 Home Health and Safety Be a Safety Rep How to become a safety rep
How to become a safety rep
Interested in becoming an Usdaw safety rep? Then please read on.
Where the union is recognised we have right to appoint safety reps. By law trade union safety reps have powers to:
- Investigate complaints from members and any potential hazards
- Investigate accidents and dangerous occurrences
- Take up health and safety problems with management
- Carry out regular health and safety inspections of the workplace
- Take copies of any health and safety information held by the employer
- Represent the members in discussions with visitnig inspectors from the enforcing authorities.
Your employer must provide facilities and assistance to safety reps, including paid time to allow them to carry out their functions and to attend trade union training. Employers must also consult with safety reps on any work-related issues that might affect the health and safety of members.
The number of safety reps in any particular workplace is a matter for negotiation with the employer. But it is up to the members to decide who the reps are. In some workplaces, individual activists act both as shop steward and as safety rep. In others, different members take on the two roles and work together to share the load.
If there are more volunteers than there are vacancies for safety reps, the Branch will arrange an election.
Training and Support
Once you are elected as a safety rep, the union must formally notify your employer in writing. A standard form is used by your Branch Secretary/Area Organiser to do this. The Branch Secretary/Area Organiser should also:
- Advise the local Usdaw office so that they can amend the activists' database to show that you are a safety rep.
- Pass on your details to the Education Department to arrange for trainiong.
- Order a copy of the Usdaw Safety Reps Resource Pack for you and pass it on with other information about branch meetings, contacts for other safety reps in your branch, etc.
The Usdaw Safety Rep Resource Pack provides practical advice on how to get started as a safety rep along with useful materials such as a poster for the union notice board, a model letter to get in touch with the health and safety enforcement body for your workplace and the Usdaw Safety Reps Handbook .
The Education Department runs 3-day basic training courses for new safety reps and also advises on other Usdaw and TUC courses. To find out about courses go to the online course-finder.
To keep up to date, copies of Network - the quarterly activists' journal - are posted to all members on the activists' database. Make sure you also sign up for health and safety email alerts from this site - which include Safety Net, the union's online newsletter on health and safety issues. Also register for "Risks" - the free online weekly newsletter from the TUC by following the instructions on the email alerts section of their website.
To share experience with fellow reps, join in our online discussion forum.
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