How to Chair an Effective Health & Safety Committee Meeting
Many workplaces in NSW have a Health & Safety Committee (HSC) either as a permanent body or as one that is set up from time to time when needed to deal with specific WHS matters or projects.
An HSC is made up of personnel who meet as representatives of the business, of management, and of workers. Committee members can include Human Resources representatives and in-house technical specialists. Workplaces that have had work groups established for the purpose of consultation on WHS matters would have their representatives attend committee meetings as "worker reps." These worker representatives speak for the people in their work groups and must relay important information from management to the people in their work groups and vice versa.
This article was written specifically for the consideration of the chairperson of a Health & Safety Committee.
NOTE: There is nothing in the WHS Act, WHS Regulation, or any Code of Practice that offers information, guidance, or directions to WHS committee chairpersons.
Successful committee meetings that run smoothly
A WHS committee chairperson’s ability to be effective is dependent on their clear understanding, respect of, and adherence to the duties given to and expected from a health and safety committee as prescribed in the WHS Act. The chairperson needs to keep the meeting on track, on purpose, and on topic. The committee is not there to do the job of management. Business owners and directors have WHS duties that are non-delegable.[See Note 1] The chairperson must not accept any efforts to "hand ball" management duties to the committee. An HSC has no "authority" and no operational role. It is a forum for consultation on WHS matters and an additional resource for the business to carry out its WHS legal duties, not a pseudo-management body.
The basic actions listed below are the actions that WHS committee chairpersons in general have found to be valuable in helping them to successfully deal with items on the committee meeting agenda. You may care to look them over to see if there are any actions in the list that you would find useful in your WHS committee meetings.
Prepare and circulate a draft agenda before the meeting so that members can prepare themselves to discuss what is on the agenda.
At the start of the meeting get the Committee to agree on the draft agenda - review, revise and reorder sequence of items on the agenda if necessary.
During the meeting ensure that the agreed agenda is followed in an orderly manner.
Give HSC members equal opportunity to put forward their point of views and contributions about each item on the agenda.
Clarify members’ views and the facts they rely upon when necessary.
Very accuracy of information by taking into account evidence and proof supplied.
Ensure the Committee focuses on progressing and resolving each agenda item and does not get sidetracked into talking about irrelevant issues or things that are not the duties of a health and safety committee (ref Section 77 of the WHS Act.)
Ensure the Committee arrives at clear recommendations for each agenda item covering proposals for what should be done, who should do it and by when.
Note 1. Non-delegable duties are legal obligations that cannot be transferred to another party. Even if the task is delegated, the original party remains responsible for ensuring it is performed correctly. This concept is often used to impose liability on one person for the negligence of another to whom they have entrusted a task. Under the WHS legal framework, specific duties imposed on officers of a PCBU are non-delegable duties and cannot be transferred or subcontracted out as per Sections 14 and 272 of the WHS Act 2011.
For more information, or if you would like help to make your WHS management system even more robust, please feel free to contact us at train@courtenell.com.au or phone us on 02 9552 2066
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