Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024
Definitions:
Management -- includes all supervisors and persons who
regularly exercise direction and control over workers.
Workers -- for the purposes of determining the need for a
safety committee, include both full and part-time employees.
(1) Purpose. The purpose of safety committees
and safety meetings is to bring workers and management together in a
non-adversarial, cooperative effort to promote safety and health in each
workplace. A safety committee assists the employer by establishing procedures,
performing inspections, evaluating safety and health programs, and recommending
changes in workplace conditions and practices. By participating in safety
meetings, workers and management work together to recognize hazards and to make
safety and health improvements at the workplace.
(2) Application: This applies to agriculture
employers with workers other than seasonal workers covered in OAR
437-004-0240.
(3) General Requirements.
(a) You must either have an effective safety
committee or hold effective safety meetings. (See Table 1.)
(b) If you have employees with language
barriers, you must communicate safety awareness information in a manner that
workers can understand. Include content that is either translated into the
language used to hire and supervise these employees or that is otherwise
effectively conveyed, such as through visual media.
(c) If you are a labor contractor, you must
have a committee or meetings based on the number of employees that you direct
and control.
NOTE: Nothing in these rules prevents you from
having seasonal workers attend safety meetings.
Table 1
IF -- You can have a safety committee -- You can have safety
meetings instead of a committee
You have 10 or fewer workers at a location -- Yes -- Yes
You have more than 10 workers at a location -- Yes -- No
You have satellite or auxiliary worksites with 10 or fewer
workers at each location -- Yes -- Yes
(4) Safety Committees.
(a) Management's Duties.
(A) Pay members at their regular rate of pay
for attending the meetings, trainings, inspections, and other functions
required by this rule.
(B) Provide
committee members with timely access to these rules (OAR
437-004-0251) and to all Oregon
OSHA standards that apply to their work.
(C) Respond to safety committee
recommendations within a reasonable time.
(b) Effective Safety Committees. You must
ensure that the committee produces at least the following results:
(A) Employees are aware of the committee, who
is on it, when it meets and how information is shared between management and
workers.
(B) Employees are aware of
their right to have their safety and health concerns heard by the
committee.
(C) Employees know the
employer's method or system for reporting safety and health concerns,
incidents, and accidents.
(c) Centralized Safety Committee. You may
choose a centralized safety committee if all of the following apply:
(A) You have more than one geographic
employment location.
(B) The
locations are close enough to ensure that a joint committee meets the
requirements in OAR 437-004-0251(2)(b),
Effective Safety Committees.
(C)
The joint committee represents the safety and health concerns of all employees
at all locations.
(d)
Membership and Training.
(A) Have at least
two members on your committee if you have 20 or fewer workers. Have at least
four members if you have more than 20 workers. Members should represent the
major activities of your business.
(B) Have an equal number of employer-selected
members and worker-elected or volunteer members. If both parties agree, the
committee may have more worker-elected or volunteer members.
NOTE: Management can select a supervisor or other
employee to represent them. Workers can volunteer or elect any peer as a
representative.
(C) Provide
training on the purpose and operation of the safety committee, in hazard
identification, and in the principles of accident investigation.
NOTE: Oregon OSHA provides no-cost, safety
committee-related training available through the web site at
www.orosha.org/education.html [File Link Not Available].
(D) Have members serve a minimum of one year,
when possible.
(E) Have a majority
agree on a chairperson.
(e) Safety Committee Functions. Ensure that
the committee does all of the following:
(A)
Meets at least monthly, except in those months when quarterly inspections
occur.
(B) Establishes procedures
for doing the quarterly safety and health inspections required by OAR
437-004-0099(3).
Persons performing inspections must be trained in hazard
identification.
(C) Reviews all
quarterly safety and health inspection reports and makes recommendations to
eliminate identified hazards.
(D)
Works with management to establish procedures for investigating all safety
incidents, accidents, work-related illnesses, and fatalities. Persons
investigating these events must be trained in the principles of accident
investigation.
NOTE: OAR
437-004-0099(4)
requires agricultural employers to
investigate every work-related lost-time injury.
(E) Evaluates all investigation reports and
makes recommendations for ways to prevent recurrence.
(F) Sets guidelines for the training of
safety committee members.
(G)
Evaluates the accident and illness prevention programs at the
workplace.
(f) Safety
Committee Records.
(A) Ensure that records
have at least the following information.
(ii) Names of those
attending.
(iii) All reports,
inspections, evaluations, recommendations, management responses, and other
safety and health-related items brought before the committee.
(iv) The date that management agrees to
respond to specific recommendations.
(B) Make these records available to all
employees and to Oregon OSHA representatives, upon request.
(C) Maintain these records for at least three
years.
(5)
Safety Meetings
(a) Effective Safety Meetings.
You must ensure that safety meetings produce at least the following results:
(A) Employees are aware of safety meetings,
when and where they are held, and how information is shared between management
and workers.
(B) Employees know
that they have a right to have their safety and health concerns heard and
questions answered at safety meetings.
(C) Employees know the employer's method or
system for reporting safety and health concerns, incidents, and
accidents.
(b) Meeting
Requirements. Safety meetings must have all of the following characteristics:
(A) Include all available
employees.
(B) Include at least one
employer representative.
(C) Be on
company time with attendees paid at their regular rate of pay.
NOTE: If you have questions about this, contact
the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
(D) Occur at least monthly.
(c) Meeting content. Safety
meetings must include the following:
(A)
Information about safety and health issues relevant to the workplace.
(B) Reports from quarterly workplace safety
inspections and from investigations of any work-related, time-lost injuries,
including suggested corrective measures.
NOTE: OAR
437-004-0099(3)
requires a competent person to inspect the
agricultural workplace at least quarterly. OAR
437-004-0099(4)
requires agricultural employers to
investigate every work-related lost-time injury. See Division 4/A for
details.
(C) Opportunities
for employees to ask questions, bring up safety and health concerns, and make
suggestions.
(D) Information that
is presented in a manner that can be understood by all employees.
(d) Meeting Records.
(A) Meeting notes must include the following
information:
(ii) Names of those attending.
(B) Keep the records for at least 3 years.
(C) Make the records available to
your employees and to Oregon OSHA representatives, upon request.
NOTE: If all your employees attend a safety
meeting, you are only required to record the meeting date and a list of the
employees attending.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
654.025(2)
& 656.726(4)
Stats. Implemented: ORS
654.001 -
654.295
