Date:               October 2023

Issue:              No. 2

Subject:          Health & Safety Representatives and Safety Committees

This document forms part of the National Ice Centre’s organisational written safety policy arrangements.

Departments, services or teams may consider it appropriate to develop additional guidance and systems of work on specific work related activities.

Where proposals, additional guidance or changes to systems of work will have an impact on health, safety and welfare, this will be discussed and agreed at the Health & Safety Committee.

If you have any questions or require further information or support on the contents of this document, please contact the NIC Health & Safety Advisor or Corporate Safety Advice.

It is not a matter for employers and in most cases, health & safety representatives are volunteers and supported by the members they are to represent.  

Elections are only required if you have more than one employee volunteer to be a representative for the same group of employees.

There is no “right” number of elected health and safety representatives, as it will depend on your business. You need to think about:

• the total number of employees to be represented;

• the different groups or constituencies there are given the jobs done, locations, and work patterns,
• the nature of the work activities performed, including the degree and character of health and safety risks your employees may face.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) view is that each Health & Safety Representative should ideally be responsible for a clearly defined group of workers.

The Role of a Health & Safety Representative

Health & Safety Representatives play a vital role in the building and maintenance of a positive workplace health and safety culture and have a significant role to play in improving health and safety at work.

Health & Safety Representatives have the potential to raise health and safety awareness amongst both workers and managers, effect improvement in arrangements for managing health and safety, improve the practical implementation of these arrangements, and contribute to improved health and safety performance.

Most importantly they represent means by which workers’ voice can be heard and acted upon to the benefit of those that experience the risks in the workplace.  

Health & Safety Representatives can assist in identifying health & safety concerns and can pass this information to management to action in any matters that relate to health and safety.

They will;

• Act as the main liaison and contact point with the Health & Safety committee and their department
• Lead discussions reporting on departmental health and safety issues at a department level
• Where possible seek to resolve health and safety matters at a department level
• Ensure that the health and safety matters, which cannot effectively be resolved at department level are brought to the attention of the Health & Safety committee or senior management
• Attend Health & Safety Committee meetings and disseminate details of the meetings to their Department Manager and team
• Attend appropriate training
• Represent employees when consulted by health & safety inspectors

Inspections

Health & Safety Representatives should be involved in the Quarterly Departmental Inspections with their Department Manager.

These inspections are carried out within their own workplace area and recorded on a check sheet.

Although formal inspections are no substitute for daily observation, they provide a useful opportunity to carry out a full-scale examination of all or part of the workplace.

During these inspections, Health & Safety Representatives can network with other team members and discuss remedial action with their employers.

Following an inspection, Health & Safety Representatives must complete the agreed inspection report, recording the date, time and details of an inspection. 

These are stored electronically with the monthly H&S Inspection Reports.

Health & Safety Representatives are welcome to attend the monthly Health & Safety inspections

Health & Safety Representatives Assistance with Risk Assessment

Health & Safety Representatives should not confuse workplace inspections with risk assessments. Inspections only seek to identify hazards and problems.  

Risk assessments are more wide ranging and identify hazards, evaluate the risks, record the findings, recommend precautions and review progress.  

Management is legally responsible for ensuring that suitable risk assessments are undertaken but the Health & Safety Representatives should be encouraged where their competence allows, to participate in all stages of the risk assessment process to ensure that procedures and improvements are working and implemented effectively.

Receiving Information

Under the SRSCR, Health & Safety Representatives are entitled to receive full information from their employers to enable them to carry out their functions. 

Legally however, the National Ice Centre can refuse information if providing it: 

• Endangers national security;
• Breaks the law;
• Breaks confidentiality without permission from the individual concerned;
• Harms the business (excepting its impact on health and safety);
• Is in connection with legal proceedings.

Absence of Legal Liability

Under SRSCR, Health & Safety Representatives are given a number of legal functions, which their employers should allow them to carry out.  

Regulation 4 also states that they cannot be legally penalised if they do not, or only partly, carry them out.

As Health & Safety Representatives are not legally responsible for health, safety or welfare at work under these regulations, they cannot be liable in either criminal or civil law for anything they may do, or fail to do however, this protection does not absolve Health & Safety Representatives from their general responsibility as an employee, but does ensure that their responsibility does not increase due to their appointment.

 Employee Protection

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Section 44 and 100) strengthened the position of health & safety reps and employees. 

Health & Safety Representatives are protected from detriment or dismissal for carrying out their designated functions.

They and other employees are also protected:

• If they leave or propose to leave the workplace in circumstances of serious and imminent danger;
• If they take or propose to take action against serious and imminent danger.

This section of the Act adds Sections 22A and 57A to the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978. Protection is available regardless of length of service, hours of work or age. The rights are enforceable through industrial tribunals.

During formal inspections, employers are required to furnish reasonable facilities and assist health & safety representatives.  

These facilities are not specified in the SRSCR, although the following may be considered as reasonable where available:

• Accommodation – e.g. use of a suitable room for reporting back to and consulting with members;
• Equipment – e.g. a room / area and desk at the workplace, facilities for storing correspondence, access to internal and external telephones, typing and duplicating facilities, provision of notice boards, testing equipment, cameras, computer access);
• The names of new workers;
• Other facilities could also include the provision of copies of all relevant Acts, Regulations, Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs) and guidance and copies of all legal or technical standards that are relevant to the workplace, information on plant, equipment and substances used in the workplace.

These facilities should be agreed between the local management and health & safety Representatives but should be as identified as ‘shall be necessary’.

Under regulation 4(2)(b) of those Regulations the employer has a duty to permit those health & safety representatives such time off with pay during the employee’s working hours as shall be necessary for the purpose of ‘undergoing such training aspects of those functions as may be reasonable in all the circumstances

 There are currently two forums for representatives’ consultation within the National Ice Centre:

Monthly Health & Safety Meetings – held on the second Wednesday of every month

The members of the Health & Safety Committee are as follows;

General Manager (Chair) Operations Manager, Head of Facilities, Head of Security & Stewarding, Head of Food & Beverage, Facilities Manager, Health & Safety Advisor, Chief Executive (optional) and a Health & Safety Representative from each of the following;

These meetings are attended by all available Health & Safety Representatives from around the business.

They follow an agenda and are formally minuted, which are then made available across the business to all employees.

A newsletter is also compiled with bullet points from the meeting and sent to all employees as a quick reference guide.

This tier of meetings should be implemented with terms of reference and agreed composition, levels of discussion and agenda matters. 

This meeting should;

• Be seen as an effective method of addressing operational concerns that may be in place.
• Discuss and review accident / incident performance within the departments and to consider trends with a view to improving working methods and reducing the number of accidents;
• Inform Reps on information provided by the Health and Safety Executive or other statutory bodies;
• Assist in the development of operational safety rules and safe systems of work;
• Consider the adequacy of health and safety communications and publicity in the workplace;
• Discuss any other matters relevant to Health and Safety;
• Keep adequate records of the proceedings and activities of the group

Escalation

A further function of the Health and Safety Committee is to allow for the escalation of such matters that have been given due consideration at a departmental level and now requires an agreed organisational response to be considered.

Departmental Health & Safety Meetings

Departmental Health & Safety Meetings – held approximately six monthly with individual departments

Departmental Health & Safety Meetings are held with the Managers of each department, their Health & Safety Representative, The General Manager and the Health & Safety Advisor.

These meetings are less formal, but do still have a structure and notes made and provided to the department manager for reference.

These meetings should;

• Consider the effectiveness of operational employee training and its implementation with the department;
• Discuss the content of risk assessments prior to public action within the department;
• Discuss any other matters relating to Health & Safety within that department;
• Arrange periodic inspections of the workplace, its plant, equipment and its amenities;
• Keep adequate records of the proceedings and activities of the meeting

Strategic Health & Safety meetings are held every six months.

The members of the strategic group are as follows;

General Manager (Chair), Finance and Support Services Director, Commercial Director, Operations Manager, Head of Facilities and Facilities Managers, Head of Security and Stewarding, Senior Event Manager, Head of Food & Beverage, Head of Marketing, Head of IT, Head of HR, Health and Safety Advisor and Chief Executive)

These meetings should;

• This meeting is not in place to deal with departmental specific matters.
• The main purpose of this meeting is to assist in the development and implementation of the overall aims and strategic direction of the Health, Safety and Welfare Policy and Health and Safety management within the National Ice Centre.
• To identify and consult of strategic matters and the impact on the safety of all colleagues on concern to the business as a whole.
• Written minutes of each meeting will be recorded and maintained. Such minutes will establish an action plan with responsibility for assigned tasks, reported on progress and target dates for completion.
• Minutes will be displayed on appropriately located notice boards and the company intranet. Copies of the minutes will also be available for inspection by authorised members of local authorities.
• This meetings remit will also give due consideration to trends, statistics and overarching policies and strategic issues that affect the National Ice Centre.