In accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Regulations, Chapter 129, Subchapter F, an employer who elects to establish a workplace safety committee must meet the certification requirements to obtain a 5% workers’ compensation premium discount every year.
These requirements include, but are not limited to:
- annual safety committee training for all participating members;
- monthly meetings adhering to a structured format;
- documented and posted meeting agendas and minutes;
- committee member representation of all workplace departments;
- both employer and employee representation;
- a quorum (at least 51%) of committee members must attend each monthly meeting; and
- initial and renewing certification submitted by an authorized representative.
Annual training must be provided to all safety committee members on the criteria and measures needed to maintain a Workplace Safety Committee.
Our training addresses the following required topics:
- hazard detection and inspection;
- incident and illness prevention and investigation;
- safety committee structure and operation; and
- substance abuse and opioid painkiller use.
The safety committee must be comprised of a minimum of 2 employer representatives and 2 employee representatives. Employer-representatives are individuals who, regardless of job title or labor organization affiliation, have “direction and control” authority over employees. This includes the authority or responsibility to: select or hire an employee; remove or terminate an employee; direct the manner of employee performance; or control the employee. Employee-representatives are individuals who perform services for an employer for valuable consideration and do not possess any authority or responsibility described for an employer-representative. For those workplaces that require more than 4 safety committee representatives due to operation size, employee representation is to be greater than employer representation. Furthermore, all safety committee decisions must be made by a majority vote.