EFFECTIVE AND ‘FUNCTIONING’ OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH (OSH) COMMITTEES AT WORKPLACES.

Whether we working in engineering industries, banking and financial institutions, service industries, transportation industries, construction industries or government departments, our OSH committees are the backbones of successful and effective implementation of OSH regulations and guidelines for the benefits of the employees.

A strong OSH committee structure can highlight safety and health problems in the workplace, point out corrective action, help investigate accidents, and conduct periodic safety self-audits. Because employees are committee members, they raise their own personal safety consciousness. Safety committees have other advantages. They demonstrate employer interest in safety and health to employees and, where membership is rotated over time, safety committees are an ideal way to involve many employees in accident prevention activity. Deciding exactly what the OSH committee's role will be is an important first step.

Will the committee be making recommendations to management or will it be empowered to correct unsafe conditions on the spot or reprimand employees who perform unsafe work practices? Will supervisors be represented on the OSH committee or will there be several committees - a plant committee, a supervisory structure committee and a management-level safety steering committee?

David Amos of the National Safety Council in US emphasizes the training aspect and asks his client companies how far they want OSH committees to go. "If the committee is going to investigate accidents, should have training in accident investigation. If it is going to conduct safety audits, they will need training to do that job effectively. If committee members - managers, supervisors, shop floor employees - are trained together there is less chance for discord or misunderstanding of their roles," he says. "Management needs to determine the very specific duties of the committee - they should all be singing from the same page of the hymnal."

Critics of the OSH committee concept say that effectiveness is limited because a small number of employees are involved at one time, so discussions tend to focus on minor "housekeeping items," such as oil on the floor, unserviced fire extinguisher, and broader issues go unattended. Too often, the critics say, items are saved for the monthly safety meeting instead of being addressed promptly on the shop floor. Top management must be ready to commit money for training, workers must be given time away from the job to attend safety meetings and conduct inspections. Start with the commitment, then management must set an example with safe work practices followed by committee members who act as leaders for the workforce.

MAKING OSH COMMITTEES SUCCESSFUL.
Experts in the field offer the following suggestions to ensure success with OSH committees: Try to get volunteers as members of the committee - which does not mean a manager designating "you, you and you" as volunteer members of the committee. Sometimes that will work but better approaches include:

1. Supervisory input as to persons who work safely and are regarded as informal leaders in the workplace;

2. People who show an interest in their co-workers and in the community-first-alders at the facility volunteers in the local EMS service, people in community leadership positions who work at the facility;

To be most effective, OSH committees should not be large-never more than 16 people. Even in a large facility where area committees should be set up to do the work. Large committees can break down responsibilities for assignments into subcommittees so that a small number of persons are working on a project. Representation from most departments of the facility is a necessary requisite for effectiveness. But not every small department needs to be represented. One person can represent a number of smaller units.

Effective representation means people who are willing to speak up about important safety problems in their areas but are prepared to work within the parameters of discussion-legitimate safety and health items, not other complaints and grievances. Don't lose sight of the need for continuing education of safety committee members. Committee members know their jobs well, but don't know all the "ins and outs" of effective safety management.In Georgia Pacific corrugated box plant in Sheboygan, Wis., a subcommittee of the main safety committee is charged with developing an education subject for each meeting, using in plant experts or outsiders to bring new information to the committee members to help them be more effective in their work.

COMPONENTS OF OSH COMMITTEE’S MEETINGS.

Monthly OSH committee meetings are on the calendars of thousands of companies, but many forward thinking organizations meet weekly on safety or add safety as an agenda on daily production or operations meetings.

Time and location.
The mechanics of an OSH committee structure are important. Meetings should run an hour or less, and if possible, should be scheduled near the start of a shift. If there's an overload of work, make assignments to subcommittees for investigation and action (and to give a short report at the next committee meeting).

Some organizations publicize dates of their safety meeting at the start of the year for the next 12 months. Most participants then develop their calendar around meeting dates, resulting in few cancellations or postponements.

Minutes Of OSH Meetings.
Rambling prose is inappropriate for OSH minutes and just doesn't get read or used as a follow-up instrument. A set of hard-hitting minutes should list the safety item (by number such as 95-1, 95-2 etc.), a few words of detail, the person assigned responsibility for investigation or correction, and the expected completion date. List those members in attendance and those absent. Distribute the OSH minutes to management, supervisors, safety committee members, and post them on notice boards to help publicize the positive role of the committee.

Safety Meeting Basic Agenda
What's on the agenda for a good OSH committee meeting? Here's an example from a plant in the plastics processing industry:

1. Roll call and the designation of a secretary to take minutes;

2. Review of minutes of the last meeting and report from members to whom responsibilities were assigned. New completion dates assigned on unresolved items;

3. Review of recordable injuries, lost-work-day cases and 'near miss' incidents since last meeting - report and overview of follow-up recommendations;

4. Review safety audit reports uncompleted at department level. Review safety oriented work orders in engineering and maintenance departments and their priority and dates for completion;

5. Safety statistics for the past period-for this facility, other company facilities and industry comparative statistics;

6. New business and discussion of special safety projects;

7. Safety education subject;

8. Adjourn and announce date and time of next safety committee meeting;

OSH committees in various forms have been around for the better part this century. With proper direction and management support, they can continue to fill a valuable role in assisting management with safety and health responsibilities for many more years.