At this point then you develop your own system. The main reason to I’d recommend do this is that in designing a system, you need to be talking to your employee – which is the very thing you are trying to design. It seems crazy to me that a system to get employee participation should be forced onto employees without first talking to them! The other reason is that the default system can be quite restrictive, as we shall see. Electing H&S Reps In either case you will need to have a H&S rep within your workplace. Obviously if you are self-employed, that will be you! Work with your employees and, if applicable, their union(s) to decide how to elect H&S reps. If you are using the default Act’s employee participation system, your employees must either: Together with their union(s), hold the election themselves for the number of reps • needed; or Ask you to hold the election. • If you are responsible for holding the election, you must do so within two months. The election must: Involve candidates who work regularly enough to perform the job effectively and • who are willing to be health and safety representatives Be held by secret ballot • Give all affected employees a reasonable opportunity to vote • Be determined by majority vote (whoever has the most votes). • The only time you need an election is when: don’t there is only one candidate they automatically fill the position • – there are no candidates the position is vacant. • – If you are following the default Act system, and trying to get a participation scheme in place and no one is nominated, then time to take some leadership in your it’s business. Appoint someone, and right the role of a rep into their Job Description. The health and safety role representative’s Health and safety representatives help their fellow employees by representing their views in their workplace with employers on health and safety matters. If you are using the default employee participation system, the health and safety duties include: representative’s Fostering positive health and safety management practices in the workplace • Identifying hazards and informing you about them • Discussing with you ways to manage any hazards (covered how to do this in the • hazard management chapters) Consulting inspectors on health and safety •
At this point then I’d recommend you develop your own system. The main reason to do this is that in designing a system, you need to be talking to your employee – which is the very thing you are trying to design. It seems crazy to me that a system to get employee participation should be forced onto employees without first talking to them! The other reason is that the default system can be quite restrictive, as we shall see. Electing H&S Reps In either case you will need to have a H&S rep within your workplace. Obviously if you are self-employed, that will be you! Work with your employees and, if applicable, their union(s) to decide how to elect H&S reps. If you are using the Act’s default employee participation system, your employees must either: • Together with their union(s), hold the election themselves for the number of reps needed; or • Ask you to hold the election. If you are responsible for holding the election, you must do so within two months. The election must: • Involve candidates who work regularly enough to perform the job effectively and who are willing to be health and safety representatives • Be held by secret ballot • Give all affected employees a reasonable opportunity to vote • Be determined by majority vote (whoever has the most votes). The only time you don’t need an election is when: • there is only one candidate – they automatically fill the position • there are no candidates – the position is vacant. If you are following the default Act system, and trying to get a participation scheme in place and no one is nominated, then it’s time to take some leadership in your business. Appoint someone, and right the role of a rep into their Job Description. The health and safety representative’s role Health and safety representatives help their fellow employees by representing their views in their workplace with employers on health and safety matters. If you are using the default employee participation system, the health and safety representative’s duties include: • Fostering positive health and safety management practices in the workplace • Identifying hazards and informing you about them • Discussing with you ways to manage any hazards (covered how to do this in the hazard management chapters) • Consulting inspectors on health and safety
Health-and-Safety-Guide.docx