Paul, Have a read of this, its the SRSC regs also known as the "brown book" www.tuc.org.uk/extras/brownbook.pdf -

The guidance is good and in my experience you can never have too may pairs of eyes and ears on the floor concerned with safety

Paul ‘Workplace research provides evidence to suggest that involving workers has a positive effect on health and safety performance. Equally, there is strong evidence that unionised workplaces and those with health and safety representatives are safer and healthier as a result.’ Sourse: HSE Strategy: The Health and Safety of Great Britain \\ Be part of the solution: June 2009 From evidence presented by the Health and Safety Executive, organisations and trade unions, the following are the main benefits of worker involvement in health and safety: Significantly reduces injuries and improves occupational health. [Reduces costs] Improves sickness absence. [Reduces costs] Can improve morale and generate practical solutions to workplace problems. [Increased efficiency] Improves communication and makes objectives clear. [Increased efficiency] Assists the development of management systems that are honed by operational reality. [Increased efficiency] Therefore: 1 Trained Health and Safety Representatives are likely to add value to the h&s management systems by acting as a conduit for the workforce’s knowledge and experience of doing their jobs. In looking at the role of a Safety Rep, it is primarily to represent the interests of their constituents in relation to health and safety. In practice this is likely to mean: (a) Assisting managers to develop more effective safe systems of work, procedures etc; (b) Checking such systems etc to ensure they are effective in practice. ie independent audit; and (c) Maintaining a two way dialogue between managers and their constituents. 2 Safety Committees can be a useful mechanism for providing a forum to develop joint solutions to health and safety problems. Unfortunately many go off the rails for a whole variety of different reasons. For small businesses both could add value but you need to be clear what you want out of them. The big danger with Safety Committees is that they become moribund talking shops. Therefore it should be: about addressing the health and safety priorities of the business; chaired by the most senior person in the company; aligned to a plan that fits into the business plan; and its effectiveness reviewed at appropriate times. The Committee should be about action and its constitution should reflect this. Cheers. Nigel