Safety committees

Scope

While overall safety committee objectives are generally the same from one company to another, safety committee functions can vary greatly from one company to another. Some committees are given or allowed many more functions and tasks to fulfill, while other committees focus on a more limited scope of functions and tasks.

Regulatory citations

• None at the federal OSHA level, but certain states require safety committees or have some requirements relative to workplace safety committees. Often the state requirements do not mandate committees for every type of company and workforce, but rather, have rules regarding committees that come into effect for certain industries, workforce size, or for a particular workforce characteristic. Check with your state or insurance company to see if requirements for safety committees apply to you.
• The following states mandate safety committees for all or for certain employers:
  • Alabama (Must form committee if requested to do so by an employee.)
  • Connecticut (“Hazardous” employers with 25 or more employees.)
  • Minnesota (All employers with more than 25 employees. Employers with 25 or fewer employees must have a safety committee if they have either a lost-workday case incidence rate in the top 10% of all rates for employers in the same industry or with a workers’ compensation premium classification rate in the top 25% of premium rates for all classes.)
  • Montana (All employers with 5 or more employees.)
  • Nebraska (All employers subject to the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act.)
  • Nevada (Employers with more than 25 employees, or if an employer’s employees are engaged in the manufacture of explosives.)
  • New Hampshire (Employers of 15 or more employees must establish and administer a joint loss management committee.)
  • North Carolina (“Hazardous” employers)
  • Oregon (All employers unless you are the sole owner and the only employee of a corporation.)
  • Tennessee (“Hazardous” employers)
  • Vermont (“Hazardous” employers)
  • Washington (Larger employers must establish a safety committee. Smaller employers have the choice of either establishing a safety committee or holding safety meetings with a management representative present.)

Key definitions

• General functions: The end goals for safety committees, without regard to how the committee is to accomplish these goals. For example, reducing accidents and injuries could be considered a general function of committees.
• Specific tasks: The specific projects, procedures, and programs that safety committees carry out for their companies, and the means by which their objectives are reached or functions are performed. For example, the institution of a specific safety program is a specific task.

Summary of requirements

An active and effective safety committee whose membership and functions reflect the company’s size, complexity, and operating exposures can significantly improve safety by instituting programs and providing support that helps to reduce accidents, injuries, and illnesses at the company. Through general functions and specific tasks, a safety committee can:

• Provide a forum for problem solving that can withstand changes in management and personnel assignments without losing overall focus and direction.
• Provide supervisors and managers with a resource to turn to when they are faced with safety problems that they might not have the time or technical expertise to deal with effectively.
• Involve more people in the overall safety and health management of the company.
• Mobilize and get people working together who may not have had previous business reasons to work together, thereby helping to open up lines of communication that may not have existed before.
• Provide people with a broader base of safety knowledge through rotation of assignments as subcommittee chairpersons to other subcommittees and as subcommittee members. This helps build the safety culture in the company.
• Assign responsibility to more of the subcommittee members, rather than place those safety responsibilities on only one or two individuals. This helps prevent safety burnout” by increasing safety knowledge and responsibilities in small pieces at a time rather than in large chunks that may overwhelm a person.

General functions can include:

• Identifying/investigating potential workplace hazards;
• Finding ways to eliminate or reduce those hazards;
• Reducing accident frequency and severity rates;
• Ensuring that the facility is in compliance with OSHA standards;
• Creating and maintaining active participation and awareness in safety;
• Enforcing safety rules;
• Measuring safety performance;
• Increasing employee safety awareness and general morale;
• Creating and administering incentive programs to promote safety;
• Issuing periodic reports, bulletins, posters, and table tents to report on safety accomplishments;
• Evaluating employee attitudes toward safety and safety programs;
• Developing, administering, and monitoring the safety program;
• Facilitating communication and cooperation between management and workers on safety and health;
• Creating new safety policies and programs; and
• Demonstrating results to management and employees.

Specific tasks may include:

• Reviewing accident reports and analyses and employee reports of hazards;
• Reviewing OSHA and/or self-inspection reports to monitor general safety compliance;
• Establishing specific safety objectives and goals;
• Keeping records of safety meetings, training, accident and inspection forms, etc. to monitor the progress of the safety program;
• Implementing accident-prevention measures where appropriate;
• Providing recommendations to management;
• Reviewing, monitoring, and updating current safety programs and policies; and
• Monitoring government regulations as they apply to facility equipment/design and work procedures.