HazardCo understands just how busy a construction site can get. In addition to your team coming and going from site, you need to keep on top of subbies, site deliveries, engineers, architects, assessors, the client… it can be a full time job to keep tabs on everyone. So the team at HazardCo has put together a few tips to help you stay one step ahead when it comes to visitors on-site.
As the main builder on-site, you have an obligation to make sure the health and safety of visitors is not at risk when they’re on your construction site. We recommend that you fence the site with limited entry/exit points and keep these shut. This helps to manage people coming and going. Having a clear site entry also makes it easy to work out where your Hazard Board – make sure they’re hard to miss for anyone entering your site.
It’s important to note, that while you need to manage on-site visitors, they are equally responsible for their own health and safety. What’s more, they have an obligation to ensure their actions don’t have an adverse impact on the health and safety of anyone else on-site. Once visitors understand this, it’s often easier to get their participation.
Ask your visitors to follow the site managers requests while on-site, which are likely to include:
Running a HazardCo site makes things easier for yourself and your visitors since you can get everyone using the free HazardCo App for their site inductions, and to scan in and out of site every time. Just remember, when you communicate everyone’s obligations it can help to share the responsibility. When everyone’s looking out for each other it’s easier to keep everyone on-site safe.
HazardCo was created by tradies, for tradies. After experiencing first hand what happened when on-site risks weren’t well managed, a couple of tradies decided it was time for a change and formed HazardCo. It’s designed to help tradies keep their health and safety sorted – making it simple and easy to manage but without cutting corners.
HazardCo’s smart online tools use everyday technology to help you cut back on paperwork, and saves you time by using straight forward templates and reports, which are full of tips and suggestions to give you the confidence you have it all covered.
You can use the HazardCo App on your smartphone to create a Risk Assessment, Site Review, Toolbox Meeting, Vehicle Checklist, or Accident Report. The App has easy to use tools that guide you through each of these activities, making them quick to complete anywhere, and at any time… all from the palm of your hand. HazardCo members enjoy the convenience of being able to stay on top of health and safety from anywhere on-site, or from the cafe over morning tea, or even on the couch at home after dinner.
What’s more, everyone on-site downloads the App for free; that’s your direct team, subbies, and any site visitors. At the site scan-in board, they use the App to scan the QR code on their way in and out of site every day, giving the main builder a record of who’s been on-site and when, without having to be there themself. Even better, the first time anyone scans into the site, they complete their site induction right there on their own smartphone – with no need for meetings or paperwork.
Complementing the App is the HazardCo Hub – the online tool where you set up new projects. Being online, you can login anywhere, anytime, and also use the Hub to view and download any completed health and safety activity reports, including site inductions, and to track who’s been on-site and when.
Good health and safety is about more than just compliance; staying on top of your health and safety makes your site safer – simple as that. HazardCo’s smart tools save you time and paperwork, giving you the confidence you’re doing all you can to help keep your crew safe.
If you have any questions reach out to the HazardCo team today!
There have been recent changes to the hazardous substances regulations that come into effect April 30th 2021 that you need to be aware of. You will have a 4 year transition period, but 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 have been changes to the Hazard Classifications, and you will no longer use the following classes for your hazardous substances:
The new Hazard Classes for hazardous substances will be classed as a physical hazard, a health hazard, or an environmental hazard, detailed below:
You will need to ensure that your SDS, packaging, and labelling of substances have 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.
If you have any questions about these changes, you can give our Advisory Team a call on 0800 555 339.
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
These documents guarantee that the builder’s temporary meets New Zealand’s electrical safety standards. The builder’s temporary must be assessed by a qualified electrical worker at least every six months.
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 ‘Overlapping Duties: Working with other businesses’
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.
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.
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:
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.
If you have any questions get in touch with the HazardCo team today!
The year’s end has snuck up on us once again, bringing the added pressure of work deadlines, projects, social events, and family commitments. It’s time to check in our your wellbeing!
With these additional pressures occupying our headspace over the festive season, injury rates and incidents tend to increase. The team at HazardCo have a few tips on ways to manage your stress, energy levels, and overall wellbeing at this busy time.
Deadlines – short deadlines for projects and pressure to reach end-of-year-goals can add additional stress to the holidays and cause health and wellness to fall by the wayside. As always, communicate early on, and involve everyone in the project timeline and any dependencies… that way time pressures become a shared problem. And if you do have a looming deadline you don’t think you can make, now’s the time to start talking about it and looking at options with your wider team and client.
Temporary Workers – great for covering annual leave and busy periods, these staff members are often at a higher risk as they don’t have the experience or knowledge of processes specific to your workplace. If you engage temporary workers to cover annual leave or busy periods, it is important that they are inducted correctly, and receive full and correct safety instructions and supervision for any work with machinery or unfamiliar tasks they may be doing.
Social Events – whether it’s purely a social catch-up, or an end of year work party, remember to drink responsibly; monitor and manage alcohol provided to staff, and never drink and drive. This way everyone can have a safe and enjoyable time celebrating their achievements throughout the year.
So, whether you are actively working, or in the midst of the holiday season, try to stay focused on the job at hand, and pay close attention to the task you are performing.
The HazardCo team wishes you all the best for a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to catching up in 2022!
Excavation is among the most hazardous construction operations. Therefore, to protect your workers from injuries, measures should be implemented to minimise the risks around excavations.
Planning the work
Planning involves identifying the hazards, assessing the risks, and deciding suitable controls in consultation with everyone involved in the work. Remember to consider the unique characteristics of the site.
Controlling excavation risks
Common risks to be considered when planning excavation works are;
Securing the work area
Ensure excavations are suitably fenced at all times with barriers strong enough not to collapse if someone leans or falls against them. Where possible cover excavations if not working in or near them, or backfill immediately once work is completed.
Falling from height
Working at height involves if a person could fall from one level to another. Click here for the controls to minimise the risk of falling.
Ground Collapse
Ground collapse is one of the main risks of excavation work. You can prevent collapse by shoring, benching, or battering back. Do not assume the ground will stand unsupported.
Safe access and egress
Provide safe access and egress for all workers at all times. Ensure you keep the floor of the excavation clear of anything that would obstruct workers’ safely exiting in an emergency
Overhead and underground services
Dial before you dig, and make yourself aware of the unseen services below and above that could be a risk to your works.
Ground & surface water
Workers should not work in excavations where water has collected or is collecting unless the necessary controls are in place.
Notifiable works
Do you need to notify WorkSafe NZ of your excavation work? You can notify WorkSafe by completing a Particular hazardous work notification form. Remember this must be done 24 hours before works commence.
For more information on work that needs to be notified to WorkSafe, including notifiable events and incidents, click here.
Keeping you and your workmates safe at work is a priority, so make sure you are aware of your requirements for managing the risks of excavation.
The HazardCo App site review resource has a list of risk controls that should be in place to minimise the risk associated with excavation work.
If you need a hand getting started or would like more information, get in touch with the friendly HazardCo team today – we’re always happy to help.
Slips and trips often get a few good laughs, so these incidents are often overlooked in the workplace. However, slips, trips, and falls are one of the most common causes of injuries for workers.
Ground clutter, uneven or slippery floor surfaces, poor lighting, or lack of signage all contribute to thousands of workers getting injured every year. It is important to define these terms in order to better understand how they can be prevented.
Fall – Can generally be caused by a person’s sudden loss of balance.
Slip – A slip can be caused by factors such as wet or frozen surfaces
Trip – Commonly happens due to overlooked objects lying on the ground
The role of the PCBU
PCBUs must oversee the health and safety risks associated with slips and trips, and are responsible for minimising if not eliminating these risks in a reasonably practicable manner. Such as:
– Identifying hazards
– Making a proactive assessment of risks associated with these hazards
– Managing risk control measures
– Reviewing the implementation of the risk control measures
How to reduce slips and trips in the workplace
Here are some methods of addressing and managing slips and trips in the workplace.
Eliminate the risk
Take control of your work area from the design stage and carefully plan changes in floor levels.
Substitution
Design floors with a more slip-resistant surface.
Isolation
Barricade access to high-risk areas and make sure the necessary signs and measures are taken when cleaning or other activities are taking place.
Engineering Controls
Make your floors more slip-resistant by applying appropriate treatments and illuminate your work area. Plan your drainage system well to suit your business’ requirements.
Administrative controls
Increase training and supervision measures. See to it that there is a checklist of the routine cleaning procedures.
Personal protective equipment
Safeguard your staff with slip-resistant footwear.
Keeping your workplace safe for you and your employees is a priority. The HazardCo App site review resource has a list of site housekeeping and material storage risk controls that should be put in place to mitigate the risk of slips and trips.
If you would like more information, get in touch with our friendly HazardCo team – we’re always happy to help!
A construction site can be a risky place. We are aware of the common hazards that we see daily but what about the dangers you can’t see? We’re talking about respirable crystalline silica dust (RCS).
There are serious health and safety concerns emerging from the exposure of silica dust for those who work in the construction industry, so we want our tradies to be aware of this threat so they can protect themselves and their workmates on-site.
RCS is found in products such as stone, brick, rock, concrete, asphalt, and mortar – common materials used in the engineering of kitchen, bathroom, and laundry stone benchtops. These materials are cut, ground, sanded, and polished, and through these methods, fine dust is released, known as RCS.
This dust is extremely harmful when inhaled, and high exposure can result in significant health risks, including Accelerated Silicosis – an aggressive respiratory disease that scars the lungs and causes progressive respiratory failure. This disease is dangerous amongst the construction industry, as workers could be exposed to silica dust inhalation on-site, without being aware of it.
It is important to understand the risks associated with exposure to high levels of RCS so that employers can make necessary efforts to protect their workers. WorkSafe New Zealand has outlined several measures that employers can take to minimise exposure, and ultimately mitigate risk:
Using alternative materials that contain a lower silica content.
Isolate work areas that are likely to produce RCS exposure with physical barriers or computer numerical control (CNC) machines to contain the dust
Using dust collecting tools with an H-class HEPA filter.
Wet cutting to prevent dust from becoming airborne.
Regular cleaning practices such as low-pressure water cleaning, wet-wiping, and using an H-class HEPA-filtered vacuum are essential.
Using appropriate respirators at all times that are fit-tested to each worker and cleaned after use. Wearing disposable coveralls or other protective clothing is crucial to ensure that the worker does not take these contaminants home with them.
Employers should ensure that workers who may have been exposed to silica dust inhalation are health monitored. These workers should be tested in order to identify any changes in their health status due to exposure to hazardous contaminants.
The majority of confirmed silicosis cases report having no symptoms. Therefore it is crucial that your workers are educated on both the health and safety risks of RCS, and the measures that can be taken to prevent it.
No one knows the hazards of the job better than your workers. Let’s make sure they are aware of this safety concern, so we can get them home safely at the end of each day.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our friendly team at HazardCo today.
