Information for health and safety representatives (HSRs)
Quick Downloads
Your powers:
Your training:
Your role
Health and safety representatives (HSRs) play an important role in the partnership between employers and employees by ensuring that employees have the opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their health and safety at work.
Comcare views the role of the HSR as a significant contribution and an integral component of maintaining Australia’s safest workplaces.
Your powers
HSRs have wide ranging powers under the legislation to promote the health and safety at work of employees in their designated work group (DWG). Broadly these powers are:
- inspect the workplace
- accompany an investigator during an investigation
- represent the members of the DWG in health and safety consultations with the employer
- investigate health and safety complaints
- initiate emergency stop-work procedures, and
- issue a provisional improvement notice (PIN). (More on PINs)
For further guidance on the role and powers of HSRs, refer to:
Your responsibilities
HSRs have a responsibility to:
- use their powers carefully and only in relation to OHS matters
- ensure any action taken by them in the exercise of their powers is not taken with the intention of causing harm to the employer or to an undertaking of the employer, and
- represent members of their DWG in a professional and timely manner.
Your training
The following resources will assist HSRs in understanding the training they will need to undertake to prepare them for their role:
- Guidelines for the accreditation of training courses for HSRs [pdf]
- Accredited courses – Health & Safety Representative Training Courses Accredited under the OHS Act 1991
- Fact sheet - accrediting HSR courses
Your feedback
Comcare recently completed a review of its support mechanisms for HSRs, including an online survey.
More information
Email: OHS.help@comcare.gov.au
Phone: 1300 366 979
Mail: GPO Box 9905, Canberra, ACT, 2601