ACCIDENT PREVENTION
S20.20
Revised 3-04
Environmental Health and Safety
335-3041
REQUIREMENT
Elected employee representatives and management representatives are to attend and actively take part in frequent and regular safety meetings. (WAC 296-800-130)
Unit Administrators
Unit administrators are responsible for:
- Establishing safety committees, or
- Ensuring the foreman-crew safety meetings are held.
SAFETY COMMITTEES
Membership
Employees elect fellow workers to represent them on the committee. NOTE: Each University employee must be represented on a safety and health committee.
Terms of employee-elected members shall be a maximum of one year. Members may be re-elected by their peers.
Vacancies are filled by special election.
Management appoints at least one committee representative.
The number of management-selected representatives may not exceed the number of employee-selected members.
Meetings
Chair
The committee elects a chair who presides at meetings. The term of the chair is one year. A chair may be re-elected for another term.
Frequency
The committee determines meeting frequency, times and locations. Meetings must be held at least once every two months.
Meeting Length
The length of each meeting may not exceed one hour except by majority committee vote.
FOREMAN-CREW SAFETY MEETINGS
Administrators may elect to use foreman-crew safety meetings in lieu of safety committees when:
- There are ten or fewer employees in the unit, or
- There are eleven or more employees in the unit and employees are segregated on different shifts or in widely dispersed locations in crews of ten or fewer employees.
Meeting Frequency
Foreman-crew safety meetings are held at least once a month or, if conditions require, weekly or biweekly.
Scope of Activities
Safety committees' and foreman-crew safety meetings' scope of activities include:
- Assist unit supervisors in conducting safety self-inspections. See S20.50.
- Assist in accident investigation to uncover trends.
- Review accident reports to determine means to prevent recurrence.
- Accept and evaluate employee suggestions.
- Review job procedures and recommend improvements.
- Monitor the safety program effectiveness.
- Refer unresolved safety problems to the unit administrator, a higher-level safety committee, e.g., the college or division committee, or Environmental Health and Safety in order to ensure resolution.
- Promote and publicize safety.
- Make recommendations to the unit administrator on improvement of the unit's accident prevention program.
DOCUMENTATION
Safety Meeting Report
Use the Safety Meeting Report form to document safety committee or foreman-crew meetings. (Make a copy from the master on page S20.20.3)
The group appoints or elects a representative to document safety meetings. Minutes of meetings shall be documented and maintained on file for a period of at least one year. Copies of minutes are provided to:
- Unit administrator
- Environmental Health and Safety
- Employees (by distribution to employees or by posting minutes on the safety bulletin board)
See PDF master form:
S20.20.3: Safety Meeting
Report
Complete and/or print as needed