Is a safety committee or a worker safety representative required in Israel?

Yes. Under the Labour Inspection (Organisation) Law 5714-1954 every workplace covered by the Work Safety Ordinance with 25 or more workers must have a safety committee (ועדת בטיחות) made up of worker and employer representatives in equal numbers. The worker members are the workplace's safety trustees (נאמני בטיחות); in workplaces without a committee the workers may elect or appoint trustees in a number approved by the regional labour inspector.

Short answer

• Committee threshold: 25 or more workers; below 25 a committee may be set up by agreement.
• Composition: equal numbers of worker and employer representatives; employer members should, as far as possible, include works managers and those responsible for safety.
• Meetings: at least eight a year; if the committee does not meet, the safety officer convenes it and sets the agenda.
• Term: three years, renewable.
• Trustees: worker members of the committee and other workers the committee appoints; elected trustees where there is no committee.
• Protection: the employer may not harm the working conditions of, or dismiss, a committee member or trustee because of that role.

How the committee is formed and run

Worker representatives are appointed by the workers' committee (ועד עובדים) if there is one, and one of them must be a member of that workers' committee. Where there is no workers' committee, a representative of the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene convenes a meeting of the workers to elect them. Seniority and safety awareness are the qualities to consider.

If either side fails to name its representatives, the regional labour inspector may demand it in writing and, if the demand is ignored, appoint members until representatives are named; a missing side does not stop the committee acting. A trustee informs the employer in writing on taking office, and the employer sends a copy by registered post to the regional inspector.

The committee elects a chair by majority; if there is no majority it has two co-chairs, one from each side, who chair in rotation. It appoints a secretary who notifies the regional labour inspector by registered letter of the committee's members, chair and secretary, and of any change, with a copy to the Institute, and sends the inspector the minutes or a summary of each meeting. In votes each side, voting unanimously, has equal weight. The labour inspector and a representative of the Institute may attend without a vote. The OSH Administration does follow this up: its 2023 activity report records action on safety committees and trustees in 2,721 workplaces.

Duties and powers

If the employer does not implement the committee's recommendations on accident prevention or safety conditions, the regional labour inspector may, after hearing the employer, order it to do so; breaching that order is treated like breaching an improvement order. The committee may also recommend that the employer deduct up to one week's wages from a worker who breaks safety rules, suspend the worker for up to two weeks or, in special cases, transfer or dismiss the worker; deducted money goes to the committee for safety, hygiene or welfare improvements.

Link with the safety management programme

In workplaces with 50 or more workers, the occupier must consult the safety committee before approving the yearly safety management programme, and the programme must name the committee members and trustees. The Training Regulations require training of trustees and committee members for their roles.

Example: A 35-worker printing plant has no workers' committee. The Institute convenes a meeting where workers elect three representatives; the employer appoints the production manager, the maintenance manager and the shift supervisor. The secretary informs the regional inspector, the committee plans eight meetings a year, and the three worker members, as trustees, attend approved training and start a monthly walk-round with written defect reports.

Common mistakes

• Using a foreign threshold such as the Turkish 50 workers. Türkiye requires an OSH board from 50 workers where work lasts more than six months (Law No. 6331, Article 22); in Israel the committee is required from 25.
• Holding only quarterly meetings. The minimum is eight meetings a year.
• Not notifying the inspector. The committee's composition and changes must be notified, and minutes sent.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Israel: law, authorities and employer duties
• Must an employer in Israel appoint a safety professional or an occupational physician?
• OSH committees and worker representatives in Türkiye

Standards and further reading

• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Law 5714-1954, chapter two (sections 9 to 25), official gazette text, Knesset, as amended.
• Labour Inspection (Organisation) Regulations (Safety Committees and Safety Trustees) 5721-1960, as amended in 1973.
• Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, about IIOSH.

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.