Risk Assessment on Construction Sites

A practical approach to risk assessment is at the beginning of your work day asking yourself the following questions:

• What is the task you’ll be performing?
• What are the hazards associated with that task?
• Can you eliminate the hazards?
• If not, then can you protect yourself from the hazard?

If you can’t eliminate or protect yourself from the hazard, then we recommend you STOP. Moving forward may put you at grave risk. Consult with your supervisor and/or safety professional to determine the safest means to conduct the task.

For example, if you have excess levels of dust in the air, you may need to wear a respirator. Or if you are working at height and you can’t utilize a guardrail system, you may need to wear a harness and lanyard system.

We also recommend that when performing morning stretch-n-flex and/or Morning POD Meeting take a look at your crew. Make sure everyone is fit for duty.

You never know what happens outside of work hours. A worker may be dealing with family issues, stress or other outside influences that could affect the ability to perform the task safely.