Posted By Lance Morgan I suspect that they will write/or telephone you or your CE and say they have been informed about concerns from one of your employees regarding such and such and ask you to respond to those concerns. If they visited every time somebody rang them up - they would never be in the office.

Posted By Paul Murphy Easy one here I think. HASAWA Section 7, presumably the TU Rep is an employee, and also Reg 14 of the Management of HASAW Regs 1999. From the text of Reg 14 MHSWR 1999 Employees Duties Para 85 "Employees’ duties under section 7 of the HSW Act include co-operating with their employer to enable the employer to comply with statutory duties for health and safety. Under these Regulations,employers or those they appoint (eg under regulation 7) to assist them with health and safety matters need to be informed without delay of any work situation which might present a serious and imminent danger. Employees should also notify any shortcomings in the health and safety arrangements, even when no immediate danger exists, so that employers can take remedial action if needed. Take a look at the ACoP's. Also, why not try talking to the rep nicely!! Good luck!

Posted By Allan St.John Holt Arran's right (but I would say that!) and co-operation takes both parties to exchange information. You would have every right to be irritated by this, providing of course that you have done nothing to provoke the present situation! Either way, a straight talk would be a good idea, and if this is refused you should consider withdrawing recognition of the safety rep for failure to comply with Regulations and ACoP. Allan

Posted By Ian Clay Patrick, I agree with the others in the thread about passing on the information to yourself. The concern I have is that it seems you to have not been forthcoming with information, e.g. consultation over the new set-up. Isn't there something about consulting reps and the workforce over any change in th workplace or work practices. May I suggest this has been the starting point for the lack of co-operation?

Posted By Dave Wilson Patrick, Oh deary me! I wouldnt get in a panic mate, as an ex H&S Enforcement Officer I would suggest that if you are worried that there may be something wrong then you will know this and can fix it, if not then you can use the expertise of these people to identify and give soultions to problems which come up. The visit of a Enf Officer from HSE,LA,EA, FA or wherever should be seen as on opportunity to get real advice and form closer working relationships with them and should not be discouraged. Forget about reg this and reg that and law this etc and concentrate on communication and building bridges with the TU rep to insill a better working relationship buddy as at the end of the day you both have to work together to ensure it is safe and that the business thrives. One small phone call and look at the panic and ultimately the cost this has made to your company by a breakdown in communication.

Posted By Michael Miller Forget all the legal gaggle and pun! what is required here is some honest to goodness consultation. Something that failed to take place in the first instance. I take it that the safety rep never got the info he was asking for that is why he went to the authorities. If a kind word fails to deter him, write to the branch safety officer who will make him/her tell you what you want to know. As a safety advisor in an organisation you can put all the building blocks in place as much as you want. However if you fail to engage the employees you have wasted your time. Consultation and participation is the key to a good health and safety culture. Mike

Posted By Gilly Margrave I find Mike's suggestion that the Branch H&S officer will "make" him/her tell you what you want to know interesting. If only I had that power! However as a Branch H&S Officer I am usually willing to mediate where communications between my Safety Reps and management appears to have broken down. Gilly

Posted By Jason Gould Hi Without being provocative I would Like to speculate a little here. 1> Yes MHSW reg could be used but by doing this you would smell the stink on the moon and I personally I think all employee credibility for Either yourself/company and safety authorities in general will damaged for years. 2> I Agree the safety rep could be well out of order from the sounds of things but Just wandering if normal steward issues are lingering here i.e. work practices etc. 3> As someone has suggetsted it may be better to let it ride and face the authorites with your predicamnet. This way you would show that your looking at a bigger picture (hence trying to establish a positive safety culture) 4> At some point in the future I would try better communication practices with all employees on matters of safety. You may wish to try and get the meaning of reasonably practicable accross a little better.(dont envy you) Hope You both reach a suitable solution with the interest of the majority in mind. Good Luck Jason

Posted By Dave Wilson Nice one mate as they say 'its good to talk!'