Statutory Safety Representatives and Safety Committees: Legal and Industrial Relations Implications

Abstract

This article examines the increasingly important issue of the role of statutory safety representatives and safety committees in helping to promote and protect the health, safety and welfare of the Australian workforce. It consists first of an examination of the development of statutory provision in this area in the United Kingdom, culminating in the passing of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the introduction of the far-reaching Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations of 1977. It then describes and analyses the reception of these provisions, and the philosophy which underpins them, in Australia. Thirdly, it attempts to identify and discuss some of the more important legal and practical implications of this kind of statutory provision. There is reason to suppose that some of these issues have not been analysed in sufficient detail in either Britain or Australia, but overall it is clear that a properly structured system of statutory safety representatives/com mittees can play an important and constructive part in helping to promote a proper awareness of health and safety issues in this country.