The following tips will help you improve the ways you consult and involve your employees.
If you have no union
Ask your workforce if they would like to be consulted directly, through representatives, or a combination of the two.
If it is not practical to consult directly or employees would like representatives, arrange for them to be elected.
Consult regularly
Ask your employees how often they would like to be consulted.
Hold back
Employee consultation is about taking on board the views of your employees, so you should not decide who should represent them.
Reflect diversity
Encourage everyone who is eligible to stand as a candidate, so that employees have the choice to elect or endorse a candidate who reflects the group or constituency.
Train your representatives
You must work with and train the representatives that your employees have elected so that they can fulfil their role.
Take your time
If you and your employee representatives allow time to get used to working together, and listen to each other, your relationship has the best possible chance of reaching your shared goal of staying safe and healthy at work.
Save time
Where you have both union-appointed and employee-elected health and safety representatives, consult them at the same time about the same issues if you can. Joint involvement leads to joint problem solving.
Think laterally
Do not limit the scope of consultation to a pre-set list – sometimes you will need to involve employees about issues that are not on the list.
Tackle health issues
Health problems, such as stress in the workplace or musculoskeletal disorders, are areas where your employees can add value in helping you to address them together.