- employee consultation
- monitoring employees' health and workplace conditions
- providing information and training to employees
Consultation must involve:
- sharing information with employees about their health, safety and welfare
- giving employees a reasonable opportunity to express their views
- taking into account their views and contributions
Health and safety representation
Employees have the right to representation by health and safety representatives (HSRs) who represent a designated work group (DWG). A DWG is a grouping of employees set up in a way that best represents the employees' OHS interests and ensures access to their HSR.
If an employee asks their employer to set-up a DWG, the employer must do everything reasonable to ensure negotiations to establish the DWG start within 14 days of the request. Once established, a DWG's members can decide how to elect HSRs and who will run the election. If there is disagreement on how to run the election, WorkSafe may help by either running the election or appointing someone else to do so. A member of a DWG can be nominated as an HSR and all members of that DWG can vote.
Where the employer and employees agree, a DWG may also elect more than one HSR and one or more deputy HSRs. A deputy HSR may exercise HSR powers when the HSR cannot.
HSRs have a range of powers to perform their role, including:
- having paid time off, along with any deputy HSR, to attend training approved or conducted by WorkSafe. The employer must pay costs for HSRs to attend initial and refresher training
- having access to information about actual or potential hazards and the health and safety of DWG members
- inspecting DWG members' workplaces
- take photographs or measurements or make sketches or recordings (including audio and video) at any part of a workplace at which a member of the DWG works, except in certain situations, such as during an interview
- accompanying a WorkSafe inspector during inspection of a DWG member's workplace
- requiring the establishment of a health and safety committee
- accompanying or representing a member of their DWG at an interview about OHS, with the member's permission
- wherever necessary, seeking the assistance of any person with OHS knowledge
Employers must provide the facilities and assistance HSRs require to exercise their powers.
HSRs may act on matters that affect members of their own DWG. They may also act for another DWG when there is an immediate risk to a member of another DWG. HSRs can also act when a person in another DWG asks for help and the matter cannot be referred to the person's own HSR.
HSRs may issue a provisional improvement notice (PIN) to a person. This can occur if the HSR reasonably believes the person has breached or is breaching the OHS Act or Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations) and consultation has failed to remedy the breach. If the person receiving the PIN is an employee, they must inform their employer about the notice. An employer who receives a PIN must inform all people whose work the notice affects and display the notice prominently at the location to which it applies. A person must comply with a PIN issued to them, unless WorkSafe has been asked to send an inspector to enquire into the PIN.
If an OHS issue arises which involves an immediate threat to health or safety and the agreed process for resolving issues is inappropriate, either an employer or a relevant HSR can, after consulting each other, direct employees to cease work. During a 'cease work' an employer may assign affected employees to suitable alternative work.
If the issue which led to the cease work direction is not resolved within a reasonable time, either party can ask WorkSafe to provide an inspector to enquire into the issue.
Health and safety committees
Health and safety committees help employers and employees work together to bring about safer workplaces by initiating, developing, circulating, carrying out and reviewing workplace OHS measures, standards, rules and procedures.
An employer must establish an OHS committee within three months of an HSR's request to do so. At least half the members of a health and safety committee must be employee representatives and those representatives should be HSRs and deputy HSRs, so far as is practicable. They can provide DWG members' input to meetings and report back on meeting results.
Resolving issues
Employers and employees – through their HSR – must try to resolve issues using agreed internal procedures. If there are no established procedures, they can use a process specified in the OHS Regulations. If the parties cannot resolve the issue in a reasonable time, either party can ask WorkSafe to arrange for an inspector to enquire into the issue.
The person representing the employer in attempts to resolve OHS issues must have an appropriate level of seniority, be competent to act for the employer and must not be an HSR.
Prohibition of discrimination
Employers must not threaten, dismiss or refuse to hire a person, or otherwise adversely affect the person's employment because of action the person has taken in line with the OHS Act. This includes being a member of a safety committee, acting as an HSR or deputy HSR, assisting an inspector or raising OHS issues.
