Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 2:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTFOR “GRASSROOTS” MEMBERSTrade unionrepresentationBuildinga strongmembershipThe job of aworker HS&ErepresentativeStrong trade union organisation is essential to ensure that employersprevent injuries, ill health, and death of working people and others in thewider community. Workers and unions have a direct interest. It is our lives,limbs and health that are at stake, as well as those of our families andfriends.One of the main jobs of trade unions and their members at a local level is tomake sure that the employer keeps to her/his responsibilities. Some of theways to achieve this include building a strong membership, electing workerHS&E representatives and organising for health, safety and theenvironment.Organising around health, safety and the environment can help to build astrong union. Members have a deep concern about the health ofthemselves, their fellow workers and people in the wider community. Butoften health, safety and environmental hazards may not have been apriority for action. Workers may have other major concerns, such as a livingwage and having enough food to eat.The term ‘worker HS&E representative’ covers a number of differentcategories of representative (see the description of these categories in theIntroduction to these Manuals on page 5). The IUF believes that any workerHS&E representative should be a trade union representative selected orelected by fellow union members in their workplace.We have seen in Article 8.1 (b) of ILO Convention No. 184 that workershave a right to select safety and health representatives. Some of the mainjobs that a worker HS&E representative can do include: talking to members, and taking up their complaints with management involving, informing, and consulting members collecting and distributing HS&E information carrying out HS&E checks of the workplace on a regular basis identifying hazards, investigating and tackling the risks investigating accidents, ill health and near misseschecking that the employer is complying with health and safetyrequirementsconsulting and negotiating with managementsitting on safety and health committeesfollowing up problems and making sure that something gets done aboutthemtalking to Government health and safety inspectors50 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers