and training safety and health representatives.