Interview with Drew Hinton, CSP, CHMM, SHRM-CP Powered by iReportSource If you don't currently have a safety committee at your workplace, adding one can seem like a daunting task. Listen to this episode with Drew Hinton, CSP, CHMM, SHRM-CP to get ten tips that are sure to help you create and sustain a successful safety committee! If you don't currently have a safety committee at your workplace, adding one can seem like a daunting task. While there are no federal regulations that require a safety committee, your state may be one of the 15+ states that require one under certain situations. For example, Alabama state code requires that "any employer subject to worker's compensation rules must establish a safety committee upon the written require of any employee." Connecticut states that "all employers with 25 or more employees, and employers whose rate of injury or illness exceeds the average OSHA recordable injury and illness rates of all industries in the state, must establish safety committees." However, even if it's not required by any legislation, it can potentially save you money on your worker's compensation premiums, but most importantly, it gets your employees engaged in creating a safer, healthier work environment. Before you can tell everyone that you have a safety committee, below are ten key guidelines that will help ensure you are getting the most out of your safety-leading employees: How many people should be on your safety committee? As a general rule of thumb, you want between five and ten employees on your committee. Having more than that can produce undesired results, such as meetings lasting longer than expected, creating too much to focus on, and confirmation bias among members. On the contrary, if you don't have enough members, your committee may suffer from a lack of diversity, too much workload for such a small group, and a seemingly "close-minded" group. If you start out with a specific number during your first few meetings and then realize that you need more to add value and different backgrounds to your committee, you can always add more. It's better to add more than having to essentially kick someone off the committee just because you need to reduce numbers. Who should be on your safety committee? When selecting members to be on the committee, you need to do so very carefully and be intentional. Picking people because they are a close friend and/or valued co-worker may seem beneficial, but it can also lead to the confirmation bias issue mentioned previously. At a minimum, you want to have at least one member on your committee from each department/area. For example, you may have the following departments/areas represented on your committee: EHS, production, maintenance, field service, general shop, engineering, and management. Some companies will choose not to have upper management attend the meetings (e.g., General Manager, Vice President, etc.) due to people being afraid to speak up and say something with them in the room. However, if you have established psychological safety in the workplace (which is another issue in itself), this shouldn't be an issue. If you do feel that management may cause fear in others, maybe have them attend every other meeting, or simply follow-up with them separately after the meeting to review the meeting minutes with them one-on-one. By doing this, you can take the ideas of your fellow safety committee members to management and present them in an informal, yet documented session. How often should your safety committee meet? Most safety committees will meet at least once a month. However, this can vary depending on the size of your company. If your safety committee consists of multiple facilities, it may be best to meet quarterly, but stay in contact at least once a month. If you have a smaller group of members, you can schedule micro-sessions. Instead of meeting for one hour per month, it may be more efficient to meet for 15-20 minutes per week. I have a safety comm