Right to information


Safety reps are entitled to full information from their employers to enable them to carry out their functions under Regulation 7. The ACOP to the regulations sets out what information the employer should make available to safety reps. This includes:


• any proposed changes that may affect health and safety;


• technical information about hazards and necessary precautions, including information provided by manufacturers and suppliers;


• information and statistical records on accidents, dangerous occurrences and notifiable industrial diseases;


• any other information specifically related to matters affecting the health and safety at work of employees, such as measures to check the effectiveness of health and safety arrangements; and


• information on articles and substances issued to homeworkers.


There are exceptions to the requirements on information disclosure. These are:


• where disclosure would be “against the interests of national security”;


• where it would contravene a prohibition imposed by law;


• any information relating to an individual (unless consent has been given);


• information that would damage the employer’s business; and


• information obtained for the sole purpose of bringing, prosecuting or defending legal proceedings.


Safety reps are also entitled to receive information from HSE inspectors and local authority environmental health officers during their visits to employers’ premises, as well as from EMAS, the medical wing of the HSE.