Who is Responsible for on-site Safety?
The Builder is the expert, who is in control of the works, so he must be responsible for on-site safety! That seems reasonable but ….blame can spread very widely. Matters are not always as clear cut as you may think so how can you ensure that responsibility is allocated properly? Perhaps look at the issue from the other end… As an employer you want a safe working site and how can you achieve this?
This is best achieved by everyone understanding their roles and responsibilities.
- The most important thing to do is understand your individual and corporate responsibilities?
- Identify the roles you or your organisation have in the process and what must you do to discharge ‘your’ duties?
- Understand other people’s roles and what they should action to keep everyone safe.
The good news is that the authorities have considered this issue and laid down guidelines for you to follow and actions to implement. Safe Work Australia, Construction Work – Code of Practice May 2018.
Should you Protect Your Organisation First?
Yes. It is the only group you have direct control over.
Why should you selfishly protect yourself or your organisation first and not the group of consultants and contractors?
You are protecting the group.
You can only protect ‘yourself’ by understanding the roles and responsibilities of each team member. This understanding leads you to implement what you need to do and informs you of what others need to do. You can then confirm (as a meeting point requirement) if other team members have implemented their safety systems. These systems can be checked and put in place which will protect the group and flow down to a safer workplace. This provides an information trail and evidence of what safety procedures were put in place and who did what.
This protects all the people who are on site or passing by as members of the general public.
Fitzpatrick’s are part of the team that wants to get the job complete, safely to time and budget. Everyone should perform fully to meet their roles and responsibilities and this spirit, creates a professional working unit that delivers!
Give Mark a call to discuss your project.
