The purpose of an organization’s safety committee is to bring a representation of employees and management together to discuss and promote occupational safety and health within that organization. Safety committees, as a joint effort, are a vehicle for open and broad communication between management and employees to increase safety awareness and to make recommendations for improvements regarding safety.
It is just as important to establish a safety committee structure that is made up of similar work groups within that organization. These work groups should cover detailed topics that directly impact the daily job duties of the employees and can allow for candid conversations about workplace hazards, injury trend analysis, corrective actions after an employee injury, safety training opportunities, the roles and responsibilities of employees during an emergency and other various safety topics.
For example: Employees of an institution will be entering steam pits within the next two weeks to complete annual maintenance in them. This is an opportunity for the supervisor to sit down with the employees that will be performing this task to review the confined space entry program. This is also an opportunity to ensure that the employees not only have their necessary personal protective equipment (PPE), but their PPE is in good working order. These dialogues may also prompt further discussions such as other concerns/ observations or other safety tips.
This program driven, program specific structure enforces the motto that everyone is responsible for safety and that it is acceptable for employees to talk about safety concerns within the organization.