Start with the ToR (Terms of Reference) for the Committee- what’s it for, who sits on it  and what does it do.

Once that bit is established then it can be whatever it’s members want it to be. It can be consultative (a place to discuss issues) it be functional- review risk assessments, oversee the investigation of incidents or it can be a tool for promoting H&S culture –“Spread the H&S gospel to the four corners of the business).

I would suggest that it is not chaired by the H&S bod: the chairperson should be the CEO or Head of Operations etc.

I would agree with AK above, start with the Terms of Reference, definatly get the most senior person you can to chair (CEO, Chief Operating Office, etc.) - NOT the H&S Manager/lead!  Make sure the staff side are involved - if you have trade unions they should have some safety reps, if not you can nominate/elect staff side reps.

I work in a large hospital and we have a monthly meeting with 6 monthly reports from the divisions and quarterly reports from the specialist advisors (H&S, Fire, Security, RPA, Infection Conrol, Emergency Planning, Occupational Health, Training, etc.) Our meetings take about 2 hours but it will depend on the size of your organisation, activity, sites, risks, etc.

Happy to send you our ToR if they would be helpful, pm me?

Robin

One thing we tried with the agenda is to reverse it. What I mean is this; a traditional agenda starts with set topics for information: H&S stats, incident reports etc. You listen make sure everything is in order then we move to tabled subjects for discussion.  Finally we have any other business which is where the most free flowing discussions about Health and Safety might take place but it’s at the end of the meeting  with time running out so it tends to be a very quick curtailed discussion.  If you start with any other business then deal with the subjects for discussion and end on the subjects for information you are more likely to end up an engaging debate rather than everybody sitting around the table nodding their heads. Finally at the end ask everybody how they felt the meeting went; make them sum it up in one word.

I chair the H&S forum with department rep's and contractor rep's each quarter.  We actually made it a rule not to have any Senior Management at this as in the past people where less inclined to comment or willingly take part.  We always have a section on Legal updates and I would push contratcors for feed back on this in their areas.  There should always be objectives at the end of the meeting and these should be completed before the next scheduled meeting.

Originally Posted by: Brian Campbell

I chair the H&S forum with department rep's and contractor rep's each quarter.  We actually made it a rule not to have any Senior Management at this as in the past people where less inclined to comment or willingly take part.  We always have a section on Legal updates and I would push contratcors for feed back on this in their areas.  There should always be objectives at the end of the meeting and these should be completed before the next scheduled meeting.

If no senior managers are present at the Forum how do actions get carried out? Does that mean that you need another forum for H&S to present their case to managers?

Edited by user 24 March 2017 11:12:07(UTC)  | Reason: I am barely literate and needed to rewrite this post