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The Role of Worker Representation and Consultation in Managing Health and Safety in the Construction Industry

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The Role of Worker Representation and Consultation in Managing Health and Safety in the Construction Industry WP 270 INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION Sectoral Activities Department The role of Worker Representation and Consultation in Managing Health and Safety in the Construction Industry David Walters Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre Cardiff University INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE GENEVA Copyright © International Labour Organization [2010] First published [2010] Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected] . The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. ISBN: 978-92-2-123294-0 (print) ISBN: 978-92-2-123295-7 (web pdf) ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications and electronic products can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: [email protected] Visit our website: www.ilo.org/publns Printed by the International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland i PREFACE In its document GB.298/STM/1/1, ILO’s Governing Body noted the importance of workers’ participation and representation for the improvement of safety and health conditions in construction. Following this, it recommended that the ILO undertake a study on the subject, based on the resolution concerning health and safety representation for construction workers adopted by the Tripartite Meeting on the Construction Industry in the Twenty-first Century: Its Image, Employment Prospects and Skill Requirements (2001). This Working Paper is the outcome of such a study, which has been recommended by the Governing Body for the 2008- 2009 biennium. OHS (occupational health and safety) legislation in many countries recognizes the importance of the participation of workers in different ways. Moreover, in several countries the participation of construction workers is also considered through voluntary schemes, for example, in the implementation of OHS management systems and OHS Committees at both the construction enterprise level and/or at the site level. There is a need to define from the outset what kind of participation is being considered and what are the measures used to determine its meaningfulness. Both OHS legislation and OHS voluntary schemes have been successfully implemented in a number of large construction companies and large construction projects, where the workers enjoy effective participation. In other cases, this participation has been difficult due to different factors. It would be important to explore the forms of representation/participation that would be most suited to these situations, and also to consider how workers gain access to effective means of representation. This paper contributes to the above discussion firstly by presenting a set of definitions, followed by evidence of the effectiveness of worker representation and consultation in health and safety generally and in the construction sector in particular. It concludes with some lessons from existing research and recommendations. The study was carried out by David Walters, Professor of Work Environment & Director of the Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre (CWERC), School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. He is also the author of this paper. The work was supervised technically by Edmundo Werna and edited by Colin Smith in SECTOR. The ILO would like to thank all the people who provided comments and suggestions for this study. Elizabeth Tinoco Director, Sectoral Activities Department ii Contents Page 1. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims and content of the report ..................................................................................... 1 1.3 The extent and effectiveness of worker representation on health and safety ................ 2 1.4 The challenge of construction ....................................................................................... 3 1.5 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 5 2. The role of worker representation and consultation in managing health and safety in the construction industry .................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 8 2.2. Background ................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 The meaning of worker representation and consultation in health and safety .............. 13 2.3.1. Direct participation: ............................................................................................ 13 2.3.2. Representative participation: .............................................................................. 15 2.3.3. Consultation:....................................................................................................... 17 3. The evidence for effectiveness ................................................................................................ 17 4. What makes worker representation and consultation effective? ............................................ 24 5. The relevance of worker representation and consultation to improving health and safety performance in construction ................................................................................. 29 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 36 References ......................................................................................................................................... 42 iii 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Background Construction is a dangerous industry, for two reasons: one is the intrinsically hazardous nature of the work; the other is the result of the industry’s structural and organizational challenges for risk management. These combined factors have created an industry culture in which poor health and safety outcomes have long been the accepted norm. Modern approaches to regulating health and safety management have attempted to address these challenges by improving systematic OHS management and, in the particular case of the industry, by adding provisions that focus on the coordination of health and safety responsibilities in complex, multi-employer, temporary worksites and supply chains. Central to these efforts to improve health and safety management has been worker representation and consultation. 1.2 Aims and content of the report Representation and consultation are elements of health and safety management theory but are not necessarily applied effectively in practice. To appreciate why, it is important to understand the meaning of these terms and what constitutes good practice in this regard. As is discussed in detail below, worker representation is a specific form of participation with a number of features, often defined by regulation or international standards such as the ILO Convention 155. Consultation is not merely the conveyance of information from managers to workers and it is important to review the extent of such practice, any evidence of its role in improving health and safety, and the preconditions under which it occurs and the circumstances that support its occurrence. It is equally necessary to understand the limiting factors and constraints and to evaluate how they may be overcome. 1 This report is primarily a review of research literature across a range of countries, but mostly restricted to English publications. The initial findings demonstrated that research literature on the construction industry is very limited (in contrast to published but unsubstantiated rhetoric and opinion). There is, however,
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