df1 Hi: my name is: Dessie Ferguson. NEVER GAMBLE WITH ANYONE’S SAFETY.

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3 Four points to Remember: Communication:Must be a loop system Dedication:From everyone Partnership:Between Management and Employees Participation:An important part of team working.

df4 Safety Committees Membership Should be agreed between management and the employee’s representatives concerned Should not be over-large but should represent the interest of ALL employees’ including the safety reps and managers involved Management and employee’s representation should be equally balanced.

df5 Safety Committees Membership People like Personnel Managers and Works Engineers should be included as well as those with direct supervisory roles Managers involved should be those who have necessary expertise in relation to: company policy technical issues production requirements premises, plant, machinery and equipment

df6 Safety Committees Membership Members should interact on an equal basis - none are responsible to (or for) others It’s a good place to introduce effective team-working methods! Being a member forms part of the normal working pattern No loss of pay should be suffered, for example: by attending meetings by conducting committee’s business and safety inspections etc.

df7 Safety Committees How they should be run They should meet as often as necessary This will depend on volume of production and conditions such as Number of employees Size of workplace covered Nature of work undertaken on site Type of hazards and degree of risk Meetings should not be cancelled

df8 Safety Committees How they should be run They should be planned well in advance All members should receive a copy of the dates and agenda Notices of meetings should be suitably displayed on notice boards in the workplace Minutes of each meeting should be kept Safety Committee Meeting

df9 Safety Committees How they should be run Copies should be supplied to every member of the committee every employee’s representative. the most senior manager with responsibilities for safety and distributed/displayed for the workforce Inspection reports from manager and/or reps. Should be discussed at committee meetings and any further actions agreed

df10 Objectives and Functions of Safety Committee “Under article 4 (6) of the Order of 1978, have the function of keeping under review the measures taken to ensure the Health and Safety at work of employee’s. In carrying out this function safety committees ought to consider the drawing up of agreed objectives or terms of reference.” “An objective should be the promotion of co-operation between employers and employees in instigating, developing and carrying out measures to ensure the health and safety at work of employees.” Objectives can include the reduction of: accident figures insurance premiums absences

df11 Objectives The main objectives of the committee is to gain support from all concerned for their Health and Safety efforts by encouraging such thing as: Motivation, education and training so that employees recognise and correct hazards. Achieving hazard controls by using designed procedures. Ensure hazard control procedures form part of supervisory training. Compliance with Regulations and standards. To achieve these objectives they must also form part of the Companies Safety Policy.

df12 What the committee should look at and why? Statistics of accidents,diseases, near misses and trends. Periodic review of Risk Assessments, or after change in work process Working practices:Is there a Safer way of doing the process? Safety Training:Review of any safety training provided. Accidents:Causes of accidents i.e. unsafe act or omissions unsafe conditions unsafe act and conditions

df13 CHECKLIST OF ISSUES Topics that may be encountered. Housekeeping:Daily cleaning concerns. Lighting:Is the lighting suitable and efficient? Guards:Are dangerous machines securely fenced? Fire:How often are drills carried out? Welfare:Washing/Cooking facilities. Recording Under RIDDOR are all accidents and dangerous occurrences reported. Other issues may be Personal Protective Equipment, Manual handling,Noise,First Aid and any information gained through the Committees experiences in the Company.

df14 How effective can a Committee be? This will depend on the way they function within the organisation and actually make improvements to Health and Safety. Encouraging proactive measures from all members of staff Communication is essential so we all can move to the future. Partnership its our morale duty to protect each other. Participation, each member must take an active role in the committee Dedication, we must put the commitment into our role as a committee member and lead by example.