3. Employee safety role
Representatives of employee safety are non-union employee representatives.
These representatives can be appointed in organisations where:
- there's no recognised trade union
- there's a recognised trade union but they have not appointed a health and safety representative
- groups of workers are outside the scope of trade union recognition – for example, workers who are not union members
The trade union equivalent of this role is a health and safety representative.
You can also read our advice on the rights of trade union representatives.
Legal rights
A representative of employee safety has a legal right to:
- paid time off for certain duties
- paid time off for relevant training
- access to facilities to carry out certain duties
- protection from dismissal and detriment – this applies to carrying out representative duties and activities
The main law that covers this is the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996.
Get more advice and support
Find out more in the 'Consulting workers on health and safety' Codes of Practice and guidance (Health and Safety Executive).