FORMATION OF A SAFETY COMMITTEE

The State Govt has prescribed the size and type of an orgn which must have a Safety
Committee. Constitution of a Safety Committee is possible in factories meeting the
following criteria:
(a) Units employing 250 or more workers;
(b) Units covered under Sec 87 of Factories Act, and employing more than 50
workers;
(c) Units covered under Sec 2(cb) of Factories Act, and employing more than 50
workers.
Safety Committees are set-up in workplaces to help resolve the safety and welfare
issues that arise at the workplace. The committee is a vehicle to consult workers on
developing or proposing changes to the workplace or any policies, practices or
procedures that could affect the safety and welfare of the workers.
MEMBERSHIP OF A SAFETY COMMITTEE
The est of a Safety Committee is for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy
workplace for all employees. The composn of the Safety Committee is given below:
(1) The representatives of the management on Safety Committee shall include:
(a) A senior official, who by his position in the orgn can contribute effectively to
the functioning of the committee, shall be the Chairman.
(b) A Safety Officer and a Factory Medical Officer, wherever available and the
Safety Officer, in such a case shall be the Secretary of the Committee.
(c) A rep each from the production, maintenance and purchase departments.
(d) Where the orgn is big, the Safety Committee may est different sub-
committees.
(2) The workers' representatives on this committee shall bp as equal to the number of
representatives of the management, as elected by the workers.
(3) The tenure of the committee shall be two or three years.
(4) The Safety Committee shall meet as often as necessary but at least once in every
quarter. The minutes of the meeting shall be recorded and produced in front of the
Inspector on demand.
(5) The Safety Committee shall have the right to be adequately and suitably informed
of :
(a) Potential safety and health hazards to which the workers may be exposed at
the workplace.
 (b) Data on accidents as well as data resulting from surveillance of the working
environment and of the health of workers exposed to hazardous substances so
far as the factory is concerned. Provided that the committee undertakes to use
the data on a confidential basis and solely to provide guidance and advice on
measures to improve the working environment and the health and safety of the
workers

FUNCTIONS OF A SAFETY COMMITTEE

Functions and duties of the Safety Committee shall include :
i. Assisting and cooperating with the management in achieving the aims and
objectives outlined in the Health and Safety Policy of the occupier.
ii. Dealing with all the matters concerning the health, safety and environment and
to arrive at practicable solutions to the problems encountered.
iii. Creating safety awareness amongst all the workers.
iv. Undertaking educational, training and promotional activities.
v. Discussing reports on the safety; environmental and occupational health
surveys; safety audits; risk assessment; emergency and disaster management
plans and implementation of the recommendations made in the reports.
vi. Carrying out health and safety surveys and identifying causes of accidents.
vii. Looking into any complaint made on the likelihood of an imminent danger to the
safety and health of the workers and suggesting corrective measures
viii. Reviewing and implementing the recommendations made by it.
ix. Regularly conducting scheduled safety inspections (twice yearly) of the entire
plant. Unsafe conditions and unsafe practices shall be noted in these
inspections.
x. To participate in the monthly meetings as described in the previous section.
xi. To take the responsibility for averting imminent safety hazards in the absence
of safety professionals or appropriate supervisory personnel (such actions are to
be undertaken by two or more Safety Committee members working in
conjunction whenever possible).
xii. To provide an on-site safety presence at the plant on a daily basis and to serve
as a good example to the community.
xiii. To investigate the lost workday accidents and to review all accident reports and
make recommendations to the director and supervisors as needed.
xiv. To review the safety aspects of new experiments and of changes in the existing
experiments.