Health and Safety is a huge priority to most construction companies because if they were to get it wrong, it could be a matter of life or death. There are many risks on each site whether this involves working at heights, operating dangerous machinery, exposure to hazardous materials to name a few.
As Health and Safety consultants, we are asked to visit a number of construction sites each week and although each site is different, there are some general fundamentals that every site should strive to get right.
- Wearing the correct PPE – All employees on site must be given the correct PPE for their work task. PPE that is suitable and sufficient for the task has to be provided free of charge to the employee.
- All site visitors should be signed in – This doesn’t have to be complicated, a simple list that records the persons name, date, time of visit and signature would be sufficient. Employees should also be signed in.
- Site inductions should be provided – It is important that the site manager communicates the site rules and expectations to all persons on site. This doesn’t have to be undertaken every time a person visits, but it should be provided to a person at their first visit to the site.
- Site information boards – Passing information on to site workers and visitors is important. Providing boards that employees can review at their leisure is a quick and easy way of giving information in an easy to understand format.
- Site welfare – Providing somewhere for employees to eat and drink away from the workplace, together with toilet facilities and hot and cold running water is essential for any building site. This should be one of the first things that you consider to get up and running on any new site.
- Machinery – All plant and equipment should be checked before use (and the check recorded on a simple checklist). Plant and equipment must be operated by trained and competent persons only.
- Housekeeping – Making sure that supplies and waste are stored correctly is important. An untidy side generally leads to an unsafe site.
Although there is much more that goes into running a site safely and securely, if you follow these basic steps, you’ll be a long way towards a really well managed site.
If you would like some more information on how to manage your site health and safety or require site visits, please get in touch on 01302 341344.
By Richard Wadkin CMIOSH – Risk Consultant