All UK employers have a legal duty to consult their employees (and/or employee representatives) on matters affecting employees’ health and safety at work. This means providing information about the health and safety hazards they may face, and taking account of their concerns and ideas before making any decisions about the best ways of protecting them.
Involving workers in managing health and safety benefits both employees and employers. Research has shown workplaces where staff are involved in taking decisions about health and safety are safer and healthier.
British Safety Council’s guide provides an overview of employers’ legal duties in this area.
According to the HSE, consulting and involving employees in health and safety can help employers make better decisions about risk management, because they are based on the input and experience of a range of workers who understand the hazards and the potential for problems and dangerous short-cuts. If employees are actively involved in drawing up and deciding on the health and safety procedures, they are more likely to understand the need for them and be committed to following them.
Consulting on COVID-19 precautions
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how important it is for employers and employees to work together to draw up, implement, and follow all reasonably practicable measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at work and in all premises.
According to the guide, employers must assess the risks from COVID-19 and take all reasonable steps to protect workers and others from the virus – for example, when re-opening workplaces. Therefore, employers must consult their workers and safety representatives when assessing the risks and on the measures they propose to take to protect workers and others from infection.
To read the BSC’s advice on workplace health and safety in full, click here.
But of course its the only way to go. Ask questions and discuss the task with those who have the experience and the knowledge of the job, rather than on the majority nonsense of brightly coloured or numerically scored RA developed by some ones personal bias concentrating on nick pickity issues and presented as a document of rigid compliance.