Electing Health & Safety Representatives and renegotiating Designated Work Groups
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Electing employee Health & Safety Representatives
The University register of elected employee Health & Safety Representatives (HSRs), which lists expiry dates for HSR Terms of Office, is available at http://safety.unimelb.edu.au/docs/HSRs_list.pdf
The following templates and advice may be of assistance in running an election for an elected Health & Safety Representative in a Designated Work Group.
Members of a DWG are not required to accept this advice. Members of a DWG may agree to determine any election procedure, and any member of the DWG may seek advice on the conduct of an election from the General Manager, OHS & Injury Managementor delegate, WorkSafe or other representative.
Note: these templates assume you have one vacancy for a HSR and are able to create an election webpage. If you have a vacancy for a Deputy HSR or more than one vacancy, or will not be creating an election webpage, you will need to adapt the templates accordingly.
- Suggested Procedure for Designated Work Groups: how to elect an employee Health & Safety Representative [.pdf]
- Template: Call for Nominations for a HSR [.doc]
- Template: Nomination form [.doc]
- Template: Welcome Letter for a newly elected HSR [.doc]
- Template: Ballot Paper [.doc]
- Template: Voting Paper (inner) envelope labels [.doc]
- Template: Voter signature labels for outer envelope [.doc]
Renegotiating Designated Work Groups
A Designated Work Group is a grouping of employees represented by an elected employee Health & Safety Representative. OHS Chancellery Services maintains a list of the University's current DWGs and incumbent HSRs [.pdf].
From time to time, workplace or organisational changes may make it more difficult for HSRs to represent staff while a previously agreed DWG structure persists. Therefore Departments, Schools and Faculties may wish to adjust the grouping of staff into DWGs. The following guidance material advises what factors to consider, and gives a recommended protocol for renegotiating DWGs in a manner that is compliant with legislative and procedural requirements. A template for the letter to all staff recommended in the protocol is also provided.
To commence a renegotiation, you will need to contact the General Manager, EHS, as the GM EHS or nominee is the only management representative authorised to represent the University in DWG negotiations.
- How to Renegotiate Designated Work Groups [.pdf]
- Template: Proposal to Renegotiate Designated Work Groups [.doc] - to use this template, remove the background "TEMPLATE" watermark and edit or remove all text highlighted in yellow.