Union Approach to Health and Safety: - United Steelworkers

Union representatives who serve on joint labor-management health and
safety committees are there to represent the union and worker concerns. By
law, unions must select their own representatives to serve on joint labormanagement
health and safety committees, just as unions have the legal
right to select their representatives on the committee that meets with
management to negotiate the collective bargaining agreement.
3. Training of committee members:
The goal of training and education in safety and health is to prepare
participants to be effective in identifying and eliminating or reducing
workplace hazards that are causing or likely to cause injury or illness.
Training should be thorough and comprehensive and include topics such as:
methods for hazard identification; the “hierarchy of controls” and alternative
methods for hazard control; legal rights regarding health and safety in the
workplace; specific hazards found in that workplace including “traditional”
hazards (for example, toxic chemicals and unsafe equipment); hazards
associated with how work is organized or being restructured (for example,
extended work hours, shift work, staffing levels, work load, work pace);
strategies for getting hazards corrected; and resources for further information
on health or safety topics.
It is very important for union representatives to be involved in decisions
about what training is needed, the content of training programs, how long
they should be, who designs and delivers the training, who attends the
training, etc.
Another source of information on health and safety issues for union
members on a joint labor-management health and safety committee is uniononly
training provided by the local, regional or National/International Union,
the national AFL-CIO, COSH groups and/or university-based labor
education programs.
4. Joint labor-management health and safety committee meetings:
a. How often does the joint labor-management health and safety
committee meet?
Meetings should be at least monthly, and as often as needed.
b. How long are the meetings?