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Committees and Consultation

Why is consultation in health and safety important?

A key objective of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 is the establishment of effective workplace consultative arrangements. The Health and Safety Consultative Framework provides procedural information for all departmental workplaces on establishing communication and consultation processes.

Workplace health and safety committees

A structure of health and safety committees/forums throughout all levels of the department is defined in the Health and Safety Consultative Framework. The committee structure is summarised below.

All schools and other departmental workplaces are required to establish a forum to deal with health and safety issues. This can take the form of a workplace health and safety committee, or in smaller locations it might be more practical to use other consultative forums such as staff meetings to deal with health and safety issues.

Some issues identified at your location may not be able to be managed at the local level. These issues may have a broader impact and may exist in other departmental workplaces across the state. The procedure provides a flowchart to follow when escalating issues to a higher committee for assistance.

Workplace Health and Safety Officers (WHSOs)

Within the department, all workplaces with 30 or more workers are required to appoint a workplace health and safety officer (WHSO). The role of a WHSO is to assist management by advising them of the overall state of health and safety at the workplace.

Workplace Health and Safety Representatives (WHSRs)

Workplace Health and Safety Representatives (WHSR) are elected by fellow staff at an individual worksite.

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This page was last reviewed on 02 Feb 2012 at 02:10PM