Construction Safety is vitally important as it saves lives, shows that you are a responsible employer which promotes your reputation and saves time and money on your project.
There are many regulations to assist workplaces to remain safe and hiring from a labour hire agency will take some of the load of OH&S off your shoulders.
Safety in construction may seem obvious but accidents and fatalities still occur. From 2006 on, the construction sector has had the 5th highest rate of claims compared to all other industries and remains consistently in the top few industries with the most amount of serious claims. The Australian Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012–2022 has especially singled out the construction sector due to the high number and rate of work-related deaths and injuries.
In 2017, 30 workers died on construction sites on buildings under construction or demolition due to incidents involving ladders, mobile ramps, stairways and scaffolding; falls; vehicle collisions; electrocution; being hit by objects; and being trapped by equipment.
Clearly, health and safety in construction is still a relevant topic!
The ‘why’ of construction safety
There are three main reasons why it is crucial to make construction safety paramount.
Being responsible
It is morally irresponsible to risk the lives of others just to get the job done on time and within budget. Construction companies need to prioritise construction site safety over the project.
Under current OH&S regulations, the one, usually the owner-builder or principal contractor, is responsible for the duty of care. Construction and project managers, engineers or even architects will oversee the construction site safety, and an appointed safety management team will ensure that health and safety in construction is implemented.
Fast Labour Hire shares the responsibility of OH&S with the host employer by inspecting the site, liaising with the host employer’s OH&S representative on the site and consulting our labour hire employees to see that all is safe before any work takes place.
Being practical
From the host employer’s point of view, dealing with reparations after a fatality or accident is a waste of time, cost and effort. It is better to apply safety in construction as one of the core values to avoid OH&S incidents in the first place by appointing a safety management team.
If an unpreventable accident occurs, and if the unfortunate employee is from Fast Labour Hire, we will work with the host employer to resolve claims.
Upholding the law
The government has instituted laws, rules, and regulations for companies to follow in order to provide a safe working environment for workers. It is a legal responsibility for construction companies to ensure construction safety for everyone at all costs.
The ‘what’ of construction safety
Laws that construction projects need to comply with can vary, depending on what job is being done. But there are a few common regulations that are mandatory.
White cards
To be able to work on any construction work in Australia, the employee must have obtained a white card. This must be renewed if the worker has not done construction work in the past two years. It shows that the worker has completed the ‘general construction induction training’ course.
Fast Labour Hire workers all come with White Cards.
Appropriate licences and tickets
Certain tasks require workers to have a special licence or ticket. For instance, employees who do demolition work involving certain high-risk work (HRW) activities such as rigging and scaffolding, need to hold an appropriate HRW licence.
Other categories of specialised workers include forklift drivers, hoist operators and electricals spotters, to name a few.
Fast Labour has one of Melbourne’s most extensive databases of skilled labourers. All have current licences and tickets.
Managing risks
A safe work method statement (SWMS) needs to be developed before any work begins, in accordance with OHS Regulations r322(c), r327. The safety management team can manage construction site safety and minimise the risks in the workplace by:
- identifying hazards
- assessing risks
- controlling risks
- reviewing control measures to ensure they are working as planned.
When you need a labour hire agency that values construction safety as a high priority, contact Fast Labour Hire.
