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 can be found in this WorkSafe resource.
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:
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:
Other information may be included in the asbestos management plan, such as:
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 procedure should include:
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, WorkSafe NZ should be notified as soon as possible.
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 Task Analysis (TA) considering the above.
As a HazardCo member you have access to a library of TA forms located in your Hub, which include 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 0800 555 339, option 4.
Demolition is not just the knocking down of buildings or structures, it also includes smaller maintenance and renovation work such as the dismantling of parts of structures (e.g. one part of a steel-framed building) or the removal of walls.
When planning your works you need to first identify the hazards and manage the risks:
When demolition is involved there is always the potential for the collapse of the structures. Ensure structural / supporting elements are identified before demolition (you may need to seek structural engineers’ help identifying these, and in what order to take them down).
Make sure you have the following documents completed and available for your demolition work:
You can find these in your Templates Library in your Hub. You can login to your Hub here.
These should be tailored to the task at hand and regularly updated as changes occur.
If you have any questions reach out to the HazardCo team
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:
Likewise, any H&S reports created on-site via the App are updated to the Hub straight away. This includes:
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.
With the HazardCo App, it’s as easy as picking up a smartphone to stay on top of on-site health and safety activity.
There are two key parts to the HazardCo system, the Hub and the App:
As the business owner, a lot of responsibility for H&S sits with you. However, with HazardCo’s digital system,you can add key team members to your Hub 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 Risk Assessment, Site Review, Toolbox Meeting, Vehicle Checklist, or 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 straight forward 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.
Are you aware of when you need to notify WorkSafe NZ of your particular hazardous excavation works?
Conducting any of the following excavation works will mean you’ll need to complete this WorkSafe NZ online notification form:
It is expected that at least 24 hours notice is given prior to commencing such excavation works.
Notifying WorkSafe of your intended works allows them to gather statistics on the number of high-risk works going on around the country, and plan their use of resources to promote the prevention of harm.
Make sure you complete a Task Analysis for your high-risk works, you can access Task Analysis Templates from the Templates tab in your Hub. This will help you to identify the hazards, and the controls needed to minimise the risk to not only those involved in the works but all those working on the site.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your particular hazardous works please feel free to call our Advisory team on 0800 555 339, extension 4.
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 when carrying out excavations that underground utilities are always identified first.
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 can find our Task Analysis on excavation work in your Hub. Excavations work is classed as high risk, so it is important that if you are completing excavations, that you are familiar with the guidance in the WorkSafe Good Practice Guidelines for Excavations Safety.
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
Excavations up to 1.5m deep, you should have recent experience in carrying out or supervising excavation work.
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)
3-6m 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.
The HazardCo App site review resource has a list of risk controls that should be in place to minimise the risk associated with excavation work.
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.
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 that you set the right tone from the get-go, 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 will be less time chasing everyone for paperwork, and site inductions 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.
If you have any questions reach out to the HazardCo team today!
Here at HazardCo, we always want to be better, and the HazardCo team has been working hard to deliver the latest update which focuses on the scanning in and out feature on our HazardCo App.
Taking onboard feedback from our valued members, our new App update makes it even easier to get everyone using the free HazardCo App to scan in and out of site, each and every day.
What’s changed?
Your team and wider crew won’t have to enter their details every time – just the once, saving them more time so they can get onto the tools.
Scanning into site if it’s your first time on-site
The first time anyone scans into any HazardCo site, they will need to enter their details and complete their site induction. If they already have a HazardCo account, their details will be pre-populated.
Every time after that
For any site that they have visited before, they won’t be asked if it’s their first site visit as the App will remember them and their logged details.
The App will now ask you to contact your site supervisor if your responses aren’t satisfactory e.g. if you are showing COVID symptoms.
The updates to the App are here now, so if you don’t allow automatic App updates on your smartphone, you’ll need to update the App from the App Store or Google Play. Easy as that.
Lastly, tell everyone! Your next Toolbox Meeting is a great time to get your team and subbies to update the HazardCo App on their smartphone and remind them to scan in and out of site, every time.
Simply scanning into site gives people a useful daily reminder to beware of health and safety – and we all know the more we think about it, the more we look out for and prevent risks. Getting everyone doing their bit shares the load when it comes to health and safety on-site. It’s a win-win!
If you have any questions get in touch with the HazardCo team today!
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.
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.
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 Healthy Homes NZ website for more details on asbestos testing here
What to do if you or your workers uncover or damage materials that may contain asbestos:
You can view the WorkSafe 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.
Our advisory experts are here to support you, so if you have any asbestos-related questions while you are conducting your renovations – get in touch or give us a call on 0800 555 339.
