Fit Out’ Campaign conducted in October 2005

20 February 2006

As part of the ‘Fit Out’ Campaign conducted in October 2005, HSE inspectors found that many contractors were accepting poor practice that resulted in unacceptable risk to those working on, or visiting sites.

Each year there are several thousand construction workers that are injured following a trip or slip whilst they’re at work on a building site.  As many as one thousand of these accidents involve fracturing bones or dislocating joints.

Simple accidents such as these can lead to construction workers being left unable to work for long periods at a time and can also affect performance permanently.

If everyone on site took the time to adhere to a few common sense guidelines, the majority of these accidents could be avoided. It’s in everyone’s interests to ensure that sites are kept in good order.  With input from everyone – from the top to the bottom, the job can be done efficiently and without the risk of workers being seriously injured.

Here are some guidelines that will assist you to maintain a safe site to work on:

• Put barriers around, or covers over, all holes and excavations into which people could fall.
• Keep storage areas tidy.
• To minimise the amount of materials on site, endeavour to plan your deliveries.
• Ensure footpaths are safe to use: if rutted ensure they’re levelled, if muddy ensure they’re stoned and if icy ensure they’re gritted
• Make sure that all areas used by pedestrians (corridors, stairways, footpaths or other) are kept clear and free from obstructions at all times.
• Tie up any loose cables, particularly along corridors.
• Ensure that steps into site cabins are properly constructed.
• Ensure that work areas are kept as tidy as possible while the work’s going on.
• Ensure there is a system in place to manage the waste created on the site.
• And most importantly, make sure that everyone knows what they have to do.

Everyone has a role to play in keeping the site in good order.

Throughout February HSE Construction Division Inspectors will be carrying out targeted inspections looking at good order issues on construction sites and how effectively these are being managed.

If you would like further guidance on maintaining a safe construction site, call us now on 08456 122 144.

(Source HSE website Jan 06)