Safety Committee Member Duties
Each safety committee member plays an important part in creating and maintaining a safe work environment.
Six Rules for Effective Meetings
It is not enough to simply attend meetings—each member must actively participate and fulfill their specific duties. Understanding what is expected helps the committee work as an effective team that identifies hazards, solves problems, and improves workplace safety.
Recorder
- Takes minutes at each meeting to document discussions, decisions, and follow-up actions
- Distributes copies of minutes to all representatives so everyone stays informed
- Posts meeting minutes where other employees can review them
- Maintains the safety-committee file to organize records and important documents
- Keeps minutes and agendas on file for three years to meet legal requirements and provide a record of the committee’s work
Six Rules for Effective Meetings
For a safety committee to be effective, every member must understand what is expected and actively participate To help identify hazards, solve problems, and improve safety. The duties below outline what committee representatives must do:
- Report employees' safety and health concerns to the committee for discussion and action
- Report accidents, near-miss incidents, and unsafe workplace conditions to the committee to help prevent future occurrences
- Suggest items for the meeting agenda so important topics are addressed
- Encourage employees to report workplace hazards and suggest ways to control or eliminate those hazards
- Establish procedures for conducting quarterly workplace inspections and making recommendations to management for hazard control
- Help management evaluate the company’s safety and health program and recommend improvements
- Establish procedures for investigating accidents and near-miss incidents to identify root causes and recommend solutions
As you can see, each role includes a set of expected behaviors. By meeting these expectations, safety committee members help the committee succeed in its mission to improve workplace safety for everyone.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-5. Why is it important for safety committee members to actively participate in meetings?
You forgot to answer the question!