Consultation with Employees - Keele University
Clouds  

Welcome to

Department of Occupational Health and Safety

 

Department of Occupational Health and Safety

Consultation with Employees

The "Consulting workers on health and safety. Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 (as amended) and Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (as amended)" detail the appointment, functions and rights of trade union safety representatives, including their right to consult with the University on matters relating to the health and safety of the employees they represent.

An amendment to these Regulations was made by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (SI No. 2051). It requires the University to consult with safety representatives, in good time, on matters concerning:

  • the introduction of any measure that will affect the health and safety of employees
  • persons nominated to provide health and safety assistance or to assist in emergency procedures (as required by Regulations 6 and 7 of the 1992 Management Regulations)
  • any health and safety training or information the University is required to provide to employees under the relevant statutory provisions
  • the health and safety consequences of the planning and introduction of new technologies into the workplace

As the 1977 Regulations only apply to safety representatives from recognised trade unions, many non-unionised workers did not have any statutory rights of consultation with their employers on matters of health and safety. This has now been remedied by the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 (SI No. 1513) which require employers to consult with employees directly, or through elected 'representatives of employee safety'. The rôles and functions of union safety representatives are not affected by these Regulations.

The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 were implemented by a memorandum from Registry in December 1996, following agreement by Council. 

Further Information

HSE Leaflet INDG 232 Consulting Employees on Health and Safety

The Approved Code of Practice "Consulting workers on health and safety. Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations" is available as a free download from the HSE website