Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations

The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 give safety representatives extensive legal rights to investigate and tackle workplace stress. They have the right to:

• investigate potential hazards;

• inspect the workplace and talk to members in confidence;

• take up members’ health and safety complaints;

• be consulted by the employer about health and safety matters;

• obtain health and safety information from the employer;

• inspect health and safety documents held by the employer; and

• take time off to carry out their functions.

Safety reps can gather information from management, for example, on sickness and incidents, which may be useful in identifying patterns of stress. They can conduct membership surveys to build up awareness of stress at work and reveal the extent of the problem, they can talk individually to members, and inspections can be organised to identify the causes of stress.