We’re going to run you through Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE), which is a type of personal protective equipment (PPE) which protects people from inhaling substances that are hazardous to their health. These hazardous substances include airborne contaminants such as asbestos, hazardous chemicals and dust, fumes (such as welding fumes), and infectious substances, but you should keep in mind that RPE should also be worn to protect the wearer from low levels of oxygen such as working in confined spaces. 

But, before you even get started with RPE, make sure you have other practical control measures in place such as local exhaust ventilation to minimise or eliminate contaminants in the air. Also, keep an eye on your team’s health and workplace conditions to ensure that they aren’t injured or made sick by their work.

We’ve gone ahead and put together a quick guide of factors to consider when providing your workers with RPE. 

Types of RPE
Respirators that use filters remove contaminants from the air which the wearer will be breathing. Disposable respirators (often called dust masks) are good for short-term or one-off use and protect the wearer from harmful particles such as dust, fumes, fibres, and biological hazards such as bacteria or viruses. 

Powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) consist of headgear and fan assembly that take contaminated air, filters and removes a sufficient portion of these hazards, and then delivers the clean air to the user. These are also known as positive pressure masks, blower units, or blowers. 

Supplied air respirators provide a supply of clean air to the wearer from a source such as an air compressor or cylinder. It’s important to note that the air supply needs to be checked regularly to make sure that it is safe to use. 

Using RPE
It’s important for your workers to visually check their RPE for signs of damage before each use so that they can let you know if there are any issues, including whether it needs to be cleaned or decontaminated. 

Make sure your team stays safe by keeping their RPE on while working in the hazardous area. Removing it for even a short period of time could be a risk to their health.

If your workers are using RPE that requires a tight fit, make sure that they are checking it properly before entering the hazardous area. There are two fit checks which they need to do:

Keep in mind that if your worker’s safety glasses fog up while they are wearing a half-face respirator, this is a sign that there is a leak at the top of the respirator. 

Life Shavers: shaving your beard could save your life
When your workers are wearing respiratory protective equipment at work, they should be clean shaven to ensure it is forming a seal and protecting them from breathing in hazardous materials. Even a small amount of stubble can prevent RPE from sealing correctly which means your workers will still be inhaling harmful materials which may cause health concerns. A clean shave goes hand in hand with the correct RPE for the job.

It’s your responsibility to monitor your workers’ health. Make sure that you are completing regular Site Reviews on the HazardCo App, as this will help you to identify potential hazards and put effective plans in place.

Whenever there are multiple businesses on-site at once it can be a bit confusing who is responsible for what. 

The simple rule of thumb is each business must do what they can, within reason, to keep everyone safe. This relates to their own team, other workers or anyone that steps on-site. The best way to do this, work together and communicate. 

It’s everyone’s responsibility
On-site it is everyone’s responsibility to manage health and safety. Businesses must work together to keep all workers on-site safe. Chances are there will be overlapping health and safety activities and obligations when multiple companies are working together. 

In this case, it’s critical everyone follows the 3C’s – consult, cooperate and coordinate. 

By following the 3C’s businesses are ensuring that everyone is aware of any overlapping duties, so roles can be clearly defined and work isn’t impacted. 

The importance of communication
Communication is key. Worksites are busy places. With contractors and subcontractors coming and going, there are a lot of moving parts. To maintain a safe working environment for all, communication must be prioritised. 

If a new team comes onto site, make sure to run them through a full induction. 

If it arises there may be an overlap in responsibilities, seek them out straight away and follow the 3 C’s. 

Covering the gaps
When there is an overlap, why is this communication important? Two reasons. 

Firstly, it allows both parties to clearly define roles and responsibilities and establish an action plan for how health and safety will be managed. 

Secondly, they may recognise risks that you may not and vice versa. Working together can increase the scope of the hazards recognised – ultimately making site safer! 

Gaps can occur when businesses: 

• Have a lack of understanding about each others roles 
• One assumes the other is responsible for a risk 
• The business managing the risk is not the best equipped to 
• Not knowing the works other businesses are undertaking

Understanding the extent of your duty
When there are overlapping duties on-site, how do you determine the extent of your duty? You will need to consider the extent to which you can influence or control the risk in question. 

This can be determined by considering the following: 

• Control over the work activity – if you are the business managing or running the work being undertaken
• Control over the site – if you are the main contractor or subcontractor
• Control over your team – a business will have more control over its own team or contractors than others on-site 

Ultimately, the more influence and control you have over the site or workers, the more control you have over the risk – the more responsibility you have. 

Working along other businesses is a natural part of residential construction. Everyone on-site has a duty to open up the lines of communication and look out for each other.

Do you know what you need to do before you demolish or refurbish a property, building or structure? Find out what the asbestos regulations mean for you before doing any work.

Identifying Asbestos
Planning is key to identifying all potential hazards and the risks involved when doing any sort of demolition or refurbishment work. Asbestos can be found in buildings constructed or renovated before the year 2000 and as such it is more than likely to be present at your next job. 

You can find out more about where asbestos may be in Australian homes here.

Asbestos or asbestos containing material (ACM) must be identified and removed by a competent person before the demolition or refurbishment is started (unless demolition is required to gain access to the asbestos). Things to consider when planning your work:

• • Are there inaccessible areas that are likely to be disturbed during the demolition or refurbishment?
  • What is the type and condition of the asbestos or ACM?
  • What is the quantity of asbestos or ACM?
  • What is the method of demolition or refurbishment, and how will it affect the asbestos or ACM?
  • If asbestos is likely to be disturbed during demolition or refurbishment, can it be removed safely before work starts; if so, how can this be done

• Have I confirmed with my state safety regulator that they need to be informed of the proposed ACM removal works?

If the competent person is unsure whether asbestos is present it must be assumed that it is and all steps taken to mitigate the asbestos risks. If asbestos is identified you must notify all parties involved such as the homeowner, landlord, occupant and/or the contractor in control of the site.

Asbestos Management Plan
Any works where asbestos has been identified will require an asbestos management plan. This outlines where any asbestos or ACM has been identified. Your plan must contain the following:

• the identification of asbestos and ACM (eg where any signs and labels are located)
• decisions, and reasons for the decisions, about how the asbestos risks are managed (eg safe work procedures and control measures)
• procedures for recording incidents or emergencies involving asbestos in the workplace
• information about the workers carrying out work involving asbestos, including
  • information and training that has been or will be provided
  • their roles and responsibilities
  • any health monitoring that has been or will be conducted.

Other information may be included in the asbestos management plan, such as:

• a timetable for managing asbestos exposure risks (eg priorities and dates for removal, reviews, circumstances and activities that could affect the timing of action)
• procedures, including a timetable for reviewing and (if necessary) revising the asbestos management plan and asbestos documentation
• waste disposal
• air monitoring procedures, if required.

Emergency Planning
An emergency plan is required for demolition work where plant and structures contain asbestos. When developing the emergency procedure, you should consider:

• the work being done in the workplace or home
• hazards in the workplace or home
• the workplace or home’s size and location (eg remote location, multi-level site with shared services)
• the number of workers and other people who might be at the work site (eg workers on shifts, maintenance and cleaning personnel, customers, people working alone).

The procedure should include:

• how to respond effectively to an emergency
• evacuation procedures
• notifying emergency services
• getting help, including medical treatment
• effective communication between the person the PCBU authorises to co-ordinate the emergency response and the people at the work site
• provisions for regularly testing the procedure
• what information, training and instruction will be given to relevant workers about how to put the emergency procedure into effect.

The emergency procedure must be carried out if there is an emergency. 

If the plant or structure is not structurally sound or is going to collapse, make the area as safe as practical and notify your state safety regulator immediately.  

Disposal of Asbestos
Before demolition starts, think of how you are going to dispose of the waste. Having a good waste containment and disposal process is just as important as having safe processes for working with asbestos. 

Asbestos is considered special waste and special waste needs to be handled, buried, pre-treated or tested before it can be disposed of at the landfill. You need to make an application if you want to dispose of special waste.

Applications are often called special waste disposal declarations. Contact your local landfill to enquire about what they require before taking any material to them. 

Not all landfills or transfer stations are authorised disposal sites, check with your local council to find out where your local authorised site is. 

Double-bag all waste. All waste, including single-use masks and coveralls, cloths and plastic sheets should be double-bagged in heavy duty plastic bags. Twist the top of bags tightly, fold the necks over and seal with adhesive tape. Clearly mark the outer bag as asbestos waste. 

Check with your receiving landfill for further details especially around handling details. There are often restrictions around how the material is offloaded.

If using skip bins or wheelie bins on site, be aware that many providers of these bins do not allow asbestos to be disposed of in them. Check your provider first for approval.

Document your disposal process in your Asbestos management plan and Asbestos Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) considering the above.

As a HazardCo member you have access to a library of SWMS located in your Hub, which includes demolition and the removal of non-friable asbestos for anything less than 10m2. Use of these resources will help you to identify the hazards and risks in your workplace and the recommended controls.

Our team of Health and Safety Advisors are here to help you with anything you are unsure of, give us a call on 1800 954 702, option 4.

With HazardCo, you don’t need to be on-site to know what’s happening. At the click of a button, the HazardCo Hub will show you who’s on-site, and it’s all available to you at any time, from anywhere. 

It all works using a QR code:

• When you create a new Project in the Hub, it automatically creates a site specific QR code.
• Your site hazard board arrives with the QR code printed on it.
• Every time someone enters or leaves your site, they scan the QR code using the free HazardCo App then the App sends the info to your Hub.
• The QR code links activity to your project, and the details of who has scanned on/off site is stored in your Hub straight away, so you can see on-site health and safety activity as it happens.

Likewise, any H&S reports created on-site via the App are updated to the Hub straight away. This includes:

• Scanning on/off site, so you know who’s there at any time.
• Site inductions as soon as they’re completed.
• H&S reports completed by members of your team via the App e.g. Toolbox Meetings, Site Reviews, Risk Assessments, SWMS, and Incident Reports.
• Any completed H&S activity shared by your subbies… yes, if they’re HazardCo members they can easily share their reports straight from the App into your project on your Hub.

The QR code is the link between all on-site H&S activity and your project in the Hub. When you get everyone on-site using HazardCo’s digital system, you’ll always have a real time view of the activity happening on your site, even when you can’t be there yourself.

What is excavation work? 

Moving or removing earth or other materials with tools or equipment is generally classed as excavation work. Excavations are used in a number of different situations, such as during the construction of buildings, building retaining walls, and installing underground utilities. 

It is important that you use the Dial before you Dig service before carrying out excavations to identify any underground utilities or services. 

Some common types of excavations used in residential construction are cut and fill excavating, pile holes, potholing, and trench excavation: 

Cut & Fill

Cut and fill excavation, also known as stripping excavation, is the method used to clear and prepare large areas. This method involves removing all of the material such as rock, sand, and topsoil that would be unstable to work on.

Pile Holes
Pile holes are usually excavated using methods including backhoe digger, drilling or hydro excavation. Pile holes should be covered and barricaded as soon as possible and only those involved in the works allowed nearby. Water buildup should be monitored and pumped out. 

Potholing
Potholing is simply a small excavation or hole to inspect and find underground services. It’s important that potholes are covered or barricaded when they are not being used to prevent anyone from being hurt.

Trenching
Trenching is an excavation method used to prepare or replace underground utilities, build retaining walls, or investigate what is beneath the surface.

Trenches are long narrow excavations, and are deeper than they are wide. Conducting trench excavation is subject to many different factors including its size, the likelihood of underground utilities, and materials. This means that the most effective method of excavation changes from project to project, and should always be treated with caution.

Due to the scale of some of these operations, it is common that they usually require large excavation vehicles and good controls around traffic management should be in place.

Managing the risk
No matter how deep the excavation is, if there is a risk of collapse, you need to carry out a Risk Assessment and put controls in place to prevent this. You will also need to complete an excavation SWMS in your Hub. Excavation work is classed as high risk, so it is important that if you are completing excavations, that you are familiar with the guidance for Excavations Safety.

The SafeWork Australia Excavations Code can be found here 

The Worksafe Victoria Excavations Code can be found here

Covering or bridging.
When covering holes or bridging shallow trenches on building sites, ensure that the material used to cover or bridge is made from a suitable material. Heavy-duty plywood designed for weight-bearing, steel plates, or other products specifically designed for that purpose. 

For holes, ensure they are fully covered and the covering cannot easily move. Avoid slip and trip hazards by ensuring walkways around these hazards are managed. 

Water hazards after rain can create a drowning risk, especially for children. It can also increase the risk of sidewall collapse. 

Types of barriers
A secure site is very important with any open excavation. You need to consider how long the excavations will stay exposed, and if an excavation is to be left unattended overnight, then consider plating, fully enclosing with a safety fence, or backfilling to minimise the risks. Barricades, cones, plastic mesh netting not supported by a solid frame, and hurdles are not sufficient to adequately protect from excavation risks. We recommend safety fences for internal fencing for long-term or unattended worksites where excavation hazards are present

Understand your competency level
Any type of excavation work requires some level of competency to manage it safely. As a guide 

For excavations up to 1.5m deep, you should have recent experience in carrying out or supervising excavation work of this type

1.5m – 3m deep you should have recent experience in carrying out or supervising excavation work at these depths, technical or trade qualification (eg a civil engineer or drain layer)

3m and more you should have a Technical or trade qualification (eg a civil engineer or drain layer). Experienced temporary works designer able to judge whether it is safe. 

Make sure you are aware of your requirements for managing the risks of excavation.

If you need a hand getting started or would like more information, get in touch with the friendly HazardCo team today – we’re always happy to help.

With the HazardCo App, it’s as easy as picking up a smartphone to stay on top of on-site health and safety activity. And that’s the case for absolutely anyone on-site, from the foreman or site supervisor, to team members, contractors and their crew, as well as any site visitors.

There are two key parts to the HazardCo system, the Hub and the App: 

• The Hub is your record of everything and everyone in one place – your online tool for managing and viewing H&S across all of your projects. 

• The App puts H&S in the palm of your hand – and everyone else’s hands on-site too. App Users on your account use the App to complete H&S activity for your site, following the straight forward guides and forms to ensure they’ve ticked all the boxes when it comes to identifying and managing H&S risks. And everyone else on-site including contractors and visitors, scans on and off site and completes site inductions with the HazardCo App – simply scanning the QR code on the HazardCo Hazard Board.

As the business owner, a lot of responsibility for H&S sits with you. However, with HazardCo’s digital system, it’s easy to add key team members to your account as App users, meaning any one of you can use the App to complete on-site H&S activity and those day-to-day tasks can be delegated or shared with others. All completed activity lands back in the Hub under your Project Overview, which you can review from anywhere and at any time.

The App features all of the key H&S activities you should be doing on-site, including SWMS, Risk Assessment, Site Review, Toolbox Meeting, Vehicle Checklist, or to Report an Incident. What’s more, if your subbies are also HazardCo members, they can use the App to scan onto your site and share any of their completed H&S activity directly to your Hub using the QuickShare feature on the App.

Learn more about all of the features on the HazardCo App and see just how straightforward it makes H&S for you and the team… this video overviews the HazardCo App, showing you all you need to know. Nothing beats the feeling of confidence you’ll get from being a HazardCo member.

One of the most challenging parts of managing any site is the volume of subbies, contractors, and visitors on-site at any one time. Adding to this, each individual will bring their own thinking and commitment to health and safety, so it’s important as the site leader you set the right tone from the outset, harnessing smart and easy to use tools on the HazardCo App.

Because when your subbies all use HazardCo – everyone benefits.

Saving time on-site can help everyone get the job done quicker. With all your subbies using the same system, everything follows the same format, making it much quicker and easier to find the information you need, when you need it. There is also less time chasing everyone for paperwork, and site inductions done can be completed by the subbie or their team members, on their own smartphones so it doesn’t take you away from the job at hand.

HazardCo makes this super easy with the QuickShare feature which lets subbies add their health and safety activity to your project on the HazardCo Hub. All at the touch of a button. Your subbies simply need their own HazardCo membership to enable this.

When your subbies are members of HazardCo too, it means no double handling – once a report or activity is created on the App it can be shared with you straight away. It’s easier for your subbies as they have clear and replicable forms on the App which they can share directly to your Hub… it all adds up to less time on paperwork and less visits to the site office. With the App’s time saving features all available in the palm of their hand, there are no excuses for not doing it, and your subbies don’t have to try and remember to ‘do it later’. 

Perhaps most importantly of all, by sharing your information and activity quickly and easily, you’ll both be on the same page when it comes to health and safety for your site. This means you are doing the right thing by yourself and your wider crew.

Whether or not you believe in the well-known phrase, “the customer is always right”, there is no doubt that the customer or client plays an important role in the success of your job.

One way to give them confidence and make those day to day conversations easier is to demonstrate great health and safety management whenever they’re on-site. Using HazardCo’s smart App and online health and safety system, it’s easy to stay on top of site health and safety, and you always know who is on-site in real-time.

Most clients will be inexperienced when it comes to building and site management, and some will want different levels of involvement and visitation to site. By encouraging site visits, you can ensure there are no surprises for your client, and as the project progresses you can manage expectations or discuss changes as necessary. In most cases, this is a significant financial investment for the client – meaning stress and worry can be high, so take the stress out of health and safety using HazardCo’s smart online tools. 

Clients should be accompanied whilst on-site. Getting your client to use the HazardCo App to scan in and out of site for each visit, will help you keep health and safety top of mind for them too, because as much as they own the property, you own the construction site. It’s an important reminder that everyone is responsible for health and safety, including the client. This includes being responsible for ensuring the safety of contractors and team at work, including ensuring all projects have a Site Specific Safety Plan and Hazard Board.

Many clients will be unaware that they also have health and safety responsibilities, so share this with them, and show them how HazardCo’s clever system helps you cover all of the bases. This will give them peace of mind that you are on top of site health and safety, giving greater confidence in a successful job.  

It’s important that these expectations are established at the start of any job. Meeting with your client to discuss timing for site visits, and frequency on-site. The same rules should apply to them as any other visitor, including receiving a site induction, scanning in and out of site every time, dressing appropriately, and checking the hazard board.

By bringing your client on your health and safety journey with HazardCo, you will be in for a five star review, giving them peace of mind about the job. 

Homes built or renovated  between 1950 and 2000 are likely to contain some asbestos. Therefore, every tradesperson is likely to come into contact with asbestos at work sooner or later. That’s why it’s important for you to understand how to manage the risk from working with or near asbestos, and how to protect yourself and others from exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. 

Surveying and Testing

Areas that we recommend getting tested are cladding, roofing, vinyl, fibre cement sheeting, internal ceilings, and plumbing lagging.

There are 3 main types of testing or surveying; Management, Refurbishment, and Demolition, and each of these is designed for a specific purpose.

• Asbestos Management Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property. This survey is typically used prior to minor maintenance work or to help manage any potential risks associated with asbestos.

• Asbestos Refurbishment Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property before major work commences.

• Asbestos Demolition Survey: Are designed to locate asbestos in a property before it is demolished. This survey is also designed to give clearance to the area once demolition has been completed. 

It is important that when you are conducting work that requires planning permission, it is likely that you will require a demolition or refurbishment survey to search for asbestos present. As the contractor, you have a legal requirement to ensure asbestos is identified and removed before any work begins that may disturb the asbestos in your client’s home. 

You can refer to the SafeWork Australia website  for more details on asbestos here

Discovering Asbestos

What to do if you or your workers uncover or damage materials that may contain asbestos:

• Stop work immediately. 
• Keep people away. 
• Minimise the risk of spreading contamination to other areas.
• Get advice from an expert such as an asbestos assessor or a suitably qualified health and safety consultant. You can call our advisory team on 0800 555 339 and we will guide you through your next steps. 

Removing asbestos 

• All friable asbestos removal work must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist. This includes work on asbestos lagging, asbestos insulation, and damaged asbestos board. 
• If more than 10 m2 of non-friable asbestos has to be removed during a project, it must be removed by a licensed asbestos removalist. 
• You can refer here for a register of Licensed Asbestos removalists .

You can view the SafeWork Australia  website to find out how to apply the 10 m2 rule to an object that is not flat, such as asbestos piping and other frequently asked questions relating to Asbestos Licensing here