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Safety committee members must…
- Set a good example. Committee members must set a good example! Committee members must be above average in their safe work habits and their positive attitude about safety.
- Be visible. Names of safety committee members should be posted prominently in their departments. They are the strong right hand to supervisors. Some companies also give safety committee badges to identify their committee members.
- Hold regular meetings. Safety committees must meet formally (usually at least once a month).
- Serve as a sounding board for safety and health activities. Positive management groups ask their safety committees to be sounding boards on proposals for new safety rules, developing changes or additions to personal protective equipment, participate in safety fairs and safety victory days
Duties
Work safely yourself-set the example in the department.
- Attend and actively participate in safety committee meetings.
- Work with your supervisor to eliminate hazardous conditions and unsafe work practices in the department. Speak to your fellow employees if you believe that they are engaged in an unsafe work practice; report things which you feel you can’t handle to your supervisor for further action.
- Investigate with your supervisor recordable case injuries that occur in your department. Participate in Plant Review Committee activities on lost workday case accidents or industrial illnesses in your department.
- Listen to employee suggestions about safety and bring those that appear to have merit to the department supervisor for review.
- Conduct department safety inspections in the first week of each month. Each quarter participate with a plant management member in a facility wide safety audit.
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In British Columbia, all employers, regardless of their size, are required by law to provide a safe working environment. They must ensure that all employees are properly trained and supervised; they must work with employees to identify hazards in the workplace and ensure that hazards are eliminated, isolated or minimized.
Every workplace in BC must provide a first aid program and supplies, first aid training for responders, and accessible first aid kits. A workplace is defined as anywhere your employer requires you to be as part of your job, whether on-site or off-site. This includes places such as the lunchroom, the parking lot, any motor vehicle you drive as part of work, and any equipment you use such as a forklift, ladder or step stool. Your vehicle is also a workplace as you drive from site to site.
Employers and employees are required to set goals around health and safety and then work together to achieve them. Everyone has a part to play in improving health and safety in the workplace.
All workers in British Columbia have 4 basic Occupational Health and Safety rights (OH&S):
- The right to know about hazards in the workplace
- The right to participate in OH&S activities
- The right to refuse unsafe work
- The right to no retaliation(discipline or being fired) for raising OH&S concerns
You can make your workplace safer by:
- Being involved in the process to improve health and safety. For example; offer to sit on your health and safety committee or to be the workplace first aid attendant,
- Sticking to correct procedures and using the right equipment,
- Wearing the appropriate protective clothing and equipment if required,
- Helping new employees, trainees and visitors to the workplace understand the right safety practices and why the practices exist, and
- Communicating any safety concerns to your employer.
- Keep an eye out for unsafe premises and equipment,
- Inadequate or misused safety equipment,
- Bad work practices and,
- Lack of information about equipment or workplace processes.
