Silica dust on residential sites: controls for cutting concrete, brick, tile and pavers
The engineered stone ban removed the worst material, not the hazard. Concrete, bricks, tiles, pavers and mortar all contain crystalline silica, and cutting, chasing and grinding them on a house site can produce dangerous dust. Here is what the rules require and the controls that work.
7 min read
Topic
WHS
Articles and news about WHS for Australian builders.
Silica dust on residential sites: controls for cutting concrete, brick, tile and pavers
The engineered stone ban removed the worst material, not the hazard. Concrete, bricks, tiles, pavers and mortar all contain crystalline silica, and cutting, chasing and grinding them on a house site can produce dangerous dust. Here is what the rules require and the controls that work.
7 min read
SWMS explained: the 18 high-risk construction work categories and what a good SWMS contains
A safe work method statement is required before high-risk construction work starts. Most builders have plenty of SWMS; far fewer have ones that describe the actual job. Here is what the law requires and how to make a SWMS useful.
7 min read
Heat on site: getting a heat plan ready before summer
Spring is the time to plan for summer heat. Heat illness can kill, and roofs, roof spaces and unshaded slabs are among the hottest workplaces in the country. A practical heat plan for residential sites.
7 min read
Wearables and safety tech on building sites: what actually reduces injuries
From proximity tags that warn when a worker is near an excavator to digital inductions and heat stress monitors, safety technology is arriving on building sites. What works, what it costs, and why it never replaces the basic controls.
7 min read
Electrical safety on building sites: temporary power, RCDs, leads, and buried and overhead services
Electric shock remains a real risk on building sites, from damaged leads and missing RCDs to excavators hitting buried cables and booms touching overhead lines. The controls are well known and cheap. Here they are.
7 min read
AR and VR on building sites: design walkthroughs, set-out checks and safety training
Augmented reality lays the design over the real site on a tablet or headset; virtual reality puts a client inside a house before it is built. Where each genuinely helps builders, and where it is still more demo than tool.
7 min read
Plant and people: traffic management on residential building sites
Concrete trucks reversing down driveways, excavators on tight blocks, crane trucks near power lines, kids walking past the site on the way to school. Traffic management on a house site is a real hazard, not a formality.
7 min read
Asbestos in renovations: what builders must do before the first cut
Most Australian homes built before the 1990s contain asbestos somewhere. On a renovation, the builder is the person most likely to disturb it. Where to look, who can remove it, and the steps that keep workers and families safe.
8 min read
Psychosocial hazards on building sites: the WHS duty many builders are still missing
Long hours, impossible deadlines, bullying of apprentices, aggressive clients and isolation are WHS hazards, not personality problems. The law now says so explicitly. What builders are required to do, and what actually helps.
8 min read
Falls from height: why they still kill builders, and the controls that actually work on houses
Most falls on residential sites happen from roofs, frames, ladders and unprotected voids, often at modest heights. What the law requires, and the controls that prevent them on real jobs.
9 min read
Engineered stone ban: what builders, cabinet makers and renovators must do now
Engineered stone can no longer be supplied, installed or processed in Australia, but the silica rules reach much further. What the ban means for kitchens, renovations and every cut into concrete, brick and tile.
9 min read
Drones for builders in Australia: CASA rules, real uses and how to start
Progress photos, roof and gutter checks, site surveys and client updates: what a drone actually does on a residential job, and the CASA rules that apply the moment you fly for work.
9 min read