Health & Safety

What should a construction site induction cover? The site’s layout and safe routes, traffic and pedestrian segregation, current hazards, permits, PPE and site rules, welfare, first aid and emergency arrangements, reporting and who is in charge. CDM 2015 regulation 13(4)(a) requires the principal contractor to ensure a suitable site induction is provided, and regulation 15(9)(a) requires contractors to provide one where the principal contractor has not. A CSCS card is not an induction. Includes a checklist, a who-needs-what table for workers, subcontractors, visitors and delivery drivers, duration, checking understanding, records and re-induction.

Who can erect scaffolding in the UK? No law names a CISRS card. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (Schedule 3 Part 2 para 12) require scaffolding to be assembled, dismantled or significantly altered only under the supervision of a competent person, by people with appropriate and specific training, with calculations unless a standard configuration such as TG20:21 is used and an assembly, use and dismantling plan. In practice CISRS is how competence is shown. Covers CISRS card grades, duty holders, TG20 and bespoke design, system vs tube and fitting, SG4:22, builders and homeowners, PASMA towers, section 169 Highways Act licences, alterations, handover certificates, trainees and a pre-erection checklist.

Some older textured coatings (Artex) contain a few per cent chrysotile asbestos and many do not; only sampling and UKAS-accredited lab analysis can tell. When asbestos stopped being added (1984 voluntary, 1988 prohibition, 1999 total ban); how risky it is; testing; painting, skimming, drilling and removal under HSE’s Asbestos essentials task sheets A26-A29; non-licensed vs notifiable non-licensed work; RPE; waste; landlords; a before-you-start checklist.

No UK law says ‘test your emergency lighting every month’. The Fire Safety Order requires emergency lighting where escape routes need it and requires it to be maintained in efficient working order; the monthly flick test and annual full-duration test come from the emergency lighting standards and government guidance. This guide covers the legal position across the UK, the types of emergency lighting, a step-by-step monthly test and checklist, the annual test and battery recharge, self-testing systems, the logbook, common faults and small premises.

Is wearing a hard hat a legal requirement in the UK? There is no longer a dedicated hard hat law: the Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 were revoked on 6 April 2013 by SI 2013/448, and head protection now falls under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, the employer’s risk assessment and site rules. HSE says that on almost all construction sites a risk of head injury remains, so suitable head protection must be provided free of charge (section 9 HSWA, extended to limb (b) workers from 6 April 2022) and worn (regulation 10). Covers when hard hats are required, who pays, refusing to wear one, hard hat vs bump cap, BS EN 397, EN 12492 and EN 14052, chin straps at height, a pre-use check, replacement, colours and visitors.

Why all welding fume, including mild steel fume, is now treated as a cause of lung cancer (IARC Group 1 in 2017; HSE safety alert, February 2019); other health effects including occupational asthma, metal fume fever and manganese; what HSE expects under COSHH; the controls in order, from cold joining to LEV and RPE; choosing extraction and RPE for welders; welding outdoors; stainless, mild and galvanised steel; EH40 limits for manganese and chromium (VI); health surveillance; arc eye and welding screens; and hot work fire risk.

No UK law says ‘test your fire alarm every week’. The Fire Safety Order requires fire alarms to be maintained in efficient working order; the weekly call point test and six-monthly servicing come from BS 5839-1 and government guidance. This guide covers the legal position in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, a step-by-step weekly test and checklist, a testing and servicing schedule, who can test, the logbook, detectors, false alarms, small premises and HMOs.

The first step in using a fire extinguisher is deciding whether to use one at all: only on a small fire, once the alarm is raised, with a clear escape route behind you and the right type in your hands. Otherwise get out and call 999. This guide covers the go/no-go check, the PASS technique step by step, distance and aim, how technique changes for water, foam, CO2, powder and wet chemical, what to do if the fire does not go out, what to do afterwards, and what the Fire Safety Order actually requires.

A plain-English guide to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/51): why CDM applies to every construction project in Great Britain, including small and domestic jobs, and why only notification depends on size; what counts as construction work under regulation 2; the seven duty holders (client, domestic client, designer, principal designer, principal contractor, contractor, worker) with a summary table; how domestic client duties pass to the contractor or principal contractor under regulation 7; the HSE F10 notification thresholds in regulation 6 (more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers simultaneously, or more than 500 person days); why every project needs a construction phase plan and when a health and safety file is needed; competence under regulations 8 and 15; the removal of the CDM co-ordinator; Part 4 site requirements and Schedule 2 welfare; Northern Ireland’s CDM Regulations 2016; and the separate Building Regulations Part 2A dutyholder roles in England.

Why lead is dangerous at work and who is most at risk (old lead paint, hot cutting, roofing, demolition, recycling, batteries and soldering); what the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 require; why lead sits outside COSHH; what counts as significant exposure; the 0.15 mg/m3 air limit; blood-lead action and suspension levels in force on 10 October 2026, including the lower levels for women of reproductive capacity and young persons; HSE’s 2026 consultation on lowering them; symptoms of lead poisoning; safe ways to remove old lead paint; hygiene and taking lead home; and why lead poisoning is no longer a RIDDOR reportable disease.