Posted By Merv Newman There are two levels of "champions" The first is someone on the management comittee who "champions" H&S and H&S projects before his colleagues. That person ensures that H&S is included and discussed at the highest level and is integrated into management thinking. Can be the financial officer, RH, production manager. Anyone who takes it (and is taken) seriously. Nice if it's the managing director. Other "champions" tend to wageroll level. Can be union reps but not necessarily. In fact it is a positive if everyone takes a turn, weekly, monthly or whatever. The role of these people tends to cover the simpler aspects of safety - machine guards, holes in the floor, PPE and so on. In principle they are supposed to correct or at least report unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. It is rare that they will correct a colleague but they can be a help with temps and, to a lesser extent, contractors. Some companies ask them to come up with at least one "project" during their tenure. An H&S problem that they can handle with a little "mentoring" from their supervisor : talking with maintenance or purchasing for example. This can help a lot with personal development. They are often expected to present their project to the work team and keep them advised of progress/problems. It is important to show these people that they are doing a valuable job. The supervisor takes time to chat with them and. And buys a coffee now and then. It is also great if senior managers can come along and have a coffee and a chat with the safety champion. The most demoralising for a safety champion is when nothing changes. Where they exist we like to get them involved in Behavioural Safety programmes as the first wave of observers. This changes the "correcting unsafe acts" part of their role to "recognising and reinforcing" safe behaviour. They are much more comfortable with that. Merv God my brain hurts. I've been working on a Dynamic Risk Assessment training programme all day. I feel boggled. And thanks to those who were kind enough to send me material. (see following beg)

Posted By Merv Newman Ian, thanks for the kind words. I was also trying to differentiate the "safety champion" from the H&S rep who has, as you say, rights and obligations. The status/position of the H&S rep also tends to be permanant. My "safety champion" is much less formal. There is usually one per work group (anything up to 40 people with one 1st line supervisor), so it's a colleague and someone who "lives" with team. Training is often minimal. "George, do you want to be safety champion this month ?" "Yes boss" "Right, talk to Harry. He'll tell you what to do". "Oh. And would you like a cup of coffee ?" And factory follow-up visits usually cost me a FORTUNE in coffee. All that RRR. (Recognition, Reinforcement, Reward) Makes me sick. (machine coffee)