Reinforcing steel can be used in many ways on a building site. Terms commonly used are rebars or waratahs. They are steel bars or mesh wires used to support walls, concrete, or other stone structures.
Workers can fall on the protruding bars which can result in deep lacerations or even life-threatening injuries, so it’s important that preventive measures are in place to reduce the risks.
Some of the hazards include;
Safety Caps
Safety caps are made of plastic so they are a cost-effective way of covering the protruding steel rods. Even though they are small, the safety caps effectively protect against injuries and potential impalement.
Their bright fluorescent colour increases visibility which lessens the chance of the worker walking into, or tripping over them by accident. They are also cost effective, quick and easy to install.
Control access
In addition to using safety caps, access should be restricted to areas where there are protruding ends.
Injuries can happen when workers are not paying attention to the hazards around them, so ensure that your workers are aware of their surroundings, or physically prevent them from entering the area altogether by using barricades or tape to control access to those areas with hazards.
Keep a clean and tidy site
Ensure that you have a clean and tidy worksite. Gather and remove debris to keep the site free from scraps, and potential trip hazards.
Reinforcing steel scraps lying unattended can rust and pose a safety risk for workers, therefore, make sure you arrange prompt and proper disposal of the scrap materials.
PPE
PPE for people working with reinforcing steel may include;
Best Practices
Construction can be dangerous. There are hazards in all worksites, which can result in life-threatening injuries. Carry out regular site reviews using the HazardCo App to ensure that hazards presented by reinforced steel are correctly controlled.
Of course, reach out to HazardCo and speak to one of our Health and Safety experts if you have any questions or need more support on avoiding reinforcing steel hazards.
Everyone should make an effort to stay healthy… When it comes to construction and the health of your workers, you are likely often working in loud or dusty environments, with airborne contaminants (e.g. silica or asbestos dust). In these instances, there is a legal responsibility to monitor your worker’s health. You need to complete specific health checks to monitor the impacts on your workers health while working in these conditions.
As an employer, health monitoring is something you should provide for your workers. It is a proactive way of ensuring your workers aren’t at risk in the workplace.
It is not an alternative to effective hazard control measures, rather, it helps you understand the effectiveness of your controls being used on-site.
If a worker’s health is being affected by exposure to construction-related health risks, it’s best to find out as early as possible to prevent any further harm from occurring. It’s intended to detect the early signs of ill health or disease (e.g. silicosis, asbestosis, mesothelioma, noise-induced hearing loss) and helps you monitor and protect your workers from exposure to construction-related health risks.
Health monitoring does not include general wellbeing checks or programmes, since things like cholesterol checks and healthy living programs aren’t specific to construction work.
You’ll need a registered medical practitioner with experience in health monitoring to perform, or supervise the medical tests. To assist your health monitoring efforts, HazardCo has partnered with Habit Health who provide medical checks nationwide. They’re experienced in health monitoring for the construction industry.
Remember, like all on-site health and safety, prevention is key. To ensure you’re meeting your legal requirements when it comes to health monitoring, get on-site with the HazardCo App, and complete an updated Site Review today. This will help you identify your hazards and put effective controls in place alongside health monitoring. Your HazardCo Advisory Team is available throughout the day to guide you through this – call 0800 555 339 to talk it over.
Asbestos related diseases is New Zealand’s number one work-related killer. Approximately 220 people die each year from preventable asbestos-related disease.
We’d like to give you some basic information on the dangers of asbestos, where it can be found and what you can do to avoid it.
There are two types of asbestos:
Inhaling asbestos fibres can cause a range of irreversible damage and diseases.
One of the most common asbestos related diseases is asbestosis. This causes severe scarring of the inner lung tissue. People usually have pain and severe difficulty breathing. Although this isn’t directly fatal in itself, it can lead to respiratory or heart failure.
Damage from asbestos may occur in as little as five years, or take as long as 40-50 years after exposure for symptoms to appear. Unfortunately, many people do not realise they have been exposed until it’s too late.
It is vital you don’t attempt to remove asbestos yourself, unless you are trained, certified where required, and fully competent – we cannot stress the importance of this enough!
If you’re planning to renovate or partially demolish a building, have a survey done first to identify if Asbestos Containing Material is present. If it is, contact your local asbestos removalist.
Any building constructed up until the year 2000 has a high probability of containing asbestos. View the posters created by WorkSafe on locations where Asbestos can be found on industrial and residential buildings. It is useful to familierise yourself and your workers with the areas relevant to your work. If it is not expected that asbestos would be present and you see unidentified asbestos while working, stop work immediately and arrange for an assessment of the Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) to be carried out.
Yes, there is. Disposal must meet strict guidelines. Bagging and wrapping asbestos pieces is essential in any sort of removal – and dumping asbestos-containing materials can only be done in authorised locations. It is important to check with your local council for specific disposal locations and requirements. Wherever possible, leave this to the asbestos specialists.
Removal of ACM greater than 10m² can only be performed by a licensed removalist. Clearance certificates are documented records of the removal and correct disposal. Keep these records on-hand with the other site documentation.
Recognition means everything when it comes to asbestos, signage on-site, equipping your team with knowledge of asbestos dangers, using the HazardCo App to assess risks, and educating your workers could be the difference between life and death.
For additional education and training on Asbestos we have partnered with two training providers, Safety N Action and BeSafe which both provide Asbestos courses. Check out your HazardCo’s Perks and Partners page for further information. There is a course available for whatever your asbestos needs.
What’s more, as a HazardCo customer with a current membership, you’ll get a 10% discount on any courses you undertake through these partners. Just advise them you are a HazardCo customer upon booking.
Remember to also undertake health monitoring for any workers who work with airborne contaminants (such as asbestos or silica dust). See Habit Health a national health monitoring provider – and again, as a HazardCo customer you receive a 10% discount on any services engaged.
HazardCo’s Advisory Team can help with any asbestos questions or other health and safety matters – give us a call on 0800 555 339.
New Zealand is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, which means we have an array of different cultures and languages across the workforce. This can sometimes create a challenging environment when it comes to communicating key information to all workers equally.
As a business, you have a general responsibility to make your workplace safe. As part of this, you are responsible for providing workers with the information they need to do their job safely, including information in other languages where appropriate. This means that you need to be aware of any language and cultural barriers that may impact communication in your business, and take reasonable steps to address them.
It’s important for businesses to be aware of the language preferences of their workforce so they can make sure that health and safety is discussed in a way that everyone understands. Workers will be trying to cope with a lot of information; the task at hand, the quality expectations, health and safety etc, so when communicating with workers where English isn’t their first language it is a great time to remember, to keep safety simple.
Starting out with proper consideration and consultation can save you time and money by helping to identify the range of languages spoken in the workplace as well as workers’ preferred forms of communication.
Worker engagement, participation, and representation is a key part of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) in New Zealand.
The HSWA requires engagement in certain circumstances, such as when identifying hazards and assessing risks to work health and safety arising from the work carried out by the PCBU.
As the Main Contractor who has engaged workers with English as a second language, you need to consider the following as your responsibility:
This is how a PCBU involves workers in health and safety matters and decisions in the workplace. A PCBU that has good engagement with workers will:
This is one way for workers to raise health and safety concerns, suggest ways to improve health and safety, and make decisions that affect work health and safety. A PCBU that has good worker participation will:
This involves workers electing one or more person/s as their Health and Safety Representative (HSR) to represent them on health and safety matters. The HSR is entitled to specialist training and becomes the workers’ advocate at that workplace. The HSR does not have to be a member of a union.
When you engage workers, whether they be employees or contractors, make sure you are aware of their language needs.
Key things to consider:
Think about what is the most important information you need to get across. If someone only understood a small amount of what you are trying to say. What are the key things?
It’s best to use face-to-face discussion and demonstration where possible, as this is the most effective way to communicate across different languages and allows any misunderstandings to be identified and addressed immediately. Written material should be used to back up more direct communication, and should be in clear and simple language, with diagrams and examples to aid understanding.
Tailoring communication to the language needs and abilities of workers, and ensuring all workers understand the hazards and risks in their workplace, are important steps toward protecting their health and safety.
Of course, reach out to HazardCo and speak to one of our Health and Safety experts if you have any questions or need more support on ways to communicate across different languages on-site. HazardCo members get 24/7 incident support, and Health and Safety advice from our Advisory team. You can contact us on 0800 555 339 or email info@hazardco.com.
When you have an incident on-site, whether it’s a near miss, an injury, or a work-related illness, you will need to write an incident report.
Incident reports don’t need to be time-consuming, lengthy or use fancy health and safety terms, you just need to describe what happened in your own words so you have a record of the incident. You can use the incident report to help explain what happened to others, such as your direct team on-site, contractors, other Employers, or the Principal Contractor.
An incident report is the process of recording incidents on-site, such as near misses, injuries, illnesses and plant/property damage. It involves documenting all the facts (known so far) related to the incident.
Check out this blog on Managing and reporting incidents at work to learn more about what is considered an incident and why it’s important to report incidents.
Hitting your body on an object is a very common example of an incident. For this incident report example, we will assume someone on site has hit their body on a door frame and injured their shoulder.
Site Location
32 Dropsaw Lane, Wellington 6011
Date of Incident
2nd September 2023
People involved
Joe Hazard (injured)
Sam Small (witness)
Larry Large (witness)
Type of Incident
Near Miss (Something bad almost happened)
✅ Injury (Someone was hurt)
Illness (Word related illness)
Other (Something else happened)
Incident (Damage caused, electric shock, substance leak)
Treatment received
First aid (performed on site)
✅ Medical Centre (Medical treatment required)
Hospital (Admitted for injury or illness)
Unsure (I’m not sure what treatment was given)
None (No treatment required)
Describe what happened – List the facts that are known so far about the incident such as :
*what job or activity was being performed at the time.
*What plant, equipment or tools were being used
*What went wrong
*What was the injury or damage (or the potential)
*What happened immediately after the incident
Joe Hazard was carrying plywood through a doorway on-site when he hit his shoulder on the door frame. Joe felt immediate pain in his left shoulder and struggled to lift his arm above shoulder height. Joe informed Sam Small (Supervisor) immediately and agreed to go to the local medical centre for further assessment
This is an example of a simple incident report, find out more about what good incident reporting looks like.
If you’re a HazardCo member, hit the Report an Incident button in the HazardCo App and follow the guided prompts to record the incident. Your membership includes 24/7 incident support, so if you need some extra help filling in the report, would like advice on if the incident is notifiable to the Regulator, or would just like to chat with an expert about how to communicate the incident to your team, we are here to help!
When you have an incident on-site, writing an incident report is just one action you need to take. Learn more about what to do when you have an incident on site.
When it comes to incidents, a common misconception is that you need to report incidents to HazardCo immediately. This is not the case. Reporting to HazardCo can often happen later once details of the incident have been established. The only time an incident should be reported immediately is when it is a notifiable incident to be reported to WorkSafe NZ.
HazardCo assesses all incidents that get reported via the ‘Report an Incident’ function on the HazardCo App. If the incident is notifiable to WorkSafe NZ, we will contact you to determine further details and ensure that the appropriate steps have been taken. If you need assistance in determining what happened or appropriate corrective actions then call 0800 555 339 to speak to an advisor who will be able to assist you.
Below is an example of an incident report that could be improved upon and what good reporting looks like:
Geoff hurt his leg.
The above report tells us nothing about Geoff’s injury, how he is, how it happened or what steps have been taken to prevent the incident from reoccurring.
Geoff hurt his leg while carrying timber around the warratahs by himself. The load he was carrying was awkward and the warratahs were uncapped. He dropped the timber and suffered a graze and some bruising to the back of his right leg and knee. Geoff was checked over by Bob, a first aider. A band-aid was applied to his graze, he rested for a few minutes concerned about his knee but no swelling appeared and he was able to return to work. We spoke to Geoff about carrying awkward loads and advised him that next time he should get someone to help him. We have a toolbox meeting scheduled with the team to talk about this incident and advise all workers about safe manual handling techniques and that waratahs should always be capped.
The above report tells us everything that we need to know about the incident. It advises:
The incident wasn’t serious (but had the potential to be if he had fallen), it is clear what treatment he received and that steps have been taken to ensure that Geoff asks for help in the future and that the working environment remains safe.
Of course, reach out to HazardCo and speak to one of our expert Health and Safety Advisors if you have any questions or need support for incidents or near misses on your site. You can contact us on 0800 555 339.
Risks change, all day, everyday. That’s the reality of life on site. Managing risk needs to be apart of life onsite.
Methods change because of different training and experience, people on the job change, there are differences in machinery and materials used, as well as environmental changes from hour to hour.
It’s a lot.
Risk is a product of the work processes being carried out. So, if the work doesn’t happen, the risk isn’t present.
But, if a work process is defined then risk can be recognised and taken into account.
The key question tradies and supervisors need to be asking themselves is:
How do I adapt my task when a change occurs?
It’s not about mountains of paperwork. It’s about 4 simple steps:
A change occurs. Repeat.
Plan. Do. Check. Act.
Repeat.
(You get the picture)
We should all be working towards a heightened sense of awareness on site. And of course, treating risks as priority should be a collective mindset. Reinforced by supervisors who should be adapting plans and guiding teams to take account of the constantly evolving risk environment.
The power of change in risk can kill, the power of change in process can save a life.
Be the change you want to see.
If you have any questions please reach out to the Hazardco team today
Reporting incidents and near misses is vital to good business, and that begins with a ‘safety differently’ approach. A prevention before cure attitude. One that sees incidents reported immediately and investigated thoroughly.
Time and time again we see incidents happen and fingers pointed. What is absolutely vital for your business is a health and safety culture that is open, honest and educated. How do you nurture this culture? You need the right tools.
You don’t need to over complicate matters here. Incidents and near misses should be registered in one convenient place that is easy to manage and draw upon when needed.
The HazardCo App has been designed with just that in mind. Simply log in, report who was involved, if medical treatment was required, and the details of what happened. Visit the HazardCo Help Centre for assistance on Reporting an Incident.
All of this information is then stored as an incident register in your HazardCo Hub for you to easily access at any time.
The Advisory team is available 24/7 for serious incidents, give us a call on 0800 555 339.
You should report any health and safety incidents or near misses that happen at work. This could be an incident that affects you, your staff, or anyone on-site.
From minor to serious, everyone has the right to know of any threats relating to them in the workplace. Some serious incidents may need to be reported to the Regulator, WorkSafe. You can find out about What events need to be notified here.
Those affected by the incident are also entitled to a fair and formal record of what happened, be sure to hold a toolbox talk/safety meeting with all relevant workers once the investigation is complete, you can complete this from the HazardCo App or download a Toolbox Talk from the Templates section of your Hub. .
Every single worker plays a part in protecting ourselves and one another in the workplace. By reporting incidents you are helping identify areas where you can work together to improve health and safety, and potentially save lives.
We understand that it’s unrealistic to expect no incidents. They can – and do – happen. What’s important is that when they do, workers take time to review and learn from them.
Depending on the complexity of the incident, learning from it might be as simple as meeting with the team afterward to figure out what went wrong, and what can be done to stop it from happening again.
Complete an Incident Investigation Form to determine the cause of the incident and any corrective actions that you need to implement.
Yes, it is. And that’s why we are so proud of what we do. The HazardCo App puts health and safety in everyone’s hands, so everyone is protecting their workforce and working safely.
By reporting and investigating an incident, you will find the cause, but you are also likely to identify other areas where improvements can be made. Investigations aren’t about blame and punishment, but learning and improving.
No workplace is perfect, and failure will likely occur at some point. Let your workers know this, and that blame is off the table. This is about making sure everyone is safe and able to get on with the job at hand.
We’re here to help. Reach out to our team if you have any questions or need health and safety advice.
Winter weather has the potential to hit hard, with strong winds, low temperatures, and of course, lots of rain. All of these factors can cause hazards for you and your workers. From trips and slips, to numb fingers and damaged gear and equipment, cold temperatures call for specific measures to ensure that your workplace is safe during the cold and wet winter months.
Work doesn’t stop when winter weather rolls in, so it’s important to know what to do to keep your workers safe and warm.
When the winter weather starts rolling through it’s important for you to inspect your workplace. If you are somewhere that experiences snow, make sure that you identify and clear, where possible, all snow and ice from working surfaces, platforms and walkways that are used. It’s crucial to stress the importance of fall protection when icy conditions are present. To ensure your site is safe, complete a Site Assessment using your HazardCo App, or you can download a .pdf version from the templates section of your HazardCo Hub, or by clicking here.
Vehicle accidents don’t just happen on the roads, they can also happen in the work yard. Stress to your team that winter driving rules for the road also apply to your workplace and it’s important that they take care while operating work vehicles and equipment. To ensure your vehicles are safe for the road complete a Vehicle checklist using your HazardCo App, or you can download a PDF version from the templates section of your HazardCo Hub, or by clicking here.
The last thing you need is for the weather to catch you by surprise. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, so your workers can prioritise the work that will be affected should the weather take a turn for the worse, and that they have the right gear to be able to do the job safely.
Be vigilant when ensuring that workers are wearing proper PPE and suitable clothing when winter weather conditions are present.
Follow these tips to optimise your crew’s safety so you can enjoy a productive winter while keeping your team safe. If you have any questions reach out to the HazardCo Team
The construction industry is known for its potential hazards and risks, and unfortunately, incidents sometimes occur. Having an incident on-site can be alarming, but your response is crucial in reducing its impact and making sure the team is safer in the future.
Remember, if you’re a HazardCo member we will support you throughout this process, just give us a call.
Incidents can range from very minor, to serious incidents. The steps below can be scaled up or down depending on the seriousness of the incident. If you have a near miss on-site, this is also considered an incident. Learn more about reporting near misses.
The health and safety of the people involved in the incident should be the main concern. Immediately assess the situation to identify any ongoing dangers and take appropriate action to eliminate or minimise risks. Evacuate affected areas if necessary and provide medical assistance to injured personnel. Remember, health and safety should always come before anything else.
Once the immediate safety concerns are addressed, you may need to secure the scene to prevent further incidents or unauthorised access. Erect physical barriers, post warning signs and restrict entry if needed.
Maintaining clear and effective communication during and after an incident is really important.
Notify all the relevant people about the incident as soon as possible. This includes workers, supervisors, managers and contractors.
Using the Report Incident feature on your HazardCo App, fill out the fields to capture what happened. Your reported incident will be added to your incident register in the Hub, and HazardCo retains this for as long as you’re a member.
It’s important to note that some incidents are required to be notified to WorkSafe. These are referred to as notifiable incidents. A notifiable incident is:
In the event of a notifiable incident, you need to preserve the incident site until a WorkSafe inspector arrives or WorkSafe directs you otherwise. This doesn’t prevent you from helping an injured person or making the site safe.
For more information on what to do when it comes to notifiable incidents, head over to the WorkSafe website.
Investigating will help to find out exactly what happened and why. We recommend talking to the people involved as well as any witnesses. For a serious incident, it’s best to speak to everyone individually.
Document all your findings in a report, including photos and relevant data. In the report, you should look at immediate causes as well as bigger issues and potential improvements to prevent future incidents. HazardCo members can use the guided Investigation Report in the Hub to identify any shortcomings or gaps that may have contributed to the incident and implement corrective actions. This may involve improving training programs, modifying procedures, upgrading equipment, or implementing new safety technologies.
Pass on what you have learned to everyone involved. This is your opportunity to emphasise a culture of continuous improvement and learning to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Encourage open communication and create a supportive environment that encourages workers to report near misses and potential hazards without fear of repercussions.
When an incident occurs on a construction site, a swift and effective response is crucial to reduce risks and ensure the health and safety of your crew. Prioritising safety, establishing clear communication channels, securing the scene, communicating and investigating the incident can continuously improve the health and safety of everyone on-site. At the end of the day, these measures protect lives, as well as contribute to the long-term success of the project and your business.
