Ensuring cooperation between the employers and workers.
Joint OSH committees are bipartite bodies, composed of an equal number of workers’ and employers’ representatives, established at the workplace and assigned to various functions to ensure cooperation between the employers and workers so as to achieve and maintain safe and healthy working conditions and a sound working environment. Functions, rights and powers are usually similar to those of workers’ OSH representatives – often higher number of statutory and complex tasks than those of individual workers’ representatives, as joint OSH committees have more human resources and capacity. The establishment of joint OSH committees is mandatory in many countries, although this is often contingent upon the size of the enterprise. In countries where national OSH legislation does not regulate joint OSH committees, collective agreements may assume this function.