Professor Kaj Frick

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Professor Kaj Frick

• National Institute for Working Life, Sweden
• OHS management systems

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1. What is the role of worker participation in
OHS management systems?

• - First, management systems is a catchword for
  very different ends and practices
• - If you use MS as a pretext for union busting,
  then that is your goal, not seriously OHS
• - But if managers (or authorities) want healthy
  workplaces, they need worker participation
• - This is shown in many studies. Some of the best
  are Australian (Gallagher et al, 2001)
• - What authorities do in this respect is major
  point in our ongoing studies of how they try to
  implement regulations on Management systems in
  Australia and in Sweden but also in a few other
  countries.

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2. Active worker participation is essential to
improve OHS,

• - managers and experts don't know everything.
• Worker input is necessary
• - To define risks both organisational and
  technical - and to set the goals.
• - To find workable solutions, which can be
  applied in real production
• - To be motivated to implement solutions,
  primarily technical ones but also work rules
• - To have a dialogue with management to check and
  improve their OHS management system

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3. Active participation means both individual
worker involvement and safetyreps

• - They are not interchangeable but mutually
  enforcing.
• - Workers only have too weak a position for an
  active dialogue with a stronger management
• - Direct participation, with safety rep backup,
  is much more efficient to promote OHS
• - While Reps need active workers to get support,
  to get things going and to know the risks

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4. Safety reps also need union support

• - They need formal rights to take paid time off,
  to get access and information etc., of which the
  details are important
• - Despite cutbacks, Australian reps still have
  many rights, but these are not easy to excercise
• - To be active. Reps therefore need union
  support, e.g. of information, training and backup
• - Support has to be ongoing and to reduce
  intra-union rivalry. e.g. between reps and
  stewards

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5. Finally, in Australia and everywhere

• - OHS is not "only" workers' rights to protect
  themselves, and to participate in that
  protection.
• - Good OHS is also a matter of great economic
  importance to society.
• - The direct costs to GNP of work related
  ill-health is estimated to some 3-5,
• - That is many times more than workers get
  compensated for, but still real scoietal costs
• - And the costs in lost productivity are not
  included in that, and even larger

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Productive economies

• - To develop a productive, competitive economy,
  you need healthy and motivated workers, with
  conditions to support high quality work.
• - And to get that, safety reps and direct worker
  participation is demonstrated to be essential
• - Exploitation may be proftable to employers but
  the costs are born not only by the workers
• - So politics to cut down worker participation,
  carries a heavy cost for all of Australia.