Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Forming_Committees

The advantages of forming committees seem to greatly outweigh the disadvantages. Forming a committee gets more people involved in the evaluation of workplace safety and, because most committees rotate their members, it makes for many valuable ideas being brought in. When policies and procedures are enforced upon workers by other workers, they are more likely to be accept the change when it’s coming from other workers like themselves. Because everyone usually gets their own turn on the safety committee, they are more likely to respect the decisions made and that makes for a successful health and safety program. (Asfahl & Rieske, 2010) As with anything, there are some disadvantages to committees. Sometimes committees may have unrealistic ideas that cannot be met by management or may take great amounts of time and committee members may become disappointed and discouraged. Another disadvantage to committees is that they sometimes form spy parties for the sole purpose of proving others wrong or trying to discredit other departments. My suggestion for avoiding these hazards is to make sure that everyone has their fair turn on the committee and that every idea, even if it’s not realistic or cannot be met, is heard and treated with the same courtesies as everyone else. Another thing that might help is assigning members to be on the lookout and report any spy parties that might be out there. If everyone’s doing their job and following procedure, ideally there should not be any time on their hands for spying on or disproving others. If everyone works together and keeps in mind that they are on the same team, the workplace would be a lot better and much safer! (Asfahl & Rieske, 2010) Asfahl, R. C., & Rieske, D. W. (2010). Industrial safety and health management. (6th ed., pp. 34-35). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.