Safety Committee

Why consider a Safety Committee?

The main reason for developing a safety committee is to encourage and heighten employees' involvement in the safety management system.  An effective safety committee not only fosters a sense of ownership by giving employees an opportunity to improve safety and reduce exposures within the company, it also enhances communications between management and employees.

Working as a team, members of a safety committee are usually responsible for developing and reviewing safety procedures and policies; identifying and inspecting hazards; developing and implementing safety training programs; investigating and reviewing accidents; communicating safety issues to other employees; and organizing and conducting safety meetings.

A Formula For Success:

There are four cornerstones at the foundation of every successful safety committee. Each one requires management's support and commitment, and should be addressed by the management team prior to the formation of the committee.

The Mission Statement

Top management needs to develop a mission statement for the safety committee. In broad terms, the statement should explain why a safety committee is needed, and should describe the committee's intended role in the existing company safety program and overall business operations. The statement may also set general goals, objectives, and/or guidelines.

Guidelines of Authority

It is vital for management to develop guidelines with respect to the authority of the safety committee. To do this, a variety of issues must be addressed, including: Does a safety committee member have the authority to discipline a co-worker who is not following company safety rules? Does the committee have the authority to implement new company safety policies? Does the committee have permission to authorize capital expenditures?

Although there are no rigid rules regarding the degree and extent of the committee's authority, it is recommended that guidelines be written out as clearly and concisely as possible.

Procedures: How Things Get Done

The management team should create a list of procedures by which the safety committee will operate. Once this foundation is in place, members can organize effective meetings, and pinpoint the activities they will be involved in.

Meeting procedures may include descriptions of how:

• the committee leader will be selected
• the meeting schedule will be determined
• the meeting agenda will be determined
• the minutes will be kept, and by whom

Activity procedures should include specific descriptions of how:

• facility inspections will be conducted
• accident investigations will be conducted
• safety concerns will be communicated to management and employees
• new committee members will be selected

Safety Committee Membership

To ensure participation from all departments or work groups, committees may range in size from six to ten members. Some companies may establish more than one safety committee per location if the number of work groups is too large to be served by one committee.

Committees should include both employees and management, though the latter should not necessarily be designated the leader. Members should be interested in safety issues and have the time to participate actively. The safety committee should be representative of a variety of departments and jobs.

How can Safety Links help with your committee?

Safety Links will help by guiding the committee members with the development and implementation of their safety initiatives in addition to overseeing their overall progress.

As you may have experienced, committees can often lose sight of their goals and end up “spinning their wheels”. Having an objective third-party member sit on the committee can help keep the committee on track.

In addition, Safety Links can also work with your committee members to provide expert technical assistance for issues that they may not have the technical knowledge to solve and to ensure that their recommendations are compliant and feasible.

Contact us to find out how we can help.

Download Flyer:

        E3.7 Health and Safety Committee Development and Oversight Flyer.pdf