AU Archives - Page 13 of 14

When you are renovating, you will most likely be working with others, such as the client or other contractors on-site. This means that you will need to think about how you will manage health and safety on-site and how you will communicate this with other people involved with the project. This will ensure that everyone is on top of the site hazards and practicing good health and safety during your renovation.

Here are a few things you will need to think about for your upcoming renovations:

Inductions are a way of ensuring workers and clients are aware of the risks and hazards that are involved in the job at hand, conducted at the start of each new job.

It is important that you induct your clients prior to starting the job, advising them about the health and safety guidelines that need to be followed for your work area, even when it’s their home.

If your work site is occupied by a client, or the client is likely to visit, then we recommend that you carry out the following:

Firstly, check the following three COVID-19 related questions with your client:

Do you or anyone in the home have any symptoms associated with COVID-19 or are awaiting the results from a COVID-19 test?
Have you or anyone in the home been in contact with any known or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the past 14 days?
Have you or anyone in the home returned from overseas in the past 14 days or been in contact with anyone that has?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then the work should not commence.

Next, meet the client at the worksite (if possible) and explain the following:

The main hazards that will be present during the work e.g. ladders, power tools, noise, materials, electricity
The ‘no-go’ areas while work is being carried out. Putting up a barrier clearly defines the work area for the homeowner or client.
Run through the worksite rules with the client

Some good rules to use are:

Follow health and safety instructions from workers onsite
Take reasonable care for your own health and safety and do not do anything to endanger yourself or others
Keep away from vehicles, machinery and tools
Do not touch electrical wiring or electrical devices
Do not remove hole or trench covers and stay behind barriers if in place
Do not climb on or stand under any height equipment
Keep clear of stacked materials and storage areas
Children should not enter the work area while work is in progress or touch any materials and equipment

These steps will help to identify the risks that you will be bringing into your clients home, because when health and safety is top of mind – your site is a safer place for everyone involved.

If you are working alone we suggest that you set up a procedure to regularly contact someone throughout the day to check-in that you are safe.

Homes built or renovated between 1950 and 2000 are likely to contain some asbestos. Therefore, every tradesperson is likely to come into contact with asbestos at work sooner or later. That’s why it’s important for you to understand how to manage the risk from working with or near asbestos, and how to protect yourself and others from exposure to airborne asbestos fibers.

Surveying and Testing

Areas that we recommend getting tested are cladding, roofing, vinyl, fibre cement sheeting, internal ceilings, and plumbing lagging.

There are 3 main types of testing or surveying; Management, Refurbishment, and Demolition, and each of these is designed for a specific purpose.

Asbestos Management Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property. This survey is typically used prior to minor maintenance work or to help manage any potential risks associated with asbestos.

Asbestos Refurbishment Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property before major work commences.

Asbestos Demolition Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property before it is demolished. This survey is also designed to give clearance to the area once demolition has been completed.

It is important that when you are conducting work that requires planning permission, it is likely that you will require a demolition or refurbishment survey to search for asbestos present. As the contractor, you have a legal requirement to ensure asbestos is identified and removed before any work begins that may disturb the asbestos in your client’s home.

You can refer to the SafeWork Australia website for more details on asbestos here

Discovering Asbestos

What to do if you or your workers uncover or damage materials that may contain asbestos:

Stop work immediately.
Keep people away.
Minimise the risk of spreading contamination to other areas.
Get advice from an expert such as an asbestos assessor or a suitably qualified health and safety consultant. You can call our advisory team on 0800 555 339 and we will guide you through your next steps.

Removing asbestos

All friable asbestos removal work must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist. This includes work on asbestos lagging, asbestos insulation, and damaged asbestos board.
If more than 10 m2 of non-friable asbestos has to be removed during a project, it must be removed by a licensed asbestos removalist.
You can refer here for a register of Licensed Asbestos removalists .

You can view the SafeWork Australia website to find out how to apply the 10 m2 rule to an object that is not flat, such as asbestos piping and other frequently asked questions relating to Asbestos Licensing here

Here at HazardCo, we always want to be better, and the HazardCo team has been working hard to deliver the latest update which focuses on the scanning in and out feature on our HazardCo App.

Taking onboard feedback from our valued members, our new App update makes it even easier to get everyone using the free HazardCo App to scan in and out of site, each and every day.

What’s changed?
Your team and wider crew won’t have to enter their details every time – just the once, saving them more time so they can get onto the tools.

If it’s your first time on-site
The first time anyone scans into any HazardCo site, they will need to enter their details and complete their site induction. If they already have a HazardCo account, their details will be pre-populated.

Every time after that
For any site that they have visited before, they won’t be asked if it’s their first site visit as the App will remember them and their logged details.

The App will now ask you to contact your site supervisor if your responses aren’t satisfactory e.g. if you are showing COVID symptoms.

The updates to the App are here now, so if you don’t allow automatic App updates on your smartphone, you’ll need to update the App from the App Store or Google Play. Easy as that.

Lastly, tell everyone! Your next Toolbox Meeting is a great time to get your team and subbies to update the HazardCo App on their smartphone and remind them to scan in and out of site, every time.

Simply scanning in gives people a useful daily reminder to beware of health and safety – and we all know the more we think about it, the more we look out for and prevent risks. Getting everyone doing their bit shares the load when it comes to health and safety on-site. It’s a win-win!

Hazardous substances refer to chemicals or substances which can be toxic, corrosive and can cause harm. So it makes sense that we document what’s on-site and when.

If you have hazardous substances on-site, there are processes that, by law, you need to follow to ensure they are stored, used, and disposed of correctly and to reduce the risk to anyone that uses or comes into contact with them.

On 1 January 2021, Australia began a two-year transition to the revised edition of the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS 7). This new system replaces the previous Approved Criteria for Classifying Hazardous Substances.

Despite the transition period, we recommend you start making the changes to labelling, SDS, and packaging as soon as possible.

You can find out more about the changes below so you can make sure you are up to date with the latest info.

There has been changes to the Hazard Classifications, and you will no longer use the following classes for your hazardous substances:

Class 1 Explosives
Class 2 Flammability gases
Class 3 Flammability liquids
Class 4 Flammability solids
Class 5 Oxidising
Class 6 Toxic
Class 8 Corrosive
Class 9 Ecotoxic

The new GHS7 for hazardous substances will be classed as a physical hazard, a health hazard or an environmental hazard, detailed below:

Physical hazards

Explosives
Flammable gases
Flammable aerosols
Oxidising gases
Gases under pressure
- Compressed gas
- Liquefied gas
- Dissolved gas
- Refrigerated liquefied gas
Flammable liquids
Flammable solids
Pyrophoric liquids
Pyrophoric solids
Self-heating substances
Substances and mixtures which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases
Oxidising liquids
Oxidising solids
Organic peroxides
Corrosive to metals

Health hazards

Acute toxicity: Oral, dermal, inhalation
Skin corrosion/irritation
Serious eye damage/eye irritation
Sensitisation of the Respiratory tract or skin
Germ cell mutagenicity
Carcinogenicity
Reproductive toxicity
Specific target organ – toxicity single exposure
Specific target organ toxicity – repeated exposure
Aspiration hazard

Environmental hazards

Hazardous to the aquatic environment
Hazardous to the terrestrial environment. (This hazard class is not part of the GHS 7 classification system, but was added to ensure risks to the terrestrial environment continue to be managed.

What this means for you

You will need to ensure that your SDS, packaging and labelling of substances has been updated to reflect the new classes or you are in the process of updating. This can be done by reaching out to the supplier or manufacturer of substances.

What is a Hazardous substance register?
This is a list of all your hazardous substances (including hazardous waste) that is used, handled, or stored at any of your sites or workplaces. Having a register will ensure you know the substances you have on-site, the requirements you need-to-know, and what to do in case of an emergency.

Keeping a Hazardous substance register
Keeping your register in a central location on your site means that in case of an emergency, it can be accessed quickly by anyone who needs it. There are some key bits of information that need to be included on your hazardous substance registers. Not only do you need the information below, but you must also make sure that the register is up to date and available on-site.

The name of the substance
Issue date of the current safety data sheet t
The maximum quantity that is stored at the workplace
Where it’s located
Specific storage requirements
Any hazardous waste

Because the register represents the maximum amount of the substance held, it means it’s not going to be a daily task to keep it up-to-date. But if the maximum quantity changes, the register needs to reflect this. We recommend that you review your register each time you make a change to ensure it’s up to date and accurate.

While working on-site, you may need to organise a builders temporary. Electricity can be supplied to a small construction site through a temporary connection.

A builder’s temporary provides builders and other tradespeople an electricity supply on-site where there is no existing connection to an electricity network. Only a licensed electrical worker can install, connect, modify or move a builder’s temporary.

What certifications and inspections are required?
Before you can use a builder’s temporary, an electrician must give you

A certificate of Compliance (CoC)
A Record of Inspection (RoI) as per the requirements of AS/NZS 3000 (2018) Electrical Installations (Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules)
An Electrical Safety Certificate (ESC) – issued by the State based Electrical regulator

These documents guarantee that the builder’s temporary meets the requirements of AS/NZS 3012 (2019) Electrical Installations – Construction and Demolition sites . The builder’s temporary must be assessed by a licensed electrician (A class) or electrical inspector at least every six months. As well as a visual inspection, the wiring should be re-tested for earth continuity and insulation resistance of the installation. Records of inspection and re-testing should be kept on-site and be made available on request

Where should a builder’s temporary be located?
A builder’s temporary should be located close to where the electrical work will be carried out. Consider where most of the electrical work on-site will be done and how connections can be made without using too many extension leads – which can be a potential electrical and trip hazard.

Working with other PCBU’s on-site
PCBU’s and contractors working on the same site must, so far as is reasonably practicable, work together to manage electrical safety risks. Have a discussion about how electricity will be supplied and used in areas where your health and safety duties may overlap. This will help to prevent any gaps in managing health and safety risks. You can read more about this in our blog ‘The three C’s: Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination’.

Keeping you and your team safe at work is a priority, so make sure you are aware of the employer’s requirements of temporary power supplies in the workplace.

The HazardCo App Site Review resource has a list of electrical controls that should be in place to mitigate the risk of electrical hazards.

HazardCo was formed when a couple of tradies decided they’d seen enough of the damage caused by a “she’ll be right” approach on construction sites. They thought it was high time for a new attitude towards health and safety, so they created HazardCo to make on-site health and safety more straightforward. HazardCo encourages safer sites and at the same time saves builders and subbies both time and paperwork.

HazardCo has continued to innovate with improvements to its tools and features which focus on delivering what builders and subbies need most – to save time and get back on the tools as soon as possible, while making sites safer, and helping teams reduce unnecessary incidents.

HazardCo never wants to forget this core purpose, so has its own ambassador – Joe@HazardCo, a true blue tradie at heart. As someone on the tools, Joe is at the forefront of HazardCo’s minds when developing new product updates, templates and tools. Joe keeps HazardCo focused on the things that make a real difference to everyone working in the construction industry today.

HazardCo’s been around long enough to grow with the industry, and with Joe’s help, will continue to make on-site health and safety both simpler and more effective. As Joe would say, “It’s a win-win mate – you get to save time, save paperwork, and have confidence your health and safety is sorted, so why wouldn’t ya?!”

Why not kick off the year by keeping your health and safety sorted, starting with a Risk Assessment via the HazardCo App? Risk Assessments help you identify hazards, assess the risk, and implement controls to help prevent incidents.

The HazardCo Risk Assessment feature is perfect to use before starting a new task or at the beginning of the day, but remember if you need to review the full building site, complete a Site Review instead. So, take a few moments to think about any major tasks coming up, and then open the Risk Assessment tool. The App gives you a number of question areas – quickly tap each topic and if the risk is not present for this task, select ‘No’. Where the risk is present, select ‘Yes’ or ‘Not Sure’ and the App will give you some options on how to control the risk – simply select any that apply. Of course, you can add your own comments and upload photos before moving to the next topic.

Once all topics are complete, hit submit and the completed assessment is saved to the Hub and available anywhere, anytime. You can also download the assessment and email to others as needed – easy as that.

The App makes completing a Risk Assessment really straight forward, and the suggestions on how to control possible risks give you confidence you’re doing all you can to keep your crew safe. Because the App is in the palm of your hand 24/7, Risk Assessments can be completed at any time… no paperwork needed.

As you get back into the swing of things, now’s the perfect time to start planning the first few weeks on-site and ensuring you start out the way you’d like the year to continue. HazardCo’s Risk Assessments help you keep your health and safety sorted and make sure everyone leaves the site safely at the end of each day.

With everyone coming back to work after a few weeks away, it is the perfect time to review your health and safety on-site. Easing back into work after the Christmas and New Year break may seem difficult with a looming mountain of work ahead of you, but before you get overwhelmed with day-to-day activities, take stock and prepare yourself for the year ahead. So, here are the top suggestions from the HazardCo team to help you start the year with the right mindset.

Catching up on where things are at is a good place to start. Refresh yourself on priorities for your current projects and plan out the next few months to make sure you’re on top of key milestones. Before you crack into any work, conduct a site review – after a few weeks away, you never know what might have happened on-site, so be sure to check it thoroughly and brief the team on any new hazards or site changes.

It’s also a great time to action change, so think about how your projects have gone over the past year… is there anything you want to be doing more of or doing differently? Setting new goals can be really motivating. Some popular health and safety goals amongst our HazardCo members include:

Reduce the number of serious site incidents
Increase the amount of reported near misses – big or small it doesn’t matter. (The more near misses identified, the safer your site)
Increasing the frequency of Site Reviews, Risk Assessments, and/or Toolbox Meetings. Per site, aim to complete at least 2 Site Reviews and 2 Toolbox Meetingsper month.
100% of subbies and direct team members, scanning in and out of site 100% of the time

Make sure your health and safety goals are achievable and measurable. Don’t forget to celebrate when you achieve a goal – it can help you and your team build more confidence in yourselves as you see progress, and that keeps you all motivated and inspired to continue trying to improve.

We challenge you to create new routines, such as a weekly Toolbox Meeting that you can do with everyone who is present on-site every Monday morning – as a group talk about current hazards, progress, key activities happening that week, and how you’ll all work together to manage them. The HazardCo App makes it super convenient to complete reviews and conduct meetings from anywhere on-site – so you can get your health and safety sorted from the palm of your hand, and even hold the meeting where the hazards can be seen at the same time. Simple, regular routines can be a great way to build the team and effect change.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to plan how you’d like to approach the year, yet it can have a significant impact on your achievements and your crew’s job satisfaction. Whatever your goals are, the team at HazardCo wishes you a safe and successful year, and we look forward to working with you on your health and safety goals this year.

A wise Desmond Tutu once said, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

And Health and Safety is no different. We know that Health and Safety can feel daunting, overwhelming, and even impossible at times, but it can be accomplished by taking on just a little at a time.

You can get your on-site safety on track this year by just starting one step at a time. Health and Safety is a team sport, you can’t do it by yourself, so you need to make sure everyone is involved, and scanning on and off site is a great place to start to create behavioral habits. Encourage your subbies and everyone on-site to create a habit of scanning on and off of your site every day with the HazardCo App.

When workers are engaged in work Health and Safety, everyone benefits. Your business is a healthier and safer place for everyone, performance and productivity increases, and a more engaged workforce means better builds, a stronger and more well-regarded brand in the market, more work, higher margins, and ultimately more money! What’s not to love?

Most people know how to, and do operate safely, recording activity – that’s what you need, and once you have that sorted – the rest is a piece of cake.

If your subbies already have the HazardCo App you’re already halfway there. Now you just need to get them to use it and make it a regular and consistent part of their workday on-site.

It couldn’t be any easier. All your subbies have to do is simply open the HazardCo App on their smartphones, scan onto your site using the unique QR code located on your site’s Hazard Board and they will be able to successfully complete a contactless induction onto your site! As the Main Contractor, you will have full and real-time visibility of scanning activity stored securely in your Hub – and what’s more? you’ll be stoked that your subbies are supporting your Health and Safety efforts.

Bottom line? Safe sites are better sites. So make it a priority this year to make Health & Safety top of mind, and get your subbies using our scanning feature on the HazardCo App today.

For you, for your team, for the families waiting for you at home. Safety first, always.

If you need a hand getting started or would like more information, get in touch with the friendly HazardCo team today.