An overzealous OH&S representative risks turning workplace safety into a source of resentment if staff are repeatedly scolded, interrupted or spoken to rudely, an employment expert has warned.
The concern was raised by a worker who said their occupational health and safety representative appeared to enjoy wielding authority and accused colleagues of “non-compliance” even when they were not, in the worker’s view, being negligent or careless.
The employee said the representative’s behaviour could encourage staff to regard OH&S procedures as a chore or even ignore them to spite an abrupt colleague. Human resources had not become involved, leaving the worker and others feeling unsupported.
Dr Jonathan Sale, a senior lecturer in human resources management at Adelaide University, said workplace safety law was based on the Robens model of self-regulation, under which everyone has a responsibility for health and safety.
He said workers and others must be given “the highest level of protection as reasonably practicable”, but stressed that the standard had to be applied objectively.
“What is ‘reasonably practicable’ is determined objectively. This means [they] must meet the standard of behaviour expected of a reasonable person in their position,” Dr Sale said.
That required considering both what could be done to protect health and safety and whether carrying out all those measures was reasonable in the circumstances.
While the representative appeared to be trying to do everything possible, the advice suggested they could be failing to judge what was reasonable in the workplace. The role was important in putting workplace health and safety policies into practice, Dr Sale said, but it did not give the representative control or supervisory authority over everyone else.
“They do not have a ‘roving commission’ to do as they please,” he said.
The behaviour might reflect pressure and a lack of support rather than a desire for power, particularly if too much responsibility had fallen on one person. One possible test would be to propose sharing OH&S responsibilities more widely, while allowing the existing representative to remain in the role if they wished.
Any approach to management should be presented as a way to distribute the demands of a difficult job, rather than as an attempt to punish a colleague, the advice said.
