Timber iQ Dec 2017 - Jan 2018 // Issue:35 | Page 54
CONTRIBUTORS
Implementing proper
health and safety on site
It is important that individuals working on a construction site are
supplied with and make use of personal protection equipment
(otherwise known as PPE).
By Werner Slabbert, director of Rustic Homes
Correct PPE is imperative on a construction site.
P
PE items include safety paraphernalia like hard hats,
safety harnesses, safety gloves, safety boots,
overalls, safety goggles and earplugs, among others.
Site or project managers must ensure that the sites they
oversee are as hazard-free as possible at all times.
HEALTH AND SAFETY BASICS
The use of tools and equipment on a construction site also
fall under regulations governing health and safety.
Regulations state that each person on a construction
site must go through the necessary training to competently
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use their equipment safely. Every individual on site who
uses any tools or equipment must have attended and
successfully completed a Construction Education and
Training Authority (CETA)-accredited course on the use of a
tool or piece of equipment.
The training offered is broad and will usually cover
several items of equipment in one course. The certificates
awarded after successful completion of such a training
course must be kept in a health and safety file, which
should remain on site. The same principle applies to any
aspect of the project with which a worker is involved, for