Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
All workers and visitors to Melbourne construction sites must dress in approved safety wear and helmets. Workers must also wear approved personal protective clothing and carry personal protective equipment (PPE).
PCBU - Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking
How far can the blame be spread?
Construction sites can be dangerous workplaces and the essential safety workwear and PPE to keep all our workers and visitors safe should be used by all who attend your construction site. It is morally imperative that all workers, visitors and passers-by are kept safe and sound and it is a corporate responsibility that sufficient equipment is available. Precautions must be in place to ensure that not only are safe working practices carefully followed but that behaviour matches the aspiration. The Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) must provide sufficient resources to ensure that all contractors and operatives are fully funded to employ safe working methods. This is a catchall that covers the client as well as the builder.
If it all goes horribly wrong how far can the blame be spread
The blame can be spread far and wide and it is best avoided by taking care on how things are set up in the first place.
The builder and client should work together to keep your work-site safe.
The Magnificent Seven Checklist
- Hard hats are required to be worn by all people entering the worksite to protect them from something dropping onto their head or their heads colliding with low lying projecting object (such as a scaffold pole). AS/NZS 1801.
- Safety footwear protects your feet from being crushed by materials or people. AS/NZS 2210.1 and AS/NZS 2210.2
- Safety gloves or mittens to protect your skin from hazardous materials or from rough surfaces or splinters. AS/NZS 2161.
- Hearing protection shields ears and your senses from loud noise preventing hearing loss. AS 1270.
- Safety glasses or eye protectors to protect your eyes from dust and dirt. AS1336 and 1337
- Industrial safety belts or harnesses to provide a lifeline for people working at height. AS/NZS 1891. (all parts)
- Reflective clothing (Hi Viz) to make you more visible to others. Clothing should provide body protection and guard the wearer from scuffs and bruises. Bare skin on legs and arms should be protected from sun damage which leads to skin irritation and cancers.
The magnificent seven are a great place to start in setting your goals for a safe workplace. Fitzpatrick’s use this checklist to ensure that all people are kept safe whether they are a visitor or on site worker. But this list is only the start, we have systems in place to keep our worksite safe.
Give Mark a call and demand a safe working environment for your building works.
