Step 1: Form a Health and Safety Committee

The first step is to establish a team to coordinate emergency planning and preparedness activities. An existing health and safety committee can take on this responsibility. If there is no joint health and safety committee in place, or the committee is not very active, emergency planning is one topic to help get it going. In order to be effective, management must support the committee and implement its recommendations.

For purposes of emergency planning, the committee may also want to consider including outside organizations. These might include the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), emergency medical services (EMS), fire department, American Red Cross or other resources in the area.

Even where there is a joint committee, it is important for the local union representatives to remain independent of management. This can be accomplished by having a union-only health and safety committee. By having its own functioning committee, the local union can continue to press for emergency planning and other health and safety issues even if the labor/management structure is not working well.

Labor/management health and safety committee structure and rights

Like any other workplace committee, the health and safety committee must have ground rules. The best way to secure the workers’ role in advancing health and safety is through collective bargaining. Contract language can also be very useful to establish and enforce safe and healthful working conditions.

Contract language should establish the structure and rights of the parties.

• The union and the employer should appoint an equal number of representatives. 
  
  
• The chair of the committee should be shared or rotated. 
  
  
• The committee should meet on a regular basis. 
  
  
• Committee members should be in a pay status for all committee work. 
  
  
• Committee members should have access to all relevant records and information relating to health and safety. 
  
  
• Committee members should receive health and safety training.
  
  The committee should conduct activities to identify hazards and make recommendations to correct dangerous working conditions. 
  
  
• Reviewing records relating to health and safety such as: 
  
  
  • injury and illness records 
    
    
  • workers compensation cases 
    
    
  • incident reports 
    
    
  • information on workers’ exposure to hazards 
    
    
  • medical data on the health of workers 
    
    
  • a list of hazardous materials used or stored in the workplace and detailed information on chemicals (material safety data sheets), and 
    
    
  • any records related to past emergencies. 
    
    
• Conducting surveys and getting workers’ input. 
  
  
• Identifying relevant laws and regulations that apply to the facility. 
  
  
• Conducting inspections of the workplace. 
  
  
• Making recommendations to control hazards. 
  
  
• Promoting health and safety awareness and training. 
  
  
• Obtaining outside assistance for emergency preparedness or other issues. 
  
  

For more information on health and safety committees, contract language and other strategies, see AFSCME’s publicationSAFE JOBS NOW! 

Workers’ and unions’ rights under OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) became federal law over 30 years ago and created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. The law was passed to guarantee workers a safe and healthful workplace. However, basic job safety laws still do not cover millions of state and local government workers.

Federal OSHA applies to private-sector workers but does NOT cover state and local government workers. OSHA allows states to operate their own state OSHA programs instead of being covered by the federal government. State programs approved by federal OSHA MUST cover both the private sector, and state and local government workers. Twenty-one states and Puerto Rico have federally approved OSHA programs that cover public employees (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming). Three states (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York) have federally approved state programs that apply only to state and local government workers, and private- sector workers are covered by federal OSHA. Approved state OSHA programs must be at least as effective as the federal program and provide similar protections for workers. Several other states administer job safety laws that cover only state and local government workers that are NOT federally approved.

Public-sector workers who are not covered by OSHA but who have collective bargaining rights can negotiate and enforce contract language requiring safe working conditions, access to information and other protections.

For more information on OSHA coverage and what it means, see the AFSCME Factsheet “Public Employee OSHA Laws” in Appendix D.