There are a lot of things to keep in mind when setting up Health and Safety on your construction site that it can seem overwhelming. Use this guide as a tool to understand what you need to do from start to end of your build.

Contractor Management
Your obligations as the principal contractor are pretty straightforward. First, you need to make sure contractors have the right skills and experience to do the job, and second, you need to make sure they are going to carry out the work safely. Once they are on board, you also need to monitor if the contractor is following good health and safety practices on-site.

Collecting evidence of this process is important so we recommend putting a system in place so nothing falls through the cracks.

To understand how your contractors manage their Health and Safety it’s important that you talk to your contractors and check that they can show a commitment to keeping workers and visitors safe. This can be demonstrated through clear procedures outlined in their Health and Safety documents, as well as evidence of risk assessments, monitoring work activities, emergency management etc. 

The following areas should be included in their Health and Safety Procedures:

• Hazards and risks 
• Training and competency 
• Emergencies and incidents 
• Hazardous substances 
• Health monitoring
• Sharing information with workers 
• Plant, machinery, and equipment

When you’ve got a lot of contractors coming and going, it can turn into a bit of a headache trying to stay on top of checking all these documents. We’ve created a simple, automated system to nail the pre-qualification of your contractors before you begin working with them, to reduce the risk to your business. 

Find out more about HazardCo’s Pre-Qualification Tools here

Setting Up Your Build
When you start a new build, it is important that health and safety is considered and communicated with everyone coming onto site. If this is created at the beginning of your build, and clear direction is provided and shared, it helps to create and foster good safety practices on-site. With HazardCo it’s easy to set up your site by creating a project in the Hub, all you need to do is: 

• Provide specific site address details 
• Add in general information about the project 
• Identify the emergency procedures that will be put in place on-site 
• Identify the site hazards and controls that will be used to manage the risks 
• Choose the contractors that you will be using for the project 
• The SSSP will be sent automatically to those involved and will advise them to use the site-specific QR code to complete a Site Induction when they arrive on-site and scan in/out each day. 

We recommend that before the project starts, you should think about setting up site fencing, emergency equipment, toilets, handwashing facilities. Make sure that you set up your HazardCo Hazard Board with the site-specific QR code at the entrance of the build, along with the mandatory government COVID Tracing App QR code.

During Your Build

• Update the HazardCo Hazard Board with any new hazards on-site, and encourage contractors to do the same too 
• Use the site-specific QR Code on the HazardCo Hazard Board to get your workers to complete a digital site induction when they arrive on-site for the first time and scan in/out of site each day .This helps to identify who is on-site, and when
• Workers should complete a Risk Assessment on the HazardCo App prior to starting work to make sure their work area is safe and the risks are being managed 
• Monitor works occurring on-site using the Site Review feature on the HazardCo App 
• For high risk construction work, use the SWMS feature in the HazardCo App. Ensure everyone involved is consulted during the preparation of the SWMS and have read, understood, and will follow the directions provided 
• Share and capture what’s happening on-site, and upcoming works with workers through the Toolbox Meeting feature on the HazardCo App 
• Record incidents on-site using the HazardCo App. Any incident, illness or near-miss can be recorded. Check out the HazardCo Hub for your Incident Register 
• Call our expert Advisory team on 1800 954 702 for any health and safety advice

Health and Safety Evidence
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 H&S needs.

If you’re not the principal contractor on-site
We recommend that you use the HazardCo App and Hub to manage your on-site health and safety. At the beginning of each day, complete a Risk Assessment on the HazardCo App. This will help identify that the work area is safe and ensure that you have the correct controls in place for common construction hazards. 

Remember to use the HazardCo App to report any incidents or near misses on your site. This will notify the HazardCo Advisory Team and we will help guide you through the next steps.

During your job:

• Complete a Risk Assessment on the HazardCo App prior to starting work to make sure their work area is safe and the risks are being managed 
• For high risk construction work, make sure that you have read, understood and will follow the directions provided in the SWMS completed by the builder
• Share and capture what’s happening on-site through the Toolbox Meeting feature on the HazardCo App 
• Record incidents on-site using the HazardCo App. Any incident, illness or near-miss can be recorded. 
• Call Advisory anytime on 1800 954 702 for any health and safety advice 

Don’t forget, as part of your membership, you get unlimited access to the HazardCo team. 

Phone Support
The support you need from people who know their stuff. 

• 24/7 incident support
• Get expert advice from our highly qualified advisory team
• Get full support for your HazardCo system from our customer service team

It’s important to us that you and your crew are kept safe. You know the drill, we’re here to help, so get in touch if there’s anything you need. You can contact us on 1800 954 702 or email info@hazardco.com.