Roles & Responsibilities
What Role Do You Play?
Safety committee members must understand both the overall role of the committee and the personal role they play within it.
Unless the safety committee's role is understood by all members, it's difficult to effectively carry out assigned responsibilities to achieve the safety committee's purpose.
Roles Describe Who We Are
The word "role" helps define who we are in different situations. For example, at home, a person might take on the role of a parent, sibling, or neighbor. At work, a person’s role is usually tied to their job title and duties. In a safety committee, the role each member plays helps shape how the committee works together to fulfill it's intended purpose to promote a safer workplace.
As explained in Course 701 Effective Safety Committee Operations, the most successful safety committees fulfill their purpose when they perform as internal consultants. They work with the employer to suggest improvements, solve problems, and promote safety. The least effective committees act like a group of fault-finding inspectors, focusing only on blame and enforcement.
What's Your Committee's Role?
Understanding your role is key to running productive and positive safety committee meetings. For example, if members wrongly see themselves as junior OSHA inspectors, the meeting could turn into an unhelpful inspection session. On the other hand, if members understand their role as advisors and partners, the meeting will focus on solutions and teamwork. Let's look at a couple of examples.
Example 1: In a manufacturing plant, a safety committee member who understands their role might suggest adding better lighting in certain areas after reviewing accident reports. Instead of blaming supervisors for past incidents, they work with the team to prevent future problems.
Example 2: At a healthcare facility, a safety committee member might notice that some staff are not using proper lifting techniques. Rather than writing people up or reporting them to management, the member could recommend more training sessions and help promote safe practices across the department.
Bottom line: The safety committee's intended purpose is most successfully fulfilled when it functions as an internal consultant team, not a police squad.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-1. What is the most effective role of a safety committee?
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