Consult - good practice tips

Recognise the role of representatives

Recognise the role. When a health and safety representative has been appointed or elected, it becomes part of their job. You can recognise this by recording it in the representative’s job description, work objectives or performance agreement for the year.

In this way, you allow them to build in time to perform their role as part of their paid work. You also show that you are aware of the contribution they are making to the workplace.

Involve your elected health and safety representatives in:

Different work patterns

Think about the different work patterns of the modern workplace. You may employ home workers, part-time workers, shift workers, and use agency workers and others, so think about the best way to consult them all:

Needs and preferences

Ask your employees or their representatives about their needs and preferences. Consulting them in a way that suits them as well as you shows that you want to hear what they have to say and will help you engage their support.

Involve the representative

An investigation involving the health and safety representative can give employees more confidence to co-operate. They may feel more comfortable speaking to a co-worker who can relate to them so they will say what they really think. Representatives can play a very useful role here in communicating effectively with you and your employees.

Carry out workplace inspections

The following tips show how you can organise and carry out inspections of your workplace.

Plan a programme of inspections

You and your representatives can plan a programme of inspections in advance, as this would satisfy the requirement to notify. You can do this at a health and safety committee meeting if you have one. This means both parties know and agree what inspections are happening, and where and when. Any changes to the planned inspections should also be made by agreement.

Agree the number of inspections

You should also agree the number of representatives taking part in any one formal inspection. Bear in mind the nature of the inspection and circumstances in the workplace to judge what is suitable.

Co-ordinate inspections

Plan inspections if there is more than one representative, because they can then co-ordinate their inspections to avoid unnecessary duplication.

Inspect together

It will help your relationship with the representatives if you inspect together. It shows that you value their contribution and want to work together. But it does not prevent union-appointed representatives from carrying out an independent inspection or having private discussions with colleagues.

Consult specialists

If there is a safety officer or specialist advisers, then they should be available to give technical advice on health and safety matters that may arise during an inspection.

Break down tasks

For larger workplaces, it may not be practical to conduct a formal inspection of the entire workplace in a single session, or for a complete inspection to be done by the same representatives. You should consider doing inspections in more manageable units, for example by department.

As part of a planned programme of inspections, you may also want to think about different groups of representatives conducting inspections in different parts of the workplace. They could do this either simultaneously or at different times, as long as coverage is complete before the next session of inspections is due.

Setting up and running a health and safety committee

The following tips will help you take the right steps in setting up and running a health and safety committee.

Involve a variety of people

A health and safety committee made up of employee representatives, union-appointed representatives, management, and health and safety professionals is an ideal way of showing your commitment to consulting your workers and jointly dealing with health and safety issues.

Consult representatives

Consult employee representatives to agree the membership and size of a safety committee.

Represent all groups

Keep the total size reasonably small, but ensure all significant employee groups are represented.

Keep a balance

Make sure employee representatives are not outnumbered by management representatives.

Represent employees

Consider agreeing to more employee representatives rather than equal numbers of employee and management representatives as this shows you are not dominating the committee.

Keep a single location

Ensure a committee's work is related to a single location not a collection of different places.

Avoid duplication

Avoid duplicating committees for the same workplace, for example to represent different levels of staff.

Think about minor incidents

When considering statistics on accident and injury records, examine some information about minor injuries and incidents that you do not have to notify as well as the ones you do have to report. This can help you draw attention to issues across your business.

Plan meetings in advance

Where possible, plan a series of committee meetings in advance but remain flexible to address important matters as they come up.

Communicate

All committee members should have a personal copy of the planned meeting dates, and they should be available where all employees can see them, for instance on noticeboards or intranet pages.

Keep the date

Do not postpone or cancel committee meetings unless there are exceptional circumstances, or members have agreed to it. If you cancel a meeting, agree another date arranged as soon as you can. If you don't, important issues will not be addressed and the work of the committee, and the value of health and safety, are undermined.

Address strategic issues

To be effective, health and safety committees should address strategic issues affecting the workforce or groups within the workforce, and allow day-to-day health and safety matters to be resolved at a local level.

Agreements

To help reach agreements on recommendations remember:

  • all members are committed to the committee's aims and all views should be considered with respect. Both management and employee representatives will have expertise and knowledge to help make suitable recommendations
  • the committee chair can be effective in summarising points and helping the committee to come to reasonable recommendations
  • management representatives on the committee should have the authority to consider recommendations. Ultimately, the employer is responsible for managing health and safety, so you must decide how you choose to address the committee's feedback

Disagreements

If committee members cannot agree on solutions:

  • recommend a range of possible options, not just a preferred approach, which management can consider
  • explain how and why decisions are reached to demonstrate how views have been considered
  • review the situation at a later date

Resolve disagreements

If there are disagreements that cannot be resolved, consider following the procedures for employment relations disputes or contact the Advisory and Conciliation Service (Acas) for advice.

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2025-06-06