Discussion
Previous studies show that in firms with safety representatives (SRs), workers enjoy higher levels of preventive action (Coutrot, 2009; European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2010; GREDS-EMCONET, 2013). This study expands on factors associated with the effectiveness of SRs’ action and focuses on the role played by workers’ knowledge of their existence. We found no differences between workers who are unaware of SRs’ existence and those workers reporting no SRs regarding protection by intermediate and high preventive action. Conversely, workers reporting SRs were better protected than workers unaware of SRs.