Cooperation and consultation with the workforce and contractors

The legal requirements for involving the workforce include providing information, instruction and training, and consulting employees.

Beyond that legal minimum, worker involvement means the full participation of the workforce in managing health and safety. It creates a culture where relationships between employer and employees rest on collaboration, trust and joint problem solving. Employees help assess workplace risks and, in partnership with the employer, develop and review health and safety policies.

Benefits of worker participation

Consulting employees gives real benefits to the business:

• More productivity. Businesses with good workforce involvement tend to be more productive.
• A healthier, safer workplace. Employees help identify hazards, assess risks and develop ways to control or remove them.
• Better decisions. They draw on the input and experience of many people, including employees who know their own jobs and the business well.
• Stronger commitment. Employees who helped reach a decision are more committed to carrying it out.
• More cooperation and trust. Employers and employees who talk and listen understand each other's views better.
• joint problem solving
• better overall efficiency and quality
• higher motivation in the workforce

What must be consulted on

Employers must consult employees or their representatives about:

• any measure that may substantially affect their health and safety at work, such as new equipment or new systems of work
• arrangements for obtaining competent people to help comply with health and safety law
• the information that must be given to employees on risks and dangers from their work, the measures to reduce or remove them, and what employees should do if exposed to a risk
• the planning and organisation of health and safety training
• the health and safety consequences of introducing new technology

Methods of consultation

Employers normally consult in one of three ways:

1. direct consultation with workers
2. through worker health and safety representatives
3. through a health and safety committee

Health and safety representatives deal with the specific issues relevant to the work group they represent.

The role of health and safety committees

The committee is the forum for consulting on health and safety across the whole workforce. It should consider the development, implementation and review of the policies and procedures that make up the organisation's health and safety system.

An employer can also set up a committee voluntarily if it will help meet the duty to consult and help the workforce take part in decisions. A committee is a good option when many workers are reluctant to become safety representatives but some are willing to join a committee. It can also work well for a large business that needs to consult on matters common to several work groups or workplaces.

Benefits of a health and safety committee:

• regular, planned and structured discussions on health and safety
• a cooperative approach
• a group of worker and business representatives who together discuss and develop ways to improve the systems for managing health and safety
• development and retention of corporate knowledge on health and safety in the workplace

Summary notes for Element 3 · Cheat sheet · Glossary. A study aid, not published or endorsed by NEBOSH.