HSE, workers and Trade Union ‘Safety Representatives’

This page summarises the guidance the HSE gives its inspectors on:

There are two ‘Operational Circulars’ prepared by the HSE for its inspectors. This is the only website that allows you access to these documents. You can download them (both word documents) by clicking on their names below.

However, the key points of this guidance are set out below as well as a summary of the relevant legislation

HSE contact with Safety Representatives
A Safety Representative is a person who has been elected by the workforce to represent them in relation to safe

The Operational Circular on Employee Contact does not simply talk about Safety Representatives but also Employee Representatives. This appears to accept that there may be worker representatives that are not formally linked to a union structure. In fact, the Operational Circular does not actually menion the word trade union.

Para 2 of the Circular states that:

HSE recognises the key part which safety/employee representatives can play in preventing deaths, injuries and ill health at work and promoting good standards of health and safety in the workplace, and the importance of effective consultation by employers with safety/employee representatives. HSE inspectors will

(1)	be supportive of safety/employee representatives in carrying out their functions as safety/employee representatives.
(2)	make efforts to make contact with one or more safety/employee representatives when they visit workplaces.
(3)	adopt a policy of openness in their dealings with safety/employee representatives in accordance with the HSE Board Statement on Openness, so far as the law allows them to do so.

In a section on principles (para 5), it states, amongst other things, the following:

•	Inspectors will make every effort to contact at least one safety/employee representative when the inspector visits a workplace.
•	Where inspectors visit a particular workplace on a regular basis then specific details of the contact arrangements may be agreed locally between the inspector and the safety/employee representatives at the workplace.
•	In making contact with the safety/employee representative the inspector will inform the representative of: (a) the reason for the visit; (b) the outcome of the visit; (c) any action by the inspector as a result of the visit; and (d) the reasons for any action by the inspector.

It also states that the following information will be provided to employee representatives:

(a)	copying to relevant safety/employee representatives factual correspondence between HSE inspectors and employers;
(b)	providing such factual information on consideration of safety reports, safety cases and licensing applications as inspectors think is necessary to keep employees adequately informed about matters affecting their health and safety;
(c)	providing copies of enforcement notices to safety/employee representatives;
(d)	providing information on HSE’s intention to prosecute (but not before informing the employer) including the date of proceedings;
(e)	providing the results of any monitoring, testing or sampling done in the workplace by or on behalf of HSE.

Enforcement of the laws that require Employers to consult
There are two key regulations that place legal obligatoins on employer to consult:

Duties are also contained in the following regulations

The guidance says that :

"HSE has a duty to enforce these regualtions and to take appropaite action where duty holders fail to comply with the requirments. Decision on what constitutes appropraite action should be made in line with the basic principles of proportinality, consitentyc, transpracnty and targeting."

In a section on General Enforcement Policy, it is stated that

"Both SRSCR and HSCER deal with some matters which are best reolsved through the normal industrial relations machinery. Inpsectors shold not be drawn into industrial relation disputes … formal enforcement action should not normally be considered until all voluntary means of resolving disputes have been exhausted."

It states that specific Enforcement action should be informed by the Enforcment Management Model. And the following table should be used
However, it stated that since parts of the regulatoins relating to paid time off can be heard by employment tribunal, "HSE staff should therefore not attempt to enforce these aspects of the Regualtions.’

It does however state that:

"It is posiblbe that failure to comply with the regulations could be a significant underlying factor to an incident. In such cases it is appropriate to consider the level of complaince with these regulations when decign what enforcemnt action to take under these regulations when deciding ehat enforcemnt action to take under EMM with respect to other legal requirements.