The Role of The Health & Safety Representative
Most of us are aware that working in a poor work environment can be detrimental to health and performance. However, a poor work environment should not be viewed as a condition of employment. INTO members can change these conditions; as a health and safety rep, you can make your own workplace a better, safer and healthier place to work.
Encompassing a variety of issues from slips and trips to stress or asbestos, being an INTO health and safety rep is about wanting to make a positive change in your workplace.
What Does A Health & Safety Representative Do?
As an INTO health and safety rep, your role will include:
- educating members to ensure they recognise both hidden and more obvious health and safety issues, and keeping them at the top of workplace and branch agendas;
- encouraging engagement between health and safety reps and members to discuss how issues can be solved;
- working in partnership with other unions and employers to ensure positive outcomes when dealing with potential health and safety issues;
- working closely with INTO reps.
INTO members have the right to appoint their own safety representatives in every workplace regardless of how small or large the membership is.
The role is enormously satisfying and rewarding - safety reps have the opportunity to learn new skills and broaden their experience; and a successful rep can have a very positive effect on the work environment to the benefit of colleagues and students.
Health and safety reps are legally entitled to investigate health and safety concerns and have paid time off. INTO supports our safety reps through INTO H&S training courses and seminars run throughout the year.
Current training courses are available to view in the Trade Union Training section of our website.
