707 Effective Safety Committee Meetings

Rules for Safety Committee Meetings

What do the Rules Say?

To set the foundation for the rest of the course, let's take a look at a few OSHA rules regarding Safety Committee Duties and Functions. Federal OSHA has not published mandatory rules requiring safety committees. Some "State Plan" states require safety committees and Federal/Provincial OSH agencies in Canada also require safety committees. Let's start with a couple of examples.

Oregon

If you have 20 or fewer employees you must have at least 2 committee members. If you have more than 20 employees you must have at least 4 committee members.

You must have an equal number of employer-selected members and employee-elected or volunteer members. If both parties agree, the committee may have more employee-elected or volunteer members.

The safety committee members must:

• Have a majority agree on a chairperson;
• Serve a minimum of one year, when possible;
• Be compensated at their regular rate of pay;
• Have training in the principles of accident and incident investigations;
• Have training in hazard identification;
• Be provided with meeting minutes;
• Represent major activities of your business.

Your safety committee must meet on company time as follows:

• Quarterly in situations where employees do mostly office work.
• Monthly for all other situations (except the months when quarterly worksite inspections are performed).

You must keep written records of each safety committee meeting for three years that include:

• Names of attendees;
• Meeting date;
• All safety and health issues discussed, including tools, equipment, work environment, and work practice hazards;
• Recommendations for corrective action and a reasonable date by which management agrees to respond;
• Person responsible for follow up on any recommended corrective actions;
• All reports, evaluations and recommendations made by the committee.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.