Builders beware… The “sneaky” workers on your construction sites, and how they’ll land you in WHS hot water.
When any new work site legislation comes into effect, just like the new Work Health & Safety legislation, there’s always a period of time before builders and contractors come to fully understand all the intricate little ways in which the legislation impacts them.
As such, you can find yourself very vulnerable… wide open to fines and penalties, without realizing you were doing anything wrong.
One little way in which builders, contractors and workers are finding themselves at risk of non-compliance, is this…
Every day, there could be tens or even hundreds of individuals coming and going on site. But it’s the “sneaky” workers on your building site (many of whom you may never have thought of as ‘site workers’ as such) that could be putting you at risk.
These “sneaky” workers are often only on site for a short period of time… In fact, they are often providing some form of delivery service.
Delivery to a designated delivery point on a work site means the delivery person may not need a White Card or a site induction. However, there are a lot of ‘ifs and buts’ with this.
For example, if the delivery driver is using a powered mobile plant, then they will most likely require a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), White Card, and High Risk Work License.
As the builder or contractor, it is your responsibility to collect and store this information.
If a delivery person is also performing an installation task, then technically they are working on site, and must have/provide all the correct safety documents (SWMS, White Card, licenses, etc) as well as a completed site induction.
This is where many builders will get caught out for WHS non-compliance – where workers attend a site for a short time, and are not suitably compliant with WHS regulations. So builders beware!
What to do to avoid the risk? Each “short term worker” scenario (such as delivery drivers) needs a Risk Assessment, to determine the WHS compliance requirements of that worker, with respect to your business.