www.Droit-Afrique.com required for hygiene and safety at work. Their terms of office shall be renewable. Committee staff representatives shall receive the legal protection conferred by article L.277 of the labour code on personnel delegates. Art.D.282-3.- Members of the hygiene and safety committee shall be bound by professional secrecy regarding facts that they become aware of as result of their mission both in relation to medical or any other information concerning a victim and for trade secrets. Art.D.282-4.- The committee shall be chaired by the company head or his/her representative. The duties of secretary of the committee shall be fulfilled by the worker tasked with safety issues or the department head competent in social matters or the engineer appointed by the employer to be part of the committee. Art.D.282-5.- The hygiene and safety committee shall meet once every quarter, unless a derogation is granted by the labour inspector and, compulsorily following any accident that would have or could have serious consequences. These meetings shall be initiated by the head of the institution. The meetings shall take place in the institution and whenever possible, during work hours ; time spent at the meeting and time spent on individual missions assigned by the committee shall be considered working time. In case workers are members of the hygiene committee also work in the institution as personnel delegates, the time spent at meetings and on missions given by the committee may not be deducted from the hours that they have as personnel delegates, pursuant to article L.271 of the labour code. After the meeting, the minutes of the session shall be prepared, and recorded in a special register that must always be at the disposal of labour inspectors and controllers, as well as safety controllers of the national social insurance institute. Since its decisions have pedagogic value for staff, they may be disclosed on posters or any other means. Implementing Decree of the Labour Code Mali Art.D.282-6.- The mission of the hygiene and safety committee shall be : a) to carry out by itself or through one of its members, investigations when an accident occurs or a serious occupational disease breaks out i.e. resulting in death or apparent permanent incapacitation or that would have revealed the existence of serious danger. In this regard, it may enlist the collaboration of qualified persons. The main purpose of the investigation shall be to determine the causes of the accident or disease, in order to look for ways of preventing any re-occurrence of such. The findings of this investigation shall be recorded in the committee's register. b) to assure before any equipment or machine is installed that the latter have the safety mechanisms compliant with the relevant norms and regulations. c) to regularly inspect the institution to ensure that hygiene and safety laws, regulations as well as guidelines are respected and protective devices are properly maintained. A report shall be drafted on the findings from these inspections. This report shall be recorded in the committee's register and must be mentioned in the annual report provided for in article D.282-8. d) to give its opinion on any measure related to the purpose of its mission notably the safety rules and guidelines of the institution when a representative immediately notifies the service head tasked with safety issues, who records this opinion in the committee's register. e) to organise the training of the teams in charge of the fire fighting and rescue departments as well as ensure compliance with the guidelines of these departments. f) to strive to develop through all effective safety means (conferences, leaflets, posters, audiovisual methods) notions of safety, hygiene and health. Art.D.282-7.- The hygiene and safety committee shall be obliged to : 28/29