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Terms of Reference of the LUCELEC Health & Safety Committee


BACKGROUND

The Company shall set up a joint Health and Safety Committee (referred to as “the Committee”) which shall be responsible for reviewing the state of health and safety within the Company and making recommendations for the effective management of Health and Safety.

MISSION STATEMENT

The joint Health and Safety Committee seeks to promote good health and safety culture, promote health and safety awareness among employees and mediate between management and staff for the resolution of workplace health and safety matters.

TERMS OF REFERENCE


OBJECTIVES

The major objective of the Committee shall be the promotion of co-operation between employees and management in initiating, developing and carrying out measures to ensure the health and safety of all employees.

REPORTING

The Committee shall report to the Chief Engineer.

COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE

The Committee shall consist of employee’s representatives and management’s representatives.

At least half of the members of the Committee shall be employee representatives who are employees who do not exercise managerial functions. The employee representatives shall be selected by employees who do not exercise managerial functions. The selection of the employee representatives may be delegated by a majority of the employees to a trade union or trade unions. The Company shall select the remaining members of the committee from persons who exercise managerial functions.

The Committee shall have at least 6 members. The Committee members shall be selected from the different departments of the Company and must include at least one senior engineer. The members shall serve for a minimum period of two years but no more than 1/3 of the membership shall be changed at any one time. Members shall be eligible for reappointment.

The members of the Committee shall on a rotating basis select a chairperson from among its members.

ALTERNATES

The Safety Committee shall appoint Alternates for each member of the committee. The Alternates have the same responsibilities as the Safety Committee members. In the absence of the Safety Committee members the alternates shall perform all the duties of the Committee members. The Alternates shall have the same entitlements and privileges as the Committee members.

AUTHORITY

The joint Health and Safety Committee shall be an advisory committee with the power to make written recommendations directly to the relevant Department Heads who will be responsible for implementing the recommendations or providing clearly documented reasons why the recommendations cannot be implemented.

MEETINGS

The Committee will meet monthly and shall keep minutes of its meetings. Members must attend a minimum of one meeting each quarter.

Members/Alternates who do not attend meetings must provide a valid reason for their absence. Members/Alternates who fail to attend three consecutive meetings without a valid reason will not be eligible to vote at the next scheduled meeting(s). The committee will write to any member who fails to attend four consecutive meetings without a valid reason requesting that they relinquish their membership on the Committee in writing. If this member fails to respond in writing the Committee shall make a decision on their membership at the next scheduled meeting.

QUORUM

A majority of the members of the committee should be present for a meeting to be conducted. Alternates shall form part of the quorum.

INSPECTIONS

The members of the Committee who represent employees shall inspect the physical conditions of the workplace at least once every three months.

VISITS

The members of the Committee whether individually or as a group are authorized to visit any of the Company’s depots, work sites or power stations at any time but shall not obstruct the work being undertaken in any way. The Committee may also visit the site of completed work, including overhead lines to determine possible hazards.

FUNCTIONS

The Health and Safety Committee shall:

  1. Monitor safety performance including complaints of unsafe practices.
  2. Monitor the effectiveness of the Company’s health and safety policy.
  3. Analyze incident, accident and near miss statistics to:
    1. look for trends
    2. highlight unsafe and unhealthy work conditions and practices
    3. recommend corrective action
  4. Conduct Health and Safety inspections and compile reports with recommended action for improvements.
  5. Assist in the development of written safe systems of work and work safety rules.
  6. Revise the Company’s health and safety policy.
  7. Monitor the effectiveness of safety training and the adequacy of health and safety communication in the work place.
  8. Provide interventions to resolve conflicts arising from clashes of operations and worker health and safety matters including work stoppages.
  9. Promote workplace safety, health and wellness training and awareness.
  10. Monitor compliance with legal requirements on safety and health at all work places, worksites and depots.
  11. Monitor possible danger to the public from Company installations.
  12. Identify situations that may be a source of danger or hazard to employees.
  13. Recommend to management and employees the establishment, maintenance and monitoring of programmes, measures and procedures respecting the safety of employees.
  14. Make recommendations to management and employees for improvement of health and welfare of employees.
REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Reports and recommendations submitted by the Committee will be signed by the Chairperson and any other three members and should reflect the views of all members of the Committee.

ADVICE OF COMPETENT PERSONS

The Committee is authorized to seek the advice and guidance of knowledgeable and competent persons during its deliberations.

EXPENSES

The Committee is empowered to incur reasonable costs in the conduct of its affairs or meetings but its members will not receive payment for their services. Provisions shall be made in the health and safety budget for the costs incurred by the Committee.

TRAINING

Members of the Committee shall receive forty (40) hours of relevant safety training during the first year of their appointment and at least ten (10) hours of such training in subsequent years.

Revised January 2016

Terms of Reference of the LUCELEC Health & Safety Committee