The role of Health and Safety Representatives in COVID-19

工作场所健康和安全代表有法定权利代表工人对健康和安全的利益和关切，就潜在危险和危险发表意见，并与健康和安全执行机构或地方当局的健康和安全检查员联系(HSE，2020)。在大流行中，他们独立于管理层，但与管理层的关系在评估和应对工人和公共卫生的风险方面可能至关重要。这项研究确定了健康和安全代表在新冠肺炎期间所发挥的作用、吸取的教训和应对未来浪潮或流行病的最佳做法。它审查了组织和部门的机制和程序，以促进工人的声音和代表性，以及有效的社会对话和关于健康和安全的联合监管。它探讨了健康和安全代表在重返工作岗位和提高生产率方面发挥的潜在关键作用。它们不仅对于独立的风险评估和个人防护装备(PPE)的提供至关重要，而且对于工作组织和工作场所人体工程学，包括继续在家工作的挑战也是必不可少的。它们是保护心理健康的核心，确保健康和安全措施覆盖所有工人群体，并确保工人对其组织保障他们安全的能力的信心。该项目借鉴了八个关键部门的案例研究，得到了HSE和一系列工会的支持，旨在探索流行病期间生产力、公共卫生和工人健康与安全之间的平衡，重点是示范和未来的做法。

Workplace health and safety representative have legal rights to represent the interests and concerns of workers over health and safety, to make representations on potential hazards and dangers and to have contact with health and safety inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive or the local authority (HSE,2020). In a pandemic their independence from but relationship with management is potentially critical in assessing and addressing risk for workers and for public health.This research identifies the role that health and safety representatives have played during COVID-19, lessons learned and best practice for future waves or pandemics. It examines organisational and sectoral mechanisms and processes for worker voice and representation and effective social dialogue and joint regulation on health and safety. It explores the potentially key part health and safety representatives are playing in the return to work and productivity. They are not only essential to independent risk assessment and the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but also the organisation of work and workplace ergonomics, including the challenges of continued home working. They are central to the protection of mental health, ensuring that health and safety measures cover all groups of workers and to the confidence of workers in their organisation's capacity to keep them safe. Drawing upon case-studies in eight key sectors, the project, supported by the HSE and a range of trade unions, aims to explore the balance between productivity, public health and worker health and safety during pandemics, with a focus upon exemplary and future practice.