General Contractor Guide for Health and Safety

Do it Yourself Tips for Health and Safety

Everybody has a duty of care to protect or alert others from known harm. This can be as simple as:

Telling a contractor that you know that electricity is still on in a flooded home, or that you keep hazardous chemicals in a flooded basement or shed.

A contractor informing you not enter a room where floorboards have been removed.

This legal duty basically puts a responsibility on everybody to use common sense and portect each other from harm by prevention.

Imagine somebody being injured or their health affected because somebody didn't bother to say --I think you should know, there may be asbestos in that wall.

The law generally is there to protect all, although its complex set of regulations are generally formed to protect the public and employees.

Various legislation includes:

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Management of Health & Safety at Work 1994

Control of Asbestos at Work 1999

Lead Regulation

Construction Design management 1992

and many more.....

You should try and visualise danger or consequence before it happens, if you did harm somebody or were affected yourself you would soon discover that you could be sued against or claim compensation.

Professional contractors must by law undertake Risk Assessment. This is where hazards are identified, for example:-

Asbestos

Electricity

Slip, trip, fall

Falling objects

Sewage etc, etc

Once the hazard has been identified this is evaluated against risk, which means the likelihood or potential to cause harm and is best explained as

HAZARD X RISK = HARM

COSHH

Is Control of Substances Hazardous to Health and it could have a substancial affect on you. The legislation expects thats before any chemicals are used they must be understood, their components identified, maximum exposure levels understood and contractors must use controls, replace the chemical with a safer product where practical or possible. Almost all chemicals can have a potential to cause harm.