Like most states, Oregon OSHA requires businesses to proactively engage employees and management alike in identifying and addressing safety concerns. One of the primary methods for doing so is through organizing a workplace safety committee. Many employers do not realize how significant the requirements are for workplace safety committees in Oregon. This article covers just a few of those requirements and we recommend employers review relevant Oregon OSHA guidance to ensure all safety committee requirements are met.
Does my business need a safety committee?
All employers in Oregon are required to either maintain a safety committee or conduct safety meetings (except for businesses where the sole owner is the sole employee). While businesses with ten or fewer employees are allowed to have safety meetings instead of a safety committee, some larger organizations and employers in certain industries (like construction) must have a safety committee.
Certain industries have specific rules governing the structure and role of safety committees. Employers should consult any applicable rules for their applicable industry by reviewing the Oregon OSHA resources:
- Most industries and construction are governed by OAR 437-001-0765.
- Forest activities are governed by OAR 437-007-0130(4).
- Agriculture (other than seasonal workers covered by OAR 437-004-0240) is governed by 437-004-0251.
What is a safety committee?
Safety committees bring employee and employer-selected members together to identify safety issues, develop best practices, and address incidents as they arise. An organization with 20 or fewer employees must include at least two members in its safety committee. Larger organizations must include at least four.
Committees must comprise an equal number of employer and employee-selected members. If all members agree, a committee may be majority employee-selected. However, committees may never be majority employer-selected.
Safety committee members must represent all major activities of the company, serve at least one year (when possible), be compensated at regular pay rates for meeting attendance, agree on a chairperson, receive meeting minutes, and be trained in hazard identification and accident and incident investigation principles.
If your business has more than one location, you can have a safety committee at any location with 10 or fewer employees. Alternatively (or additionally), you can maintain a centralized safety committee that, pursuant to the requirements in OAR 437-001-0765, represents employees at all locations. Each location does not need to send an employee to centralized safety committee meetings so long as someone at the meeting represents their interests.
Centralized safety committees must have a written policy that:
- States management’s commitment to workplace safety and health;
- Requires employee involvement and describes what it means;
- Describes how management will hold everyone in the business accountable for safety and health;
- Describes specific methods for identifying and correcting safety and health hazards at each location; and
- Requires a comprehensive annual review, in writing, of the committee’s activities to enhance workplace safety at all locations.
NOTE: Oregon OSHA may approve a safety committee that does not meet OAR 437-001-0765 requirements but does satisfy the intent of the requirements. Employers must apply to Oregon OSHA for approval. Call the Oregon OSHA Standards and Technical Resources Section, 503-378-3272, for more information.
What do safety committees do?
Safety committees are required to conduct regular meetings, keep diligent records, develop procedures for workplace safety and health inspections, and accomplish the following goals:
- Work with management to establish accident investigation procedures that will identify hazards and ensure they are corrected;
- Establish a system for employees to report hazards to management and suggest how to correct hazards;
- Establish a procedure for reviewing inspection reports and making recommendations to management;
- Evaluate all accident and incident investigations and recommend how to prevent them from happening again;
- Make safety committee meeting minutes available for all employees to review; and
- Evaluate how management holds employees accountable for working safely and recommend ways to strengthen accountability (examples include evaluating the effectiveness of safety incentives; disciplinary policies; and employee participation in identifying hazards).
Logistics: Safety committee meetings must be conducted quarterly for businesses that primarily employ office workers and monthly for all other businesses. NOTE: Monthly meetings are unnecessary during months in which a quarterly workplace inspection is performed. The meetings must be held on company time and can take place via conference call if necessary.
Records: Records for each meeting must be distributed and stored for three years. Records must include the meeting date, attendees’ names, safety and health issues discussed (include hazards involving tools, equipment, the work environment, and work practices), recommendations for correcting hazards (with reasonable deadlines for management to respond), the name of the person who will follow up on the recommendations, and all other committee reports, evaluations, and recommendations.
Safety Procedures: Safety committees must utilize consistent procedures for workplace safety and health inspections that clearly identify where the inspections take place, who conducts them, and how often they occur.
To learn more about safety committee compliance obligations and many other employment law topics, register for Barran Liebman’s 2026 Annual Seminar here.
For legal advice on safety committee compliance obligations, contact Barran Liebman LLP partner Nicole Elgin at nelgin@barran.com or 503-276-2151.
Zach Summers is a law clerk with Barran Leibman LLP. He partners with attorneys in legal research, drafting employment policies, creating client training materials, and case management.
