Worker participation, consultation, and communication on occupational health and safety

Kern van de disclosure

Disclosure 403-4 requires an organization to describe the processes through which employees and workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization participate in and are consulted on the development, implementation and evaluation of the occupational health and safety management system.

Worker participation and worker consultation are distinct. Participation means workers’ involvement in decision-making. Consultation means seeking workers’ views before a decision is made, providing timely information and taking those views into account through genuine dialogue.

The organization must also describe how it provides workers with access to relevant occupational health and safety information and how that information is communicated in practice. The description should consider language, accessibility, shift, location and digital-access barriers and can include information about work-related incidents and the actions taken in response.

Where formal joint management-worker health and safety committees exist, the organization must describe their responsibilities, meeting frequency and decision-making authority and state whether any workers are not represented and why. A forum should be treated as a formal joint committee only if it includes management and recognized worker representatives, is integrated into the organizational structure and operates under agreed written policies, procedures and rules.

Representation should not be confused with committee membership or communication through line managers. Worker representatives should be recognized or freely elected in accordance with national law or practice.

GRI additionally recommends reporting whether local or global formal agreements with trade unions cover occupational health and safety and, if so, which topics they address.

Quantitative information, such as the number of committees or percentage of workers represented, can be included as supporting context but does not replace the required description of processes and arrangements.

Dit educatieve materiaal van LRA ondersteunt het opstellen van de disclosure. Raadpleeg voor de exacte vereisten altijd de officiële Global Reporting Initiative-bron.