Health and safety committee

What is the health and safety committee?

Law 31/1995 establishes worker participation in prevention through two mechanisms: worker safety representatives, who are representatives with specific responsibilities in preventive matters, and the health and safety committee, which serves as the forum between these representatives and the company. The committee does not replace the preventive organization nor does it assume the employer’s obligations; rather, it is the space where preventive actions are consulted, discussed, and monitored on a regular basis.

Its equal representation means that both parties have the same number of members with voice and vote. In addition, union representatives and the company’s technical prevention officers who are not included in the committee may participate, with voice but without vote, as well as, at the request of either party, workers with special qualifications or information and prevention technicians from outside the company.

The obligation to establish a works council applies to companies or workplaces with 50 or more employees. In companies with several workplaces that already have a works council, collective bargaining may agree to the creation of an inter-workshop works council. For companies with fewer than 50 employees, there is no works council, and consultation and participation are carried out through health and safety representatives or, failing that, through employee representatives.

Composition, operation and competencies

• Composition. Worker safety representatives and employer representatives in equal numbers; the number of delegates depends on the workforce according to the scale of article 35 of Law 31/1995.
• Operation. The committee adopts its own operating rules and meets quarterly and whenever requested by any of the representatives; the meetings are documented in minutes.
• Competencies (Article 39.1). Participate in the development, implementation and evaluation of prevention plans and programs, discussing projects related to planning, work organization and the introduction of new technologies, the organization and development of protection and prevention activities, and the planning and organization of training before their implementation; and promote initiatives on methods and procedures for effective prevention, proposing improvements to conditions or the correction of deficiencies to the company.
• Powers (Article 39.2). To directly ascertain the situation regarding prevention at the center, carrying out the visits deemed appropriate; to know all documents and reports relating to working conditions that are necessary, as well as those from the prevention service; to know and analyze the damage caused to the health or physical integrity of the workers in order to assess its causes and propose measures; and to know and report the annual report and program of the prevention services.
• Collaboration between committees. When companies with their own committees are present at a center, they can agree on joint meetings or other coordinated action measures, particularly in the face of risks that affect several companies.

Relationship with other figures

• Worker safety representatives. They are members of the committee and retain their own powers (prior consultation, monitoring and control, accompaniment on visits and inspections, stoppage in case of serious and imminent risk).
• Prevention service. Advises the committee, presents the annual report and program, and attends meetings with voice when summoned.
• Works Council. General representative body, distinct from the health and safety committee, with powers of information and consultation on labor matters; worker safety representatives are appointed from among its members.
• Management. It decides and implements the measures; the committee has no executive power, but its proposals and information serve as evidence of the integration of prevention.

Organizational application: how to make it useful

1. Formally establish it with minutes, operating regulations, annual meeting schedule and designation of rotating or agreed-upon president and secretary.
2. Prepare each meeting with an agenda sent in advance and attached documentation: accident rate, pending planning measures, results of inspections and evaluations, training carried out, reports from the prevention service.
3. Record agreements with the responsible party and deadline, and review their compliance at the beginning of the next meeting.
4. Discuss projects before their implementation (new lines, shift changes, technologies, contracts), not after.
5. Analyze relevant accidents and incidents with the investigations carried out and propose measures.
6. Report the annual report and program of the prevention service and use them as a reference for monitoring.
7. Communicate the agreements and progress to the staff, so that the committee is visible and recognized.

Digital management systems make it easier to prepare committee documentation (indicators, measures, incidents, training) and maintain a record of minutes and agreements with traceability.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Failure to establish the committee or to meet with the minimum quarterly frequency constitutes an infraction under the LISOS.
2. Turning meetings into a formality without an agenda, documentation or agreements, or into a forum for labor disputes unrelated to prevention.
3. Presenting projects and decisions that have already been implemented, thus emptying the prior consultation of its content.
4. Denying or delaying access to preventive documentation and reports from the prevention service.
5. Confusing the powers of the committee with those of the works council or with those of the worker safety representatives.
6. Failure to follow up on agreements leads to a loss of trust between the parties and a loss of the usefulness of the body.

The committee is not responsible for preventive decisions or their implementation; that responsibility lies with the employer, without prejudice to the obligations of the workers.

Regulatory framework in Spain

• Law 31/1995, articles 33 to 40. Consultation and participation, worker safety representatives, safety and health committee: constitution, composition, operation, powers and responsibilities, and collaboration between companies.
• Royal Decree 39/1997, articles 1, 3.2 and 16. Integration of prevention, consultation on the evaluation procedure and prior consultation on the preventive organization modality.
• Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, Workers’ Statute, articles 62 to 68. Representation of workers in the company, from which the worker safety representatives come.
• Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order, article 12.11 . Serious infringement for failing to comply with the rights of information,worker consultation and participation in preventive matters.

Directive 89/391/EEC establishes in its Article 11 the principle of consultation and balanced participation of workers. In Colombia, the equivalent body is the Joint Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (COPASST), regulated by Decree 1072 of 2015 , with its own obligations and meeting schedule.