OHS REPS @ WORK

One in three occupational health and safety reps in Victoria are intimidated into not raising health and safety concerns. The same number report being bullied as a result of having raised a health and safety issue in the workplace.

These results are from the survey report 'The View from the Front Line: A Report on the Experiences of Health and Safety Reps' (download at the bottom of this page) following a Victorian Trades Hall Council survey of 807 health and safety reps carried out in October 2003.

Commenting on the survey, Mr Leigh Hubbard, secretary of the VTHC, pointed to the need for stronger regulatory support of OHS reps, including more training.

'OHS reps are on the frontline every day speaking up for workers' rights to injury free workplaces. We have an obligation to ensure that they can carry on their important work free of intimidation and harassment,' he said. 'Given that there have been 26 workplace fatalities this year alone, and numerous injuries to boot, we must remain vigilant in ensuring that all aspects of the OHS system are working and not one worker is worse off as a result of going to work.'

'The lynchpin in that system are the OHS reps, and the new OHS Act must make it clear to employers that retribution for raising health and safety concerns is simply not on,' Mr Hubbard continued.

The survey also reveals that:

• 56% of OHS reps represent workers on other shifts and from other locations, severely compromising their ability to expediently act on health and safety concerns;
• labour hire/agency workers are employed in 31% of the workplaces and casuals in 50% of the workplaces, with some OHS reps noting that 'dangerous jobs have been contracted out' and that 'permanent workers are replaced by casuals who are too scared to raise issues';
• despite the requirement for employers to consult with OHS Reps and workers about health and safety, only 32% of OHS reps said their employer automatically consulted them or other workers about changes that may affect health and safety and 12% said they were never consulted;
• just over one third (36%) of OHS Reps had been contacted by a Worksafe inspector entering the workplace, even though almost double that number (69%) were aware that an inspector had in fact visited their workplace. It is a requirement of the Act for an inspector to contact the OHS rep on the site they are visiting.

'Not surprisingly, 94% of the reps surveyed were union members, clearly showing that unionised workplaces are the most active on health and safety, benefiting both workers and employers,' Mr Hubbard concluded.