On one side of the coin, Employers are legally obliged to consult with their Employees in matters of health & safety and on the other side, Employees must be consulted and have the right to bring their concerns about health & safety to the attention of Management. Management must consider those concerns and make a decision on them.
Employees have the right to select/elect one of their colleagues to be their representative, Safety Representative, who will bring their concerns to the attention of management. Management must facilitate this process of selection/election. The Safety Representative must volunteer to act as this conduit and under legislation assumes certain rights e.g. to carry out workplace inspections on health & safety matters ; to be trained in the process of being a safety representative ; the right to information ; the right to investigate accidents/injuries provided it does not interfere with an HSA Inspector. There are other rights including the right not to be punished/victimised by management in carrying out their function.
