What does a health and safety representative do?

The person your crew goes to

Every site has someone the crew tells before they tell anyone else. Sometimes it’s the HSR. They’re elected by their work group to speak for it on health and safety, and they’re the person who gets asked, “what happened to Tuesday’s report?”

WorkSafe Victoria’s page on speaking up lists the HSR beside the manager, supervisor and employer as someone to report unsafe conditions to. It also says the employer works with employees, including HSRs, to address the issues they raise. Both lines are quoted in the table.

Provisional improvement notices

WorkSafe Queensland’s page says HSRs can issue a provisional improvement notice, or PIN, for an issue affecting the work group they represent. The page says the HSR consults the person before issuing one. It also says a PIN can be issued by a qualified HSR, meaning one who has completed training in giving PINs. The rows quote each point.

Stopping unsafe work

The same regulator describes the right to cease work. The page says HSRs are able to stop unsafe work, and calls this the right to cease work. It also covers training for it, and the faster route when the risk is immediate. Our guide on refusing unsafe work goes through it.

Working with your HSR

If you manage a site, tell the crew who their HSR is and make time for them. Give them the register, or a view of it. Answer their questions the way you’d answer a regulator’s. A HSR who is kept informed solves problems at the work-group level before anyone else gets involved.

Give the HSR a standing line in the weekly meeting. Five minutes: what they’ve heard, what they’ve seen and what they’d like fixed. It stops problems arriving as a surprise.

If you’re a worker, ask your HSR what they’ve done about the thing you reported. They can often tell you more than the supervisor can.

What a good report gives a HSR

A HSR can act on a report that says what, where and when. “Stairs are dodgy” leaves them guessing. “East stair, level 2, tread loose since Monday morning, photo attached” gives them something to take to the manager. A timestamp and a photo mean the answer can’t be “we weren’t told”.

• A photo from where you were standing
• The place, as exactly as you can say it
• The date and time you noticed it
• Who you told and what they said
• Whether anyone has been hurt or nearly hurt

Questions to ask when you meet your HSR

• Which work group do you represent, and who is in it?
• What training have you done?
• How do you want to hear about hazards: in person, by message or in the register?
• Who do you go to if the site manager doesn’t act?

Where Haznote fits

Workers can send a report by voice with a photo. A manager confirms it. If a worker can’t raise something with the site manager, a confidential report goes to the company’s confidential contact instead. Haznote doesn’t issue a PIN or a stop-work direction. Those stay with the HSR.

Our page for HSRs covers the confidential channel in more detail.