Safety committee meeting minutes: template and sample

The Loro team Updated October 27, 2026 9 min read

In short

Safety committee meeting minutes record who attended, which injuries, near misses and inspection findings the committee reviewed, what it recommended, and who follows up by when. OSHA doesn't have a general rule requiring safety committees, but some states require them and set rules for the minutes: in Washington they're kept for 1 year, and in Oregon for 3. Copy the template below and check your state's rules. If the committee meets on a video call, Loro takes notes without a bot; if it meets in person, dictate the minutes afterwards with Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac).

What goes in safety committee minutes

Meeting number, date, time and place (or the link).
Attendance: employee-elected and employer-selected members, guests, and who was absent.
Last meeting's minutes, approved or corrected.
Open items from earlier meetings, each with its number and status.
Injuries, illnesses and near misses since the last meeting, by case number: what happened, where, and where the investigation stands.
Inspection findings: the hazard, where it is, who fixes it and by when.
Recommendations to management, each with the person who follows up and the date management agrees to respond by.
Training and other topics.
Action items, each with an owner and a date.
Next meeting.

What the rules say

Federal

OSHA doesn't have a general rule requiring safety committees. Some states require them, so check your state's rules before you set one up or change how you keep minutes.

Washington

Under WAC 296-800-13020, employers with 11 or more employees on the same shift at the same location must have a safety committee.
Employee-elected members must equal or outnumber employer-selected members, and the committee has an elected chair.
The minutes record attendance and the topics discussed. They're kept for 1 year and made available to the state Department of Labor & Industries.
Smaller employers can hold safety meetings instead of having a committee (WAC 296-800-13025).

Oregon

OAR 437-001-0765 covers safety committees and safety meetings.
Committees meet quarterly where employees do mostly office work, and monthly in most other workplaces.
Written records of each meeting are kept for 3 years. They include who attended, the date, the safety and health issues discussed, and recommended corrective actions, with the person responsible for follow-up and a date by which management agrees to respond.
Committee members get the minutes, and the minutes are available for all employees to review.

If you work in another state, look up its rules before you rely on this template.

Template to copy

SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Company: 
Meeting no.:           Date:                 Time: 
Place or link: 
Chair:                                       Minutes by: 

1. ATTENDANCE
Employee-elected members: 
Employer-selected members: 
Guests: 
Absent: 

2. LAST MEETING'S MINUTES
Approved?              Changes: 

3. OPEN ITEMS FROM EARLIER MEETINGS
- No.     Item: 
          Responsible:                Status: 
- No.     Item: 
          Responsible:                Status: 

4. INJURIES, ILLNESSES AND NEAR MISSES SINCE THE LAST MEETING
   (case numbers, not names)
- Case:          Date:           Area: 
  What happened: 
  Investigation: 

5. INSPECTION FINDINGS
- Area:                          Hazard: 
  Who fixes it:                              By: 

6. RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT
- Recommendation: 
  Follow-up by:                  Management responds by: 

7. TRAINING AND OTHER TOPICS
- 

8. ACTION ITEMS
- What:                          Who:                  By: 
- What:                          Who:                  By: 

NEXT MEETING: 
Minutes shared with:                         Kept until:

A full example

A monthly meeting at a fictional box plant in Oregon:

SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Company: Willamette Box Co., Salem plant
Meeting no.: 10        Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Time: 2:00 to 3:05 pm                        Place: break room
Chair: Maria Gonzalez (elected)              Minutes by: Sarah Kim

1. ATTENDANCE
Employee-elected members: Maria Gonzalez (shipping), Linh Tran (die-cut)
Employer-selected members: Tom Becker (plant manager), Sarah Kim (HR and
safety)
Guests: Dwayne Carter (maintenance lead)
Absent: none

2. LAST MEETING'S MINUTES
September 1 minutes approved with no changes.

3. OPEN ITEMS FROM EARLIER MEETINGS
- 9.1     Item: replace worn anti-fatigue mats on the die-cut line
          Responsible: Tom Becker          Status: closed September 18
          ($1,240 for 8 mats)
- 9.2     Item: eyewash station in maintenance blocked by pallets
          Responsible: Dwayne Carter       Status: open. Pallets moved;
          floor marking still needed.

4. INJURIES, ILLNESSES AND NEAR MISSES SINCE THE LAST MEETING
- Case 2026-14   Date: September 15   Area: die-cut line
  What happened: hand cut while clearing a jam. First aid only; back
  to work the same shift.
  Investigation: done. The jam was cleared with the machine running,
  and the jam-clearing tool was missing from that station.
- Near miss NM-06   Date: September 28   Area: shipping, dock 2
  What happened: a trailer pulled away as a forklift was about to
  drive into it. No one was hurt.
  Investigation: in progress. The wheel chocks weren't used.

5. INSPECTION FINDINGS (walk-through on October 2)
- Area: warehouse, aisle 4     Hazard: pallets stacked above the posted
  height limit
  Who fixes it: Maria Gonzalez               By: Friday, October 9
- Area: maintenance shop       Hazard: extension cord across the doorway
  Who fixes it: Dwayne Carter                By: Wednesday, October 7

6. RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT
- Recommendation: install a trailer restraint at dock 2 (quote: $7,800)
  Follow-up by: Sarah Kim        Management responds by: October 20
- Recommendation: a holder for the jam-clearing tool on each of the 6
  die-cut machines ($180 in all)
  Follow-up by: Linh Tran        Management responds by: October 13

7. TRAINING AND OTHER TOPICS
- Lockout/tagout refresher for die-cut operators on October 14, one
  session per shift.

8. ACTION ITEMS
- What: wheel-chock reminder at the morning dock huddle
  Who: Maria Gonzalez                        By: Wednesday, October 7
- What: floor marking around the eyewash station
  Who: Dwayne Carter                         By: Friday, October 9
- What: second quote for the trailer restraint
  Who: Sarah Kim                             By: Friday, October 16
- What: finish the near-miss investigation
  Who: Maria Gonzalez and Linh Tran          By: Tuesday, October 13

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 2:00 pm, break room
Minutes shared with: all members by email on October 7, and posted on
the break room board.                        Kept until: October 2029

Tips for minutes that get used

Case numbers, not names. Keep injury details and medical information in the injury records. The whole committee reads the minutes, and in some states every employee can see them.
Every recommendation gets an owner and a response date, and it stays on the list until it's closed.
Number the open items and keep the number. Item 9.2 stays 9.2 until it's done, so nobody loses track of how long it's been open.
Write the hazard, not the category. "Extension cord across the maintenance shop doorway" gets fixed; "housekeeping issues" doesn't.
Send the minutes within a day or two, and approve them at the start of the next meeting.
On a construction site, safety also comes up in the weekly site meeting: the construction meeting minutes template has its own safety section.

How to get them written with Loro

Download Loro for free for Windows or Mac.
If the committee meets on a video call (Meet, Zoom or Teams), click Take notes when Loro asks. It doesn't add a bot, so tell everyone at the start that you're taking notes.
When you hang up, Loro writes the note: the topics and each person's next steps. You add yours to your To-do with one click.
In the note's question bar, ask for "the safety committee minutes with attendance, injuries and near misses by case number, inspection findings, recommendations with who follows up and the response date, and action items", and copy them into your document.

If the committee meets in person, dictate the minutes afterwards: open the document, hold Ctrl + Win (fn on a Mac) and go section by section. For example, you say: "uh, there's an extension cord across the maintenance shop doorway, um, Dwayne moves it by Wednesday". Loro types: "There's an extension cord across the maintenance shop doorway. Dwayne moves it by Wednesday."

When the committee talks about injuries or someone's health, use case numbers or initials, and ask the committee before you take notes with any app. To keep your notes only on your computer, turn off "Save my notes and to-dos to my account" in Settings › Privacy.

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Frequently asked questions

Does OSHA require a safety committee?

OSHA doesn't have a general rule requiring safety committees. Some states do. In Washington, for example, employers with 11 or more employees on the same shift at the same location must have one (WAC 296-800-13020). Check your state's rules.

How long do you have to keep safety committee meeting minutes?

It depends on your state. In Washington, minutes are kept for 1 year and made available to the Department of Labor & Industries. In Oregon, written records of each meeting are kept for 3 years.

What should safety committee meeting minutes include?

The date, who attended, last meeting's minutes, open items, injuries and near misses by case number, inspection findings, recommendations with who follows up and when management will respond, and action items. Oregon's rule lists several of these for its records: attendees, date, issues discussed, corrective actions, the person responsible and a response date.

How often should a safety committee meet?

It depends on your state. In Oregon, committees meet quarterly where employees do mostly office work, and monthly in most other workplaces. If your state has no rule, pick a fixed day so open items don't sit for months.

Who gets a copy of the minutes?

Send them to every committee member. In Oregon, members get the minutes and the minutes must be available for all employees to review. In Washington, they're made available to the Department of Labor & Industries.

Is there a safety committee meeting minutes template in Word?

Copy the template with the "Copy" button and paste it into Word or Google Docs. It's ready to fill in.

Sources

Washington State Legislature, WAC 296-800-13020, Establish and conduct safety committees, checked October 15, 2026.
Washington State Legislature, WAC 296-800-13025, Follow these rules to conduct safety meetings, checked October 15, 2026.
Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Or. Admin. Code § 437-001-0765, Safety Committees and Safety Meetings, checked October 15, 2026.

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