Involving your employees in an activity such as a safety committee that directly affects their safety and health is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. Here's why:

• Rank and file workers are the persons most in Contact with potential safety and health hazards. They have a vested interest in effective protection programs.
• Recent experience has demonstrated that line workers and other rank and filers make highly valuable problem-solvers.
• Group decisions have the advantage of the group's wider field of experience.
• Research shows that employees are more likely to support and use programs in which they have had input.
• Employees who are encouraged to offer their ideas and whose contributions are taken seriously are more satisfied and productive on the job.
• You, the owner/manager, have a solid grasp of your overall operations. Line workers, on the other hand, probably have a more detailed knowledge of each operation and task at your worksite.
• Employees who understand the hazards associated with workplace operations will realize that they have the most to gain from preventing or controlling exposure to those hazards. Knowledgeable and aware employees tend to be safe workers and also good sources of ideas for better hazard prevention and control.

The key to a successful safety and health program is effective communications and the safety committee can help to make sure that happens. Consequently, in this course we are going to explore concepts and tools to help you start and grow an effective labor-management safety committee, assess and evaluate your current safety committee, and recommend changes to improve the effectiveness of your safety committee.

GO TO MODULE ONE