ACT 514

EXCERPTS FROM OCCUPATIONAL AND SAFETY ACT, 1994 (ACT 514)

A. Establishment of Safety & Health Committee (SHC) @ Place of Work

(In accordance with Clause 30, Part VII, OSH Act, 1994 [Act 514])

Every employer with 40 or more persons employed at the work place shall establish a
Safety & Health Committee (SHC) at the place of work.
Election or appointment of persons to the SHC, the power of the
members of the SHC and any other matter relating to the
establishment or procedure of the SHC shall be prescribed.
Every employer shall consult the SHC with a view to the making and
maintenance of arrangements which will enable him and his
employees to co-operate effectively in promoting and developing
measures to ensure the safety and health at the place of work of the
employees, and in checking the effectiveness of such measures.

B. Functions of Safety & Health Committee (SHC)

General Functions

(In accordance with Section 31, Part VII, OSH Act, 1994 [Act 514])

The SHC established at a place of work pursuant to section 30 shall -

keep under review the measures taken to ensure the safety and health
of persons at the place of work;
investigate any matter at the place of work -
(a) which a member of the committee or a person employed thereat
considers is not safe or is a risk to health; and
(b) which has been brought to the attention of the employer
attempt to resolve any matter referred to in paragraph (2) and, if it is
unable to do so shall request the Director General to undertake an
inspection of the place of work for that purpose; and
have such other functions as may be prescribed.

(In accordance with regulation 11, Part III, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

The SHC of a place of work shall -

assist in the development of safety and health rules and safe systems
of work
 review the effectiveness of safety and health programmes
carry out studies on trends of accidents, near-miss accident, dangerous
occurrence, occupational poisoning or occupational disease which
occurs at the place of work, and shall report to the employer of any
unsafe or unhealthy condition or practices at the place of work
together with recommendations for corrective actions
review the safety and health policies at the place of work and make
recommendations to the employer for any revision of such policies

Inspection of place of work

(In accordance with regulation 12, Part III, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC shall -

inspect the place of work at least once in every three months to

ascertain if there is anything prejudicial to the safety and health of
persons employed therein
discuss, as soon as it is practicable, the observations of the members
of the SHC made during the inspection of the place of work, and if
there are circumstances at the place of work which, in the opinion of
the committee, are prejudicial to the safety and health of any person
employed therein, shall record the details of such circumstances in a
report kept for such purpose
make recommendations to the employer on the remedial measures to
be taken on any matter prejudicial to the safety and health of persons
at the place of work and shall record such recommendations in the
report

Investigation into any accident, etc

(In accordance with regulation 13, Part III, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC shall inspect the place of work, as soon as it is safe to do so,

after any accident, near-miss accident, dangerous occurrence,
occupational poisoning or occupational disease has occurred at the
place of work
The SHC shall discuss the cause of the accident, near-miss accident,
dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning or occupational disease
and make recommendations to the employer of the measures to be
taken to prevent the reoccurrence of such incident

Matters to be considered by the committee

(In accordance with regulation 15, Part III, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and Health
Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC, when performing its functions, shall take into consideration the following: -

the safety audits submitted by safety and health auditors

the reports and factual information provided by the occupational safety
and health officers
the reports by other government agencies on matters pertaining to
safety and health at place of work

Assistance of committee

(In accordance with regulation 18, Part III, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC shall assist an employer in any competition in connection with

safety and health, talks on safety and health and any other activity,
which is held to promote a safe conduct of work at the place of work

C. Composition of Safety & Health Committee

Membership of committee

(In accordance with regulation 5, Part II, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and Health
Committee] Regulations 1996)

The SHC shall consist of: -

A Chairman
A Secretary
Representatives from the management
Representatives from the employees
Where there are more than 100 persons employed at the place of work
there shall not be less than four representatives each from the
employees and the management

Appointment of chairman and secretary of committee

(In accordance with regulation 6, Part II, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and Health
Committee] Regulations 1996)

An employer or his authorised manager shall be the chairman of the SHC.

The secretary of the committee shall be the person who is employed as the
safety and health officer at the place of work
Adequate employee representation

(In accordance with regulation 8, Part II, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and Health
Committee] Regulations 1996)

The representatives of employees in a SHC shall be able to represent

the various sections of a place of work in order to maintain and
develop the employees' interest in establishing a safe and healthy
working condition at the place of work

Vacancy

(In accordance with regulation 9, Part II, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

If a vacancy occurs, the vacancy shall be filled by a person appointed

in the same manner as the previous member of the Committee, whose
resignation or otherwise has created the vacancy

Removal of member of committee

(In accordance with regulation 10, Part II, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC may remove a member from the committee if: -

he fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings of the committee without

leave of the chairman
he has been found or declared to be of unsound mind
he becomes a bankrupt
as a representative of employees, he is no longer employed at the
place of work
there has been proved against him, or he has been convicted on, a
charge in respect of an offence involving fraud, dishonesty or moral
turpitude, an offence under a law relating to occupational safety and
health, or any other criminal offence
he is otherwise unable or incapable of discharging his duties as a
member of the Committee

D. Meetings of Safety & Health Committee

Frequency of meetings of committee

(In accordance with regulation 21, Part IV, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A SHC shall meet as often as may be necessary commensurate with

the risks attendant on the nature of work at the place of work but shall
not meet less than once in 3 months
Every member of the committee shall be given reasonable notice in
writing of any meeting of the committee together with a copy of the
agenda
A meeting shall be called immediately in the event of an accident
which results in loss of life or serious bodily injury to any person, a
near-miss accident, a dangerous occurrence or any other situation
which calls for immediate attention in order to ensure the safety and
health of employees at the place of work

Quorum

(In accordance with regulation 24, Part IV, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

At every meeting of SHC, the chairman, the secretary and not less than
half of the remaining members present shall constitute a quorum

Non Member may attend meeting

(In accordance with regulation 25, Part IV, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

The Committee may invite any other person to any of its meetings to
discuss any matter pertaining to occupational safety and health

Minutes of meeting

(In accordance with regulation 27, Part IV, Occupational Safety and Health [Safety and
Health Committee] Regulations 1996)

A copy of the minutes shall be furnished to every member within 2

weeks after the meeting
The employer shall keep a copy of the minutes of the meeting for a
minimum period of 7 years for purposes of inspection by an
occupational safety and health officer