The impact of safety representatives: Why trained reps save lives and reduce risks

Safety reps have a vital role to play in improving health and safety at work, as Becky Spencer explains.

Managing health and safety in any business or organisation is about managing risks and taking practical steps to protect workers and others from harm. In order to do this well, employers have a legal duty to consult their employees or their employees’ representatives about health and safety matters in the workplace. Areas that require consultation include:

• The introduction of any measure which may substantially affect employees’ health and safety at work (e.g. the introduction of new equipment or new systems of work)
• The information employees must be given on the risks and dangers arising from their work and the measures to reduce or get rid of these risks
• The planning and organisation of health and safety training
• the health and safety consequences of introducing new technology.

In many workplaces, health and safety representatives (safety reps) act on behalf of their colleagues in discussions with management about health and safety. Safety reps have been a feature in Britain’s workplaces for nearly 50 years now. Ever since The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 came into force, employers in workplaces with a recognised trade union have had a legal duty to consult with union-appointed safety reps on health and safety matters.

And in workplaces without union representation, employers have duties under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 to consult their employees, either directly or through elected safety reps, on health and safety issues. In some workplaces both sets of regulations will apply.

There are no official figures on how many safety reps there are in UK workplaces but the TUC suggests there are around 100,000 union safety reps. Many small and micro businesses don’t have safety reps, choosing to consult with their employees directly.

What are the benefits of having a safety rep?

Consulting employees on health and safety matters is not only a legal duty - it is fundamental to achieving good health and safety standards and performance. Safety reps provide a clear and efficient way of doing this that benefits employers and the workforce.

The key role of a safety rep is to represent the health and safety interests and concerns of their co-workers in discussions with management. They are part of the workforce, have been elected by the workforce, and are in regular contact with the workers they represent.

Safety reps act as the collective voice of the workforce in many areas including:

• Highlighting potential hazards and dangerous occurrences
• Investigating health and safety complaints from workers
• Investigating the causes of injuries or ‘near misses’
• Checking risk assessments
• Representing employees’ views on issues relating to health and safety in the workplace.

This collective voice brings benefits for employers. In a recent CIPD survey, employers with representative arrangements in place for informing and consulting their employees said the top three benefits reps bring to their organisation are:

• Providing an independent channel to raise concerns with management
• Keeping the workforce well informed
• Raising early warning signs of problems.

Other benefits identified include encouraging more trust in management; providing a valuable sounding board for decisions by senior management; better problem-solving and innovation; higher levels of employee motivation, commitment or performance; better-quality or enriched jobs for employees; and identification of cost savings.

But the most important benefit safety reps bring to a business or organisation is that their work saves lives and prevents injuries.

What’s the evidence?

Previous HSE research into the effectiveness of safety representatives in influencing workplace health and safety found safety reps “have a significant role to play in improving health and safety at work at a variety of levels”. The research particularly highlighted that safety reps:

• Have the potential to raise health and safety awareness amongst both workers and managers
• Effect improvement in arrangements for managing health and safety and improve the practical implementation of these arrangements
• Contribute to improved health and safety performance
• Help develop a more positive safety culture in the organisation, and
• Most importantly, they represent means by which workers’ voices can be constructively heard and acted upon to the benefit of those that experience the risks of the production process.

Research has also shown that workplaces with health and safety committees where some members are selected by unions have significantly lower rates of work-related injury than those found in workplaces with no co-operative health and safety management.

More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, safety reps played a vital role in keeping workers safe. Research conducted in the food, drink and hospitality sector found two-thirds (66 per cent) of workers in a workplace with union safety reps and 58 per cent of workers in a workplace with a non-union safety rep said that a COVID risk assessment had been carried out compared to 43 per cent of employees in workplaces with no safety reps.

Workers in workplaces with a union health and safety rep were also more likely to say they were consulted by managers over COVID-related health and safety. Thirty-nine per cent of workers with no health and safety rep said that they had not been consulted at all.

The effectiveness of safety reps to influence health and safety in any workplace needs co-operation from management. A European study concluded that “since many safety rep activities must be carried out jointly with management, its commitment to participatory approaches is a prerequisite to ensure the effective functioning of health and safety representatives in the workplace”.

Thankfully, good employers recognise this and work constructively with safety reps to make workplaces safer for employees. Some go beyond their legal duty to ensure safety reps have access to the facilities they need to perform their duties and paid time off to carry out these duties and essential training, recognising that safety reps have a vital role to play in improving health and safety for all.

Our one-day Safety Representatives training course provides a solid foundation for individuals who want to contribute to a safer working environment by representing other employees. The course can be delivered via virtual classroom or in-company. Find out more here.