As a subbie, you may be working on a site under a Builder or moving around to multiple jobs in one day. Whatever your setup is, it's important that you think about health and safety as part of your planning. Firstly make sure that you have processes in place for the following areas:
Hazards and risks
Training and competency
Emergencies and incidents
Plant, machinery, and equipment
Hazardous substances
Health monitoring
Consulting and sharing information with
workers
Inductions
Arriving at a construction site
When you arrive at a construction site, make sure you follow these simple steps to keep yourself and any other workers safe.
Read the Site Specific Safety Plan: Construction sites are a high-risk work environment and they can vary from site to site. It’s important to read the SiteSpecific Safety Plan to understand what hazards have been identified for each site, what control measures the Builder has put in place, key emergency arrangements, and any site specific rules.
Complete the site induction: Inductions contain important information you need to know about the site and it also records that you have acknowledged and understood the site conditions.
Check the Hazard Board: This will give you information about the current risks on-site.
Scan onto site: You may be required to scan in and out of the site so that the builder can keep a record of who is onsite.Find out what the Builder's expectations are so that you can inform your workers and follow the instructions.
Working on-site
This could be on a construction site managed by someone else or completing a renovation or maintenance work at a customer's house.
Have your Team Pack with you: This is a sturdy, water-tight Site box that acts as a portable Hazard Board that is taken from job to job. It has a QR code for simple inductions for your clients. Included is a workbook that outlines all relevant information and hazards, a fire extinguisher, and a first aid kit.
Start off on the right foot: It's important that at the start of your day or job you assess the risks involved. Complete a Risk Assessment on the HazardCo App, it will assist with checking that your work area is safe and any new hazards are identified and managed.
Complete a Task Analysis (if required): Carrying out high-risk work? Use the Task Analysis feature on the HazardCo App, which will assist with determining what controls need to be put in place for the hazards that are present. It’s important to make sure that everyone involved in the work understands the controls that are put in place and are able to provide feedback. You may need to provide a copy of the Task Analysis to the Builder, so check with them before starting work.
Consult and communicate: Share and capture what's happening on-site, and upcoming works with workers through the Toolbox Meeting feature on the HazardCo App.
Report all incidents: It is important to report all incidents, injuries and near misses that happen on-site no matter how minor. Reporting and investigating incidents allows the cause to be determined and implementing actions to improve on how the task can be done safer and better. Use the HazardCo App to report all incidents.Ensure you notify the Builder (if applicable) as soon as possible.
Check your vehicle: Keep your work vehicle in check by completing a Vehicle Checklist on the HazardCo App. This keeps a log of your odometer readings, service due dates and questions checking the condition of your vehicle and your emergency equipment. e.g. first aid kit and fire extinguisher.
Review and monitor: Everyone on-site plays an important role in keeping the workplace safe. One way to review hazards and ensure controls remain effective is to complete regular Site Reviews. You can complete a Site Review for your specific work area in the HazardCo App. You may also be asked to join in on an inspection or audit with the Builder. You can now also create and update Tasks in the App for workers to follow up on, this includes the site location, priority, and due dates.
Health & Safety Documentation
Documentation is a key way of showing that Health and Safety is active on-site and provides evidence in areas like incident investigations and learnings that are shared from these. This can be in either digital or physical format. Use the HazardCo tools on the App and Hub for all your health and safety needs.
How often do you need to complete health and safety documentation?
Using the HazardCo App, we recommend minimum and good practice benchmarking for your Health and Safety Documentation on-site:
Documentation | Minimum | Good practice |
Risk Assessment | 1 per week | 1 per day |
Toolbox Meeting | 2 per month | 4 per month, or when high risk work is planned |
Vehicle Check | 1 per month | At least 1 per month |
Documentation | Requirement |
Incident Report | For any incident that occurs |
Task Analysis | For any high-risk work that occurs |
Note: The Builder may specify any other requirements when it comes to providing health and safety documentation on-site.
Stay focused on Health and Safety
No matter the size of your job it's always important to factor health and safety in. Plan ahead, understand the site safety rules, consult and keep up to date with health and safety information shared on-site, report hazards and incidents promptly, and ensure you stop and reassess if things or conditions change.
Need Help?
Don’t forget, as part of your membership, you get access to the HazardCo team so just give us a bell on 0800 555 339 or at info@hazardco.com and we can chat with you on how to get the best out of your membership using our simple HazardCo products.