Health and Safety Representatives

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The primary role of a health and safety representative (HSR) is to represent the health and safety interests of a work group and to raise any issues with their employer (principal/m​anager). HSRs are elected by fellow staff to represent the views of the staff group. The HSR role is important for consultation. Departmental workplaces are encouraged to elect a HSR.

The HSR fulfils a different role to the Health and Safety Advisor (HSA) which is an appointed position. However, these 2 positions can work well together to gather information and expertise, and improve health and safety at your school or workplace. A HSR is of particular benefit at workplaces with fewer than 30 employees as a point of contact both for staff and the manager.

Departmental procedures and guidelines

• Workplace HSR procedure​
  
• Health, safety and wellbeing committees procedure
• Health and safety advisors procedure​

HSR information and training resources

• Comparison of health and safety roles—HSA / HSR / committee member​
  
• HSR and health and safety committees
  
• HSR—information for workers, and prospective and current HSRs and deputy HSRs (PDF, 307KB)​​​​​​
  
• HSR​—information for employers and company executives (PDF, 397KB)​
• HSR and work group formation—information for principals and managers​
• ​​ HSR process overview​
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management System​—for departmental employees, please search 'HSWMS' on OnePortal for more information including risk management​, incident management, engagement and support, health and staff rehabilitation, and performance and improvement.​
  
• Provisional Improvement Notice (PIN) flowchart​
• Registered training organisations approved to train the HSR course and HSR refresher​ (XLSX, 16.9KB)​​​
  
• Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors
  
• Worksafe Health and Safety Queensland—information about HSRs
• Worksafe Health and Safety Representative Training—training information for HSRs

Related resou​​​​​rces for HSRs​​