What a Health and Safety Committee is Not

While it is the function of an HSC to assist the business to develop policy, programs, plans, and measures for the workplace as a whole, per Section 77c of the WHS Act, a health and safety committee may assist management with its mandatory WHS consultation duties as described in Section 47(3) and Section 48 of the WHS Act.

This may be beneficial if the workforce is large and there are many work groups whereby it might be difficult or time-restrictive for management to get the information they need to be able to decide on WHS matters. An HSC acts as a conduit between management and the workforce.

A committee is effective if you have a large business and need to consult on matters that are the same across several work groups or workplaces.

On the other hand, here are a few things to be aware of, especially if some people you work with do not have a good grounding in WHS law, WHS duty holders, and WHS duties.

A health and safety committee has no “operational” role

It is the duty of the PCBU to provide and manage the WHS management system. This includes managing risks and hazards. Directors and CEOs must ensure necessary actions occur and control measures are put in place. The supervisors and managers of the business ensure the established policies and procedures are adhered to.

Appropriate staff can be appointed to carry out a risk assessment on behalf of the organisation, as long as they are competent to do so but in no way should this be done as an effort of a business owner or director to pass off or offload their responsibilities to a person lower on the chain. A WHS duty holder cannot transfer or subcontract their legal liability to another party. Even if the task is delegated, the original party remains responsible for ensuring it is performed correctly. WHS duties are non-delegable. This includes the duty to manage risks.

The management team should start the process and discuss risks with workers. In fact, consulting with workers during each step of the risk management process is a crucial aspect.

A health and safety committee facilitates co-operation between management and workers. The committee may assist management to obtain information from workers about proposed controls for risks that have been assessed but it is the duty of management to ensure the risk assessments are conducted in the first place when and as needed, irrespective of “when the next committee meeting is.”

A health and safety committee is not a management body. It is a consultative body only.

A health and safety committee has no “authority”

The Health and Safety Committee has the power to make recommendations to Management, however, the committee does not have the “authority” to implement those recommendations. Senior management make the decisions and approve changes.

Section 77 of the WHS Act clearly outlines the duties of a health and safety committee, i.e.,

1. to facilitate co-operation between the PCBU and workers in instigating, developing, and carrying out measures designed to ensure the workers’ health and safety at work, and
   

2. to assist in developing standards, rules and procedures relating to health and safety that are to be followed or complied with at the workplace.

These are passive duties, meaning that they are carried out to support and assist another duty holder, in this case the PCBU. The health and safety committee is not the PCBU.

So, the question is, “Is your committee achieving the purpose for which it was established?”

Is your committee trained in WHS basics, consultation, and basics of risks management principles?

Courtenell offers numerous options to train your committee members. While most worker representatives on health and safety committees are usually HSRs too, the prescribed training for HSRs does not get much into the specifics of how a HSC interacts with HSRs nor how an HSC can assist with consultation and help with developing WHS policies, plans, and measures. For some businesses HSC-specific training may be useful.

For more information on WHS training or WHS compliance services, 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

If you would like to share this article, feel free to do so. Select "print" in your browser and choose "save as PDF"

Note

1. The Robens Model was derived from a report published in the UK in 1972 by Lord Alfred Robens proposing changes to the UK Occupational Safety and Health system which was perceived to be overly regulatory.

2. Up until the 1970s Australian health and safety law was mostly derived from the 19th century British health and safety legislation (particularly the 1878 Factories Act, and later the 1901 Act.)

26 October, 2023 (Updated 8 August 2024)

Copyright © 2023, 2024 Courtenell. "The pinnacle of WHS training." All rights reserved.