In my country we have health and safety representatives for workers on the floor, who are also workers on the floor. They listen to their coworkers and report any concerns and suggestions related to health and safety. We are trained in the law and have certain powers to stop workers if nessesary.
My business is in the middle of a transition. We used to not really care about health and safety too much. The company that brought us does because they legally have to. Our part of the buisness is very small but definitely still neglected. Ie a guys still recovering from being crushed a month or 2 ago.
I took the course Thursday and on Friday my new boss, who is the national operations manager (so she's a bit busy), asked how my course went. I enjoyed it, laws interested me etc. I blanked on specifics so I said the first thing that came to me. We were in the break room where they've recently began adding dozens of posters crammed with notices and health and safety things. Stuff for us to add input on like the risk assessment sheet that they should have already done (it's missing all our main hazards). I said they mentioned too many many notices around health and safety information is a hazard and that nobody will really read it or notice it. I also mentioned the other two people who use the break room had also noticed this previously.
I don't really know what happened after this, I got told off for speaking on others behalf and basically gossip, they hadn't spoken about it to her personally and I'm making assumptions. That they had put a lot of thought into the notices and their layout. Then she asked about the risk form and why nobody had done it. I said I genuinely wanted to but it was place right behind where someone sits for lunch everyday and I don't want to work on it in my lunch. She went on about using initiative, that I should have done it in my work time, I said under the old company that wouldn't have been allowed, I don't like to wonder from my job. Nah should used initiative. She said that the form is life and death (I agree), so I said if that's the case they should be actively be getting employees to help finish it pronto. Nah, initiative.
Basically rince and repeat for every other thing I said.
The fuck. I was doing my job, not gossiping. I almost walked out but I'm leaving start of next year after holidays and taking my new qualification with me. Plus I do genuinely care about my coworkers, they already tell me their concerns