The Role of the Safety and Health Advisory Committee
- Each UNC constituent institution must comply with G.S. 143-584 and establish a safety and health committee to coordinate with the institutional safety and health director “to perform workplace inspections, review injury and illness records, make advisory recommendations to the agency's managers, and perform other functions determined by the Office of State Human Resources to be necessary for the effective implementation of the State Employees Workplace Requirements Program for Safety and the workers’ compensation program.”
- In accordance with the requirements of 25 NCAC 01N .0105, the institutional safety and health director or designee shall serve as an ex-officio committee member with voting rights, and the committee must be representative of the community it serves by inclusion of senior administrators, supervisory personnel, and non-supervisory personnel.
- In accordance with the requirements of 25 NCAC 01N .0106, the committee shall serve as the liaison between the institutional safety and health director and institutional employees and shall, at a minimum, assist the institutional safety and health director with health and safety program oversight.
Committee Responsibilities
The Safety and Health Committee(s) shall perform the following functions as well as any other functions determined by the State Human Resources Commission to be necessary for the effective implementation of the State Employees Workplace Requirements Program for Safety and Health:
(1) Review safety and health policies and procedures established by the agency as needed.
(2) Review incidents involving work-related fatalities, injuries, illnesses or near-misses.
(3) Review employee complaints regarding safety and health hazards.
(4) Analyze the agency's work injury and illness statistical records.
(5) Conduct inspections or ensure that safety and health inspections of the worksites are conducted and documented at least annually or more frequently as required by regulatory codes or standards. Ensure responses to complaints regarding safety and health hazards are provided and address process for corrective action.
(6) Ensure that interviews with employees are conducted in conjunction with inspections of the workplace.
(7) Ensure that agency's training records are reviewed to ensure compliance with regulatory training requirements.
(8) Conduct meetings at least once every three months. Maintain written minutes of such meetings and send copy to each committee member. Copy of minutes shall be posted to ensure availability to all employees in the workplace.
(9) Designate Employee Safety and Health Representative(s) to accompany representatives from regulatory agencies (i.e. NC Department of Agriculture, NC Department of Health and Human Services, NC Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Division, NC Department of Insurance, NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, etc.) during environmental, safety and health inspections of the workplace.
(10) Make written recommendations (Example: for elimination of hazards and improvement in occupational safety and health) on behalf of the Committee to the agency head.
Regulation on Institutional Occupational Safety and Health Programs