What's the point of Health and Safety Reps?

What's the point of Health and Safety Reps? Most companies I know get this wrong. They turn their H&S Reps into mini-H&S officers. They give them inspections and risk assessments to do. There is nothing inherently wrong with getting them to help with H&S. But it's important the line-managers don't abdicate all personal responsibility for H&S because "the reps do that". Reps can "help" but must not "own" H&S. Let's be clear on the H&S Reps true role: to represent their colleagues in H&S consultation with the employer. When they are clear on their purpose and properly trained, they can be very effective at giving the organisation an alternative point of view on H&S. If the organisations consults properly (i.e. in good faith and truly listens), getting the opinion of the H&S reps on risk/controls/changes can help develop solutions which work well and work for everyone. Do your H&S Reps need some clarity on their role? Do they need to learn better ways of engaging with their colleagues and managers? Does your H&S Committee need to talk less and act more? If so, give me a shout. I deliver bespoke training called Effective Health and Safety Reps in the Workplace, covering all the knowledge and skills they need. #healthandsafety #iosh #nebosh Who are Compassa?- Compassa is a GOLD NEBOSH Learning Partner. We specialise in making IOSH and NEBOSH training and eLearning fun, engaging, and interactive. Check out our interactive video eLearning courses. We have produced the WORLD's FIRST interactive video course for IOSH Managing Safely and a sister course called Managing People Effectively where Will teaches EVERYTHING he knows about leadership and managing people. WEBSITE: https://www.compassa.co.uk IOSH MANAGING SAFELY Video eLearning: https://www.compassa.co.uk/all-course... MANAGING PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY Video eLearning: https://www.compassa.co.uk/all-course...