Every site needs a workplace health & safety rep

EVERY SITE NEEDS ONE

DOES YOUR WORKPLACE have a health & safety representative?

HACSU has a growing network of HSRs who help ensure the health and safety of workers is a priority. They work in hospitals, aged care, disability and community services and are elected by their colleagues to ensure the highest standards of health and safety are maintained, and they can take up safety issues with management and employers. HSRs receive proper training on how to recognise and report safety hazards and follow important processes until an issue is resolved, and they receive paid training each year to ensure their knowledge and problem-solving skills are updated. Many HACSU HSRs say it’s a rewarding role and their co-workers appreciate the effort they put in. They can help you deal with a health or safety concern in your workplace, so if you raise an issue with your supervisor or manager, be sure you tell your HSR too. They know what unsafe work practices look like and what must be done to fix them, and they help give workers greater participation and opportunity to address safety issues with management. It’s important that all workers take an active role in workplace health and safety and that any concerns are taken seriously by their employer. In general, any worker can nominate for an HSR position and, if elected, serve a 3-year term. HACSU strongly encourages the election of HSRs in workplaces as they're a powerful tool in protecting the health and safety of workers.

To find out more about becoming an HSR please contact your organiser or call us. If you don’t know who your elected HSR is in your workplace, call HACSUassist to find out.

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What's a health & safety rep?

An HSR is a worker elected by their colleagues to represent the work health & safety (WHS) interests of that workgroup as per section 68 of the Work Health & Safety Act 2012. They work with the employer to instigate, develop and carry out measures to ensure health & safety at the workplace. This can involve:

- Developing WHS policies and procedures - Reviewing measures taken to address risks

- Monitoring WHS performance data such as incident and injury reports

Powers of a trained HSR:

- Direct workers to 'Cease Unsafe Work' if there is a serious risk of immediate danger - Issue management with a Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) when there's a safety problem that hasn't been remedied by consultation with the employer

How are HSRs elected?

Once workers have requested an HSR election, management has 14 days to commence negotiations with them around specifics of the HSR structure such as workgroup boundaries and the number of HSRs for each workgroup. HSRs must be democratically elected by workers in an open and transparent election process.