10/01/2008
Health and safety representatives clearly help to improve the quality of prevention policies in workplaces where they are present. This is the principal finding of a recent study based upon recent surveys. Thomas Coutrot from the Dares (the research institute of the French Labour Ministry) indicates that safety reps clearly help build participants’ awareness and improve risk identification. They also substantially improve prevention of chemical and biological risks. On the other hand, they appear less effective with regard to physical and organizational risks. Safety reps presumably have fewer difficulties in demanding the implementation of protection against specifically located risks than calling into question management and work organization approaches.

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