1. The Company will continue its present policy of cooperating with its employees so as to insure that reasonable rules and provisions are made for the safety and health of employees during the hours of their employment, and changes will be discussed with representatives of the Union prior to being put into effect. Employees will comply with established safety and health rules and provisions. Such rules and provisions shall apply uniformly to all employees affected. The Company and the Union will cooperate in the establishment of joint safety committees on a local basis. These committees will consist of an equal number of management appointed members and Union appointed members who will meet jointly at regularly scheduled intervals.
2. In the interest of safety, at the request of the employee involved, an employee may be accompanied by their Steward when the employee is called before a formal committee making an investigation of an accident. This shall not apply to immediate on-the-job investigations of an accident. In appointing members of a committee to conduct a formal or informal investigation of an accident, the Company will include a representative, designated by the Union, as an official member of the committee.