September 29, 2003—The UK Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has issued a report on the Worker Safety Advisors (WSA) pilot formed as part of an HSC agreement with Ministers in 2000 to promote greater employee involvement and consultation. Worker Safety Advisors worked in small firms in England, Scotland, and Wales in the voluntary, hospitality, engineering, and construction sectors. The WSAs provided support, advice, and training to get the workforce more involved in health and safety, and to create channels for improving dialogue between employers and employees.
The pilot study found that where employees were involved, “they really did help solve health and safety problems.” The WSAs’ early gain of the trust of both the employers and employees, largely due to the sensitive handling by the advisers, was identified by the report as a key factor for success.
Employers and workers were surveyed before and after the pilot to evaluate the effectiveness of WSAs. The findings indicate that:
- Involvement of WSAs led to improvements in small non-unionized workplace approach to health and safety;
- Nearly 73% of employers said awareness had increased on health and safety matters and a third of employers stated that communications had improved;
- Over 75% of employers said they had made changes to their approach to health and safety as a result of the pilot with those changes taking place in: Revising or introducing new policies and procedures (61%); Regular health and safety discussion with staff (21%); Risks assessments being carried out (11%);
- Nearly 70% of workers observed an increase in the amount of discussion on health and safety;
- The pilot facilitated the creation of safety committees in some workplaces, and joint working on risk assessments and training for workers.
The report concludes that development of the program should continue with the core WSA model—a voluntary approach that uses the influence of key stakeholders to develop partnerships between employees and employers.
For more information, visit HSE.
