Posted By margaret conlon Can someone please inform me is there a set of guidelines for forming a health & safety committee...when do you need to form the committee, what size etc...

Posted By Geoff Burt There's an HSE Code of Practice and Guidance for H&S Committees - ISBN 0 11 8823959 4. It's called Safety Representatives and Safety Committees and is available from HSE books.

Posted By Gilly Margrave Not only is there guidance there are Regulations. As has been mentioned if there is a recognised Trade Union the committee would be set up under the SRSC Regs (regardless of the size of the company). If there is no recognised Trade Union consultation (which might or might not involve a health and safety committee) would come under the Health and Safety(Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996. There is a free booklet Consulting Employees on Health & Safety IND(G) 232 available from the HSE or from their website.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze From personal experience (please note) if a committee of any sort exceeds more than 7 people (absolute maximum 12), it becomes more of a talking shop and is less likely to get things done. I particularly like the idea of multiple committees e.g. 1 per site worked at my last place and managers & workers committees have already been mentioned. However you then risk reinforcing any them 'n' us culture that may already exist when what you really want is for people to (dare I say it) 'unite against the common enemy'.

Posted By Gilly Margrave If the TU Reps have identified the groups of workers they represent (regardless of whether all the workers are within membership) the SRSC model applies. HSCER only applies where you have groups of workers not covered by union reps. The distinction is between groups of workers not individual workers. If the TU has agreed to cover non-members for H&S consultation purposes or if they represent some of the workers the only option is the SRSC version. The HSCER were introduced specifically to deal with situations where there are no recognised TUs. Anyway I'm told the ConDoc on employee consultation is due out in November (how often have we been told that!!) so it may all change in the next couple of years. Anyway why do I sometimes get the feeling that not everyone loves the unions. My current low fat diet only allows me to eat two managers before breakfast.

Posted By Neil Pearson Having re-read my previous response, I wouldn't be surprised if Paul Crump was referring to me! I probably seemed to be saying that management decide who represents employees, and employees don't have a say. But in the absence of union reps, this is a good way to get the ball rolling. I normally find I can agree a team with everybody concerned. If you use a management team like I suggested, you have to ensure that the line/team managers consult with and brief the teams under them. This is an essential part of developing policies etc. You also have to ensure that the union or other elected reps have a say on what happens in this management team. This is easy - upwards consultation from teams below, or from a committee made up of reps. It is wrong to think that there is a H&S Committee or nothing. There are many ways of skinning a cat, and there are even more ways of complying with the requirements Paul quotes. Many companies comply with both sets of consultation law without any stand-alone safety committee. Union reps often find that an already existing management team can develop policies etc, and production teams can achieve effective consultation. I wouldn't advocate this arrangement for everyone, it depends on the organisation. But as safety practitioners we do a better job if we can design arrangements that are appropriate to the company (which is what Reg5 of MHSWR requires).