If you are a Site Manager or Company Director you are responsible for security on the sites you manage.
Your Company should ensure reasonable steps are taken to prevent unauthorised access.
Attention should be paid to:
(a) Preventing children or vulnerable people entering the construction site. Consider schools or care homes located near the site.
(b) Rights of way through your site.
(c) Other work areas next to your site, e.g. a shop refurbishment in a shopping centre.
(d) Occupied houses next to your site, especially on new-build housing estates.
Construction company’s should consider the following controls:
(a) Perimeter fencing and warning notices should be posted. Gaps between gates and the ground and between fixed and moveable fencing should be minimised so that small children cannot climb through or under the fence.
(b) Fencing should be regularly checked to ensure the fence is kept in good order and that there are no materials, skips, plant, etc. stored or parked where they may assist a trespasser to climb into the site.
(c) In occupied buildings or public spaces with access to the scaffold at several levels fencing should be used to close off all access opportunities.
(d) Site personnel and site visitors should sign in the site register when they arrive on site and to sign out when they leave site.
(e) Construction work should not start until the site has been made secure.
(f) Warning signage should be fixed to the scaffolding.
(g) If employees suspects that a person they see on site is not authorised to be there, they should report their suspicions to the Site Manager. The Site Manager should immediately investigate and if the person is unauthorised, request that they leave site immediately.
(h) All plant should be switched off at the end of the working day.
(i) Ladders should be locked to the scaffold, until they are next required. A check at the end of each shift should take place to ensure all doors are locked gates locked and any alarms set. Where it is not practicable to remove bottom ladder a ladder guard may be used.
As a Construction business there are many things that you do for which you can see an immediate benefit.
There are other things that you should do for which the benefits are not so immediately apparent. But that does not mean the benefits are not there, or even that they are insignificant – sometimes in fact, they are very big indeed.
A Construction Risk Register – which simply put, is a Register of the types of work a business carries out, the tools and machinery used in carrying out that work – and what likelihood and severity of risk each task carries with it.
People have even been heard to ask: So what is the point? My answer would be that the point and the returns are not only many-fold, but done just once, it thereafter only needs a bit of maintenance to be kept up to date.
Starting with the smaller benefits and working upwards:
1. Peace of mind: Complying with the HSE requirements is a legal requirement and compiling a Construction Risk Register is part of that requirement for Companies employing over 5 employees. Until it is carried out and documented, any business is essentially playing the percentages of something not going wrong. Once a Construction Risk Register is compiled, all those involved in running and operating the business can look at systems to reduce risk within their business.
2. Easier employee training: Once you have your Construction Risk Register, all employees (new and existing) can be trained in the same way. Nothing is missed or taken for granted and risks are greatly reduced.
3. Focus on the main issues: Because a Construction Risk Register Risk not only considers each aspect of the job but also considers the likelihood and severity of each risk associated with each task, everything can be treated in accordance with the assessed degree of potential risk.
4. Impact on business cost: Not having an up to date Construction Risk Register means that a business runs the risk of being fined (possibly heavily so), if an accident does happen. The business can also be sued by the victim (or others) and that is not to even mention the possibility of legal criminal negligence procedures against the owners and managers. Not having a Construction Risk Register thereby puts the business itself at risk. One only has to look at all the “have you had an injury?” adverts to guess the size of the “accident” business. To save you looking it up, the answer, according to the HSE is around £14.9 billion p.a.
5. Fewer personal Injuries (and worse): This is the big one! Since 1974 the number of all types of accidents at work have reduced significantly. Fatal injuries have dropped by an astonishing 85%. Non-fatal injuries by over 60%. The list of improvements is extensive.
For your own and your employees safely and to protect your business and acquire some peace of mind – don’t put it off: Make sure you consider all the types of operations your business carries out and the tools and equipment that is used, and compile a Construction Risk Register Risk.
Oh! And the bit of maintenance that I mentioned? It is simple. Once your Construction Risk Register is in place just update it whenever you take on a new business task or buy any new equipment.
Owen Construction Consultancy is happy to help if you have any questions.
First Aid Courses for employees Owen Construction Consultancy recently attended 1 day first aid training course. The course provided attendees with the life skills to take proactive action in the event of a person requiring first aid and learning skills that can literally mean the saving of a life. The course provided by Samantha Jones was conducted at a sensible pace and made the learning of such an important subject enjoyable.
1 day courses start from £69.00, 3 day courses start at £175.00 Certification of attendance is provided after completion of the course. Samantha Jones is a HCPC Registered Paramedic and can be contacted at .