Health & Safety Representatives

Elections

Guidelines for electing a Health & Safety Representative

The legislation requires that certain procedures be followed when electing Health & Safety Representatives. There may be one or more Health & Safety Representatives, with each representative being elected to represent a particular work group of employees. Each work group is entitled to elect a Health & Safety Representative and a deputy representative. To be effective a Health & Safety Representative will need to have regular and easy contact with members of the work group.

Who can be involved?

In relation to decisions about work groups and the election of Health & Safety Representatives and in order to avoid a conflict of interest, any personnel who are employed as managers or supervisors are not regarded as employees. This means that only non-managerial employees can be involved in the decisions unless a majority (51 per cent or more) of these employees decide that it is reasonable to treat a particular manager or supervisor as an employee

Self-employed contractors are not regarded as employees in relation to decisions about work groups and cannot be involved in this process.

Revising work groups

If there is a substantial change in the work group during the term of a Health & Safety Representative, and it is agreed by at least one half (50 per cent or more) of the recognised members of the group that a fresh election should be held, then the Health & Safety Representative should resign and a fresh election must be held.

Nominations

• Any recognised members of the work group can nominate or be nominated for the position of Health & Safety Representative.
• Candidates may nominate themselves or may be nominated by other members.
• There is no need to have nominations seconded but they must be in writing and must be received by the Returning Officer at least three business days before the ballot is to take place.

Voting

• If only one person nominates for the position of Health & Safety Representative then no ballot is necessary and the person is declared elected.
• If more than one nomination is received then the Returning Officer must organise a ballot. The Returning Officer must make up ballot papers that can be used at the election.

Returning Officers

The first step in electing a Health & Safety Representative is the selection of a Returning Officer to conduct the election. At least one half (50 per cent or more) of the recognised members of the work group need to agree on who this will be. A person cannot be a Returning Officer and a candidate for the Health & Safety Representative’s position in the same.

What does the Returning Officer do?

As soon as possible after appointment, the Returning Officer must display a notice(s) prominently at the workplace(s) of the work group. The notice must:

• state the day, time and place of the election
• invite nominations for candidates
• give details of how to nominate and when nominations will close
• workgroups may design their own election notice(s) or obtain proformas:
  • Nomination 1
  • Nomination 2
  • Results 1
  • Results 2
• There must be a secret ballot if requested by any member of the work group.
• If a secret ballot is not requested, voting is by show of hands. indicated on the ballot paper.

Counting the votes

• The candidate who receives the most number of votes is elected as the Health & Safety Representative for the particular work group.
• Where two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes, the successful candidate is decided by the drawing of lots.

Deputy Health & Safety Representatives

The procedure for electing deputy Health & Safety Representatives is not spelt out in the legislation and must be decided by members of the work group involved. Possible options might include:

• following the election of the representative, and using the same procedure, hold an election for the Deputy’s position
• declaring the ‘runner-up’ in the representative’s election as the deputy
• jointly running the election for the representative and the deputy.

Notification after election

A Health & Safety Representative and any Deputy Health & Safety Representative must inform the OH&S Unit of their election within fourteen days. A registration form will then be issued to the representative. This must be completed and returned to the Unit as soon as possible. Information will be entered on a central database and the form then forwarded to WorkCover. The Health & Safety Representative should also inform their departmental head and have a notice of the results displayed in the workgroup’s area. It also enables WorkCover to:

• provide information directly to Health & Safety Representatives
• have a record of the number of representatives elected, the type of industry they are employed in and other information needed for the development of strategies to improve OH&S
• confirm the Representative’s position should anyone question their status.

Although not a requirement of the legislation, many unions like to be informed of the election of Health & Safety Representatives and deputies. If they are union members, representatives and deputies should contact their union as soon as possible after the results of the ballot is known. This enables unions to ensure that representatives receive their training and to provide representatives with information to assist them to represent members of their workgroup effectively.

The OH&S Unit must also be notified when a Health & Safety Representative or Deputy resigns.

When are elections necessary?

As the Representative has a term of office of three years, elections will need to occur every three years. A new election will also be needed if:

• a Health & Safety Representative resigns or ceases to be a member of the work group that elected them (through transfer, dismissal, promotion, leaving the job, or any other reason)
• the work groups are re-organised or their composition changes significantly and at least one half (50 per cent or more) of the recognised members of the work group decide a fresh election is necessary
• at least two-thirds of the recognised members of the work group are dissatisfied with the Representative’s performance and decide to elect a new representative.

The date of a Health & Safety Representative’s election should be recorded so that another election can be held following the completion of the three-year term of office. A subsequent election should be organised so the time the workgroup is unrepresented is minimised.

This information about the term of office for a Health & Safety Representative, when a new election is required, and disqualification of a representative also applies to a Deputy Health & Safety Representative.