Workers' safety representatives have significant powers

Employees in any organisation are legally entitled to choose a fellow employee as their Safety Representative, a role which confers significant powers on the incumbent and statutory obligations on the employer.

The Safety Representative is entitled to make representations on behalf of employees to the employer about safety, health and welfare in the workplace. The employer is legally obliged to consider such representations, and to put them into effect if necessary. "If it is not practicable to put suggestions made into effect, the employer should explain the reasons," according to the Health and Safety Authority's Guidelines on Safety Consultation and Safety Representatives.

Moreover, the Safety Representative is legally empowered to investigate accidents and dangerous occurrences in the workplace, although he or she must not disturb evidence at the scene of an accident. The Safety Representative can also conduct inspections "to identify workplace hazards and risks to safety and health", a right recognised for the first time in the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989.

The Safety Representative can choose what form an inspection will take, although he or she "may" wish to consult the employer on the most suitable method. But the employer must be "notified" before the Safety Representative conducts an inspection, say the guidelines.

The frequency of inspections must be "agreed" with the employer but "no employer may unreasonably withhold agreement". The duration of inspections will vary depending on the objective of a particular inspection, the perceived risk being examined and the size of a workplace. The Safety Representative is also entitled to conduct an investigation if there is "reasonable fear" of employees being at risk of personal injury. Again, the employer must be "notified" before the investigation.

The 1989 Act confers on the Safety Representative the right to hold confidential meetings with employees about health and safety issues. The Safety Representative has a right of access to information.

The employer is obliged to furnish him or her with "such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary", within reason, to ensure the health and safety of all employees, according to the HSA guidelines. Moreover, the Safety Representative is entitled to extraordinary access to information from the employer "over and above that necessary for employees in general". He or she is entitled to the Safety Statement and should be "fully briefed on the arrangements and organisation for implementing it", says the HSA.

The Safety Representative is entitled to technical information about workplace hazards, hazard data sheets, instruction manuals and revisions, any employer-commissioned reports about workplace health, safety and welfare, information on workplace accidents and illness, and the results of "any relevant health assessments carried out (without identifying any individual)", say the guidelines.

The Safety Representative has the right to consult an inspector from the HSA about any issue concerning health, safety and welfare at work. Moreover, the employer is obliged to inform the Safety Representative when a HSA inspector arrives to conduct an investigation. And the Safety Representative is entitled to accompany the HSA inspector during an inspection, except if the inspector is investigating an accident.

If asked, the HSA inspector is obliged to tell the Safety Representative of any action the inspector has taken or proposes to take about health and safety in that workplace.

The inspector must also reveal to the Safety Representative any factual information about health and safety pertinent to the workplace "except any information revealing a trade secret". The inspector must tell him or her if any Improvement or Prohibition Notices are being served, or if other legal steps are being considered, say the guidelines.

Safety representatives must be trained in how to fulfil their duties and the employer is obliged to pay for such training.

General courses are offered by organisations like IBEC's health and safety service and ICTU's educational training services. But the employer also "has responsibility for training Safety Representatives on the specific hazards and safe systems of work in their own place of work," according to the HSA. Safety representatives are entitled to "reasonable time off from work without loss of earnings" for training. They must also receive time off without loss of pay to discharge their safety functions.

The 1989 Act specifically prohibits any disadvantage to safety representatives because of their safety role. For instance, it should not detrimentally affect their pay or career progression.

So much for the theory. Next week, this column looks at how the role works in practice and asks: is the Safety Representative a thorn in the side of the employer?