Health and safety representatives help other employees by playing a particular role in representing the views of employees and liaising with the employer on health and safety matters.

In a workplace where the employer, employees and any unions representing them have agreed on an employee participation system, the health and safety representatives can have the functions that those parties want. The functions below are some examples.

In a workplace where they have been unable to agree and the default system in the Act applies, then the health and safety representatives' role is to:

• foster positive health and safety management practices in the workplace
• identify hazards and tell the employer about them
• discuss ways to manage hazards with the employer
• consult with inspectors on health and safety
• promote employees' interests health and safety
• promote the interests of employees who have been harmed at work
• carry out any other functions agreed between the employer and the representative (or a union representing the representative).

Trained health and safety representatives also have a power to issue hazard notices.

Go to

• Employee participation system
• Default employee participation system
• Matters to include in a participation system
• Electing health and safety representatives
• Training for health and safety representatives
• Fact sheet: What is employee participation? pdf file [size: 30KB]
• Fact sheet: Employee participation systems pdf file [size: 31KB]
• Fact sheet: Health and safety representatives pdf file [size: 31KB]
• Fact sheet: Hazard Notices pdf file [size: 28KB]