Managing solvents, adhesives and fuels on house sites
The dangerous chemicals on a house site are rarely the drums. They are the part-used tins, the fuel cans and the adhesive tubes that get left where the last trade put them down.
12 min read
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Safety and WHS
Site safety that works on real jobs: the hazards that hurt builders, the duties behind them, and the controls and paperwork that hold up.
Managing solvents, adhesives and fuels on house sites
The dangerous chemicals on a house site are rarely the drums. They are the part-used tins, the fuel cans and the adhesive tubes that get left where the last trade put them down.
12 min read
Confined space hazards on house sites: what residential builders need to control
Most confined space training is written for industry, but the hazard turns up on ordinary house sites: a sewer pit, a rainwater tank, a service shaft. The duties do not change because the job is a dwelling.
13 min read
Trench and excavation safety for house footings and service runs
A house-scale trench kills in the same way a civil excavation does. The difference is that on a residential site the controls are usually improvised, because the trench looks small and the job is only a few days.
11 min read
Temporary power boards and lead safety on residential sites
Temporary power boards and extension leads are where most residential electrical incidents start, because the supply is moved, patched and shared every day. This article covers what to check before the first tool is plugged in, and what to do when something fails.
11 min read
Scaffold handover and inspection records on house sites
On a house site the scaffold is usually up before anyone thinks about the paperwork. This is about the handover chain between scaffolder and builder, and the records that keep the principal contractor out of trouble.
11 min read
Roof and edge protection plans for two-storey homes: layout decisions at set-up
On a two-storey house, the edge protection plan is settled long before anyone climbs the trusses. The decisions that matter are perimeter coverage, how the levels connect, and what happens at the openings nobody wants to pay to guard.
11 min read
Working alone on a residential site: the tasks that should never be done solo
On small jobs the lone worker is usually the person who owns the job, which is why nobody plans for it. Here is how to decide which tasks need a second person, and how to make a check-in system that actually works.
12 min read
How to write a SWMS that stands up to an inspector
An inspector does not read your SWMS to learn how to build. They read it to test whether the people on site knew the sequence, the controls and who owned them. Most failures are documentation failures, not trade failures.
10 min read