Upskilling your WHS committee members

The WHS Act does not say "who" exactly should be on a health and safety committee, other than Health and Safety Representatives (if they chose to.) To understand who should ideally be on an HSC, one needs to understand the purpose and functions of an HSC.

Sections 77a and 77b of the WHS Act describe how the members of an HSC can collectively assist the business to develop WHS safety measures, plans, policies, and programs for implementation in the workforce. Additionally, Section 77c of the WHS Act allows the committee to enter into more specific arrangements to assist the business with its WHS consultation duties, as per Sections 47(3) and 48 of the Act.

The list below contains suggestions that you might find useful as a committee member to build your skills and contributions.

• Do what you can to be appropriately informed and trained in the subject of WHS so that you may better understand WHS law, duties, and the risk management process that you will contribute to.

• Make a concerted effort to really grasp the details of the plans, policies, measures, and procedures that the business is getting help from the committee on. These are specific functions required of the HSC under the WHS Act. An HSC is not an HSC if it not contributing to these.

• If you are an HSR, ensure that you do pass information from the committee to the people in your workgroup and pass information from your people up to the committee as part of any consultation process.

• Be prepared for the meeting. Do any required research needed before the committee meeting so you can contribute positively and proactively in the conversations.

• Listen and consider management’s point of view. Respect the views of all members and treat others in the same manner that you wish to be treated. Management people are required to obtain the views of every person who may be affected by a WHS matter. Therefore, your involvement in that is integral to management being able to obtain that needed information.

• Be willing and positive about resolving WHS issues. Improving the WHS management system can require many steps. Be a problem-solver. As a committee member you have a right to speak up and contribute to problem-solving and making suggestions. While others must cooperate with you, you must cooperate with them too. Cooperation is reciprocal.

Courtenell offers several HSC-specific training courses suitable for all representatives on the committee including HSRs who are committee members. (Note, this training does not replace the prescribed training for HSRs to be HSRs in the first place.) For more information feel free to contact us at train@courtenell.com.au or phone us on 02 9552 2066

6 August 2024