Guide for Workers

These guidance notes will support you to think about how you can lead in health and safety as a worker.

Introduction

These guidance notes will support you to think about how you can lead in health and safety. It is not a complete set of criteria for health and safety leadership.

These notes are part of a series of four guidance notes for:

The notes provide three themes that you could focus on to develop leadership capability, within each theme are focus areas for action.

The themes and focus areas are relevant for organisations of all sizes. A senior manager is a first or second tier executive/manager. The guide applies to all senior managers in the construction and associated industries, including those in organisations that are contractors, sub-contractors, and hired labour businesses.

Download a Guide for Workers

Download a Questionnaire for Workers

Plan

Think about safety before you start work. Ask for the resources you need to work safely. Think outside the box. suggesting improved ways to work that will improve health and safety.

Get involved in planning

Help to plan your (and your team's) work:

Get involved with site briefings and toolbox meetings, offering to lead.
Think "out of the box" about how you could make things safer, advise your site supervisor, your health and safety representative, others you work with or raise your ideas at toolbox meetings.
Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean it's the best way. If you can think of a better way to do something let people know. Your idea might be the difference between someone getting hurt and everyone working safely together.

Ask for the resources you need

If you require equipment, plant or training to undertake a task safety, request it.
Don't assume that you have to make do.
Explain the reasons why it will help the site to be safer to your supervisor.

Identify and clarify responsibilities

If you are working with other workers or contractors on site, check that everyone knows and understands what they are responsible for, prior to starting work.
Don't assume that everyone has the same understanding as you.
If you are unsure of your responsibilities and expectations, ask your site supervisor.

Your idea might be the difference between someone getting hurt. and everyone working safely together

Motivate

Be an example to others. Take responsibility for yourself and those you work with; this includes fellow workers. contractors and management. Use your voice and let people know when they good ideas or do something that improves health and safety and also when they could do something safer.

Be seen on site

Be a role model.
Hold yourself and others to a high standard.
Ensure you always attend toolbox meetings.
People notice what you do, particularly new staff or those who haven't done a job or used equipment/machinery before. Show them that you and your business take health and safety seriously by never cutting corners, even though it may take longer for something to be done.
Be a leader by showing that the safe way is the only way.

Call it out

If someone tells you that you are working in a way that could be unsafe. thank them.

It takes courage to raise a health and safety issues, and they do so to ensure you, and your team members, remain unhurt.
Think about how you would want someone to react if you raised a safety issue with them.
We all have bad days, get distracted, and feel tired or go onto autopilot. If you see someone working in a way that could lead to them or someone else to get hurt, let them know. They might not be aware what they are doing.

Communicate

Ensure you talk to everyone (workers, managers and contractors) you are working with, so they understand the risks in the work you are understanding.

This means discussing the workloads, schedules and time pressures that could make things unsafe for you and for others.
Find out how risks are being managed.
Involve people who might have different points of view or ideas and who might challenge the way things are done.
Be open to new ideas.
Lead discussions and listen to the information you are told, ask questions and learn.
If you are going to undertake a task that requires concentration, tell a workmate what you are going to do and get them to 'spot' you. If you start to get distracted, they will be an extra pair of eyes and could stop you causing injury to yourself or others.

Be a champion

Offer to be a health and safety representative on site and undertake the required training.
Take up opportunities for involvement in the development of health and safety plans, safe work method statements, task analysis and other health and safety related processes.
Volunteer for opportunities to develop your understanding of safer work practices.
Attend industry forums, workshops, and events.

Build understanding

Develop your own understanding, knowledge and skills, sharing your experience and abilities with those you are working with so that they can develop. Provide your managers, contractors, and workers with information that will improve working safely together.

Know your limits

Be honest about what you know and what you don't know; about what you can and can't do.
Be courageous! Don't try to do something unless you are confident you can do it safely. It takes courage to do this.
Ask for help and talk it through with someone who has the knowledge and skill to do the job so that you can learn from them.
Identify if you need training or support in any areas and request it, you could include this in your performance development plan.
If you don't have the right training to be able to know where the risks are. don't do the task until you have been given the correct training.

Support others

Work as a team to identify the skills needed to do the job safely.
Recognise that others in your team may have different skills and knowledge to you.
By working together, you will all learn from each other and can share your experiences and knowledge with them by offering to show others how to undertake tasks safely or show them how to carry out a safety analysis before they start work.
Listen to others when they provide you with instructions or procedures to carry out a job safely.
Talk with people you work with to identify the risks on your worksite.
Think about both the physical risks and the health risks. You might not be able to see the health risks, but you should know what they are and how to manage them.
Get involved with developing the site plan, task analysis or risk assessments, so that you can make sure you can share your understanding of risks with others on your worksite.

Report

If you have an accident, or if you see someone else have an accident, report it.
The business will be able to improve and do things better if your report when there has been an incident or accident.
Incidents are opportunity to learn and improve health and safety on your worksite.

Reflect

Think about your own view of how health and safety is managed on the worksite.
Think about whether the risks on your worksite are being managed, all of the time.
Check if the controls that should be in place are in place. If they aren't, call it out. Advise your site supervisor, so that they can in tum share this information with management to remedy the situation.