Posted By John Mann The director of the small company I work for has recently updated the company structure. As Quality manger I have to record all this in the Quality Manual. The director repeatedly refers to the Health and Safety Officer as the Health and Safety Representative. I'm fairly sure this is just wrong terminology (we haven't had a health and safety representative since the last one left) but before I raise the matter I would like to be sure of my facts. 1. Can the Health and Safety officer and Health and Safety Representative be the same person? 2. Can a health and safety representative be appointed by management without an election? 3. Is it legal not to have a health and safety representative at all (this is a small company - 5 people)? Thanks, John.

Posted By Paul Devlin To ty and answer your questions John, well in my opinion anyway. 1. It sounds to me like its down to terminology on the part of the director he may well be meaning one and the same thing. It of course depends on whether your place is unionised but i'd doubt it with as few people in the company unless your part of a bigger group? 2. Again this would depend upon whether the company was unionised if it was the no the managment cannot appoint the H&S Rep this will be done by the union covering your depot by election if possible. 3. Doesn't matter if your company is unionised or not you have a duty to consult with your staff on h&s. So legally yes you can do without a h&s rep ( if non unionised) You might be better getting hold of the relevant reg which if unionised is the SRSC Regs 1996 and if not its the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations (HSCER 1996) Hope this helps Paul

Posted By Ken Taylor I find it more annoying when they refer to a H&S rep as a H&S officer! It's going to be a conflict of interest to carry out both roles and the p/h will likely finish up as everybody's 'enemy' if not very careful.

Posted By Ken Taylor We've had debates on the most appropriate title for H&S practitioners on this forum before, Tony. As a H&S Officer, I have had H&S Co-ordinators in various premises (not fully qualified) reporting to me; the title H&S Adviser can imply a mere advisory role without any management or policy input; and 'H&S Manager' is seen by some to place the post-holder clearly in the 'management camp'. So there are pros and cons to all titles and individual employers will decide for themselves upon how they designate their H&S person - and we will have our own preferences.

Posted By fats van den raad Better than to be introduced by MD as " This is our Health and Safety..urm....urm...urm.... thingy"!!!!!!! I did ask him afterwards if we could arrange a meeting where we we can discuss changes to my contract of employment, among other things changing my designation from HSE manager to HSE Thingy, and whether Thingys are on a higher pay scale than managers!!

Posted By Ken Taylor Presumably just like the Clerical Officers, Administrative Officers, Senior Officers, Principal Officers, Human Resources Officers, Finance Officers and all the others? As I said, there are pros and cons and preferences - but let's keep to the original question.