Staying Safe At Work: How To Ensure Compliance on a Construction Site

The Role of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS)

If you haven’t heard of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), now’s the time to get in-the-know. This scheme is crucial in the UK for ensuring that your workers are adequately trained and qualified for the tasks they’re performing. Ensuring compliance with CCS requires you to:

• Ensure that all of your workers have the necessary skills and training to complete their tasks safely.
• Provide workers with regular updates and refresher courses to ensure their skills are current; and
• Ensure verification of your team’s credentials before giving them tasks.

So - what kind of elements should be covered in this kind of training? While this list isn’t exhaustive, it will certainly include elements like keeping your site tidy and free from hazardous debris, as well as organising and storing tools safely. Beyond that, it will outline the importance of preparing an emergency response plan, setting up safeguards and ensuring that the right tools are used for each task.

The benefits of ensuring you’re in line with CCS requirements are significant and extend beyond legal compliance. When workers are properly trained under the CCS, you can expect better craftsmanship across your construction site. For more tips on this topic, just reach out to a Bryson expert who will be happy to help.

Using PPE to Achieve Compliance

Yes, training your staff is extremely important. However, that is only the first measure you should take to comply with key compliance standards. Virtually all pieces of health & safety legislation will require you to use PPE properly and according to what task is being worked on. Let’s take a look at some key PPE requirements:

• Head Protection: Hard hats are mandatory on construction sites to protect against head injuries from falling objects or collisions with fixed objects.
• Eye and Face Protection: Safety glasses, goggles, or face shields should be worn when there is a risk of flying debris, chemical splashes, or harmful light radiation.
• Hearing Protection: In noisy environments, earplugs or earmuffs must be provided to protect against hearing loss.
• Respiratory Protection: Respirators or masks are necessary in environments with harmful dust, fumes, or gases.
• Hand and Foot Protection: Gloves and steel-toed boots are essential for protecting hands and feet from injuries caused by sharp objects, heavy materials, or hazardous substances.

The list of PPE you may require doesn’t end there. To achieve true compliance, you need to embed your use of PPE within a culture of safety on your worksite. This means conducting regular risk assessments to determine the need and ensure that it is suitable for the tasks at hand, as well as providing training on the correct use, maintenance, and disposal of PPE. Aside from that, you should also regularly inspect PPE for wear and tear, and replace it as needed to maintain its effectiveness.

Using Safety Signage

Last, but not least, let’s take a look at using safety signage to ensure legal compliance on your worksite. All health and safety regulations address the importance of using safety signage, and should be seen as an absolute essential as opposed to a bonus on your worksite. 

It’s not only about knowing what kind of signage to use. It’s equally about how and where you use them. We advise you to place signs in prominent locations where they are easily visible and legible. We also recommend using standardised symbols and colours to ensure clarity and quick recognition, as well as regularly inspect signage for damage or fading and replace it as needed.

Below, we’ve put together a short (but not exhaustive) list of the kind of signage your worksite needs to ensure compliance:

• Warning Signs: These signs alert workers to potential hazards, such as "Danger: High Voltage" or "Caution: Slippery Surface."
• Mandatory Signs: These signs indicate actions that must be taken, such as "Wear Hard Hats" or "Eye Protection Must Be Worn."
• Prohibition Signs: These signs indicate actions that are not allowed, such as "No Entry" or "No Smoking."
• Emergency Information Signs: These signs provide information on emergency procedures, such as "First Aid Kit" or "Emergency Exit."

As we reach a conclusion, we’d like to remind our customers of one very important point: ensuring compliance with legal standards does not always ensure total safety for those on your worksite. Safeguarding lives and removing workers from risk is an ongoing process. Bryson is here to help.