Can a health and safety representative ask for medical information?
The OHS Act is careful to protect the privacy of employees. Section 69 (2) says that an employer cannot give any medical information about an employee to a health and safety representative unless: • the employee has agreed, or • is not identified by the information. Do the privacy laws affect the rights of health and safety representatives to information under the OHS Act? No, the rights of health and safety representatives to information are not affected by the privacy laws. The relationship of the OHS Act to each of the privacy laws is explained below. Information and health and safety committees Health and safety committees have several functions, including facilitating co-operation between an employer and the employees of the employer in developing and carrying out measures to ensure health and safety at work. Workplace incidents and issues may be considered at committee meetings, and in these circumstances the information should be provided in a way which ensures that employees ca
