Consult your employees on health and safety

Consulting your staff on health and safety: the law

Guide

There are two main sets of regulations concerning your duty to consult your workforce on health and safety:

  • the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
  • the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1979

These regulations will apply to most workplaces.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed easy-to-use guidance that shows the relationship between the two sets of regulations and how they may affect yourself and your workforce.

A workplace employee who can represent the views of their colleagues is a great way of involving your entire workforce in matters concerning their health and safety.

You may only have to consult under one set of regulations, or it may be both depending on circumstances.