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Our May edition focused on the purpose of the Health and Safety Committee (HSC) and whether your workplace needs to have an HSC. This edition provides tips on how to get an HSC started in your organisation.
Creating an HSC that works for you
The Heath and Safety at Work Act 2015 gives workers and HSRs the freedom to decide how they organise committee meetings in their organisation.
While it's great to have the freedom to create an HSC that suits your workplace, it's also helpful to establish a structure for your committee so members know what to expect. This structure can also make sure your meetings stay on track and that everyone is heard.
Tips for establishing your HSC
Create a terms of reference document
When you first meet as an HSC, take time to discuss and document what you want the purpose of your meetings to be, and how you envision roles and responsibilities to be divided amongst your committee members. This information can be captured in a document called a terms of reference and shared with your organisation.
Information to include in your terms of reference document:
- everyone’s individual and joint responsibilities as members of the committee
- how to use your committee’s decision maker (the business representative that can make health and safety decisions for your organisation)
- your agreed purpose for meeting
- how you plan to report outcomes from your meetings to leadership.
Find your decision maker(s)
HSCs bring together workers, worker representatives (HSRs), and at least one business representative who can make health and safety decisions.
A business representative is someone from your organisation with decision-making capabilities. This person could be a team leader or manager who is keen to be involved in mahi related to health and safety.
Decision makers can serve your HSC on a rotating basis. This gives you the opportunity to have several perspectives shared in your meetings.
Check out our next edition for tips on how to run an effective HSC.
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