General Control of Site Work

Buckinghamshire Council as Owners / Occupiers of Premises must:

• Ensure that access and egress to the premises and any plant, equipment or substances within it are safe and without risks to health;
• ensure that contractors working on the premises are given adequate information about any specific risks e.g. unsafe floor surfaces, roof lights, or the presence of clients / children who could interfere with work;
• ensure that any contractors carrying out work on the fabric of the building consult and sign the Asbestos Log. See Asbestos Policy, BCC Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Section 4.2;
• provide information to those persons who might be affected by:
• nearby property or processes,
• other contractors on site or nearby, and
• restrictions on working times.

Landlords also have a duty to occupying tenants or contractors working in or sharing premises.

The contractor or supervising officer must notify the manager of the premises in advance of:

• the commencement date of any work;
• the nature of that work; and
• the arrangements that must be made to ensure the safety of all persons affected.

All contractors working on Council premises must report their presence on site to the person responsible for that building and discuss the safety precautions, which must be put into place whilst the work is carried out.  Failure to do so must be reported to the contract supervising officer.

A permit to work or limitation of access system should, if appropriate, be adopted to help control the contractors on site. See Part 3, Forms and Checklists, Appendices 9-13 for a definition and examples of permit to work and limitation of access permits.

Clear guidance, standards and codes of practice exist for most work activities and tasks undertaken by contractors for example:

• the safe use of equipment;
• electricity;
• use of hazardous substances;
• working at height;
• protection from falling objects etc;
• hot working; and
• confined spaces working etc.

Information on acceptable standards can be obtained from the employing Service area or the Health and Safety Team. Advice is also available from The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by telephone or via their website www.hse.gov.uk

8.1     Unsafe Work Activities

Where a contractor is working in an unsafe way the following action should be taken by supervising officers / heads of establishments:

Imminent Risk:

• Consult directly with the contractor on site, ask immediately for the unsafe practice to stop and inform the contract supervising officer.
• If the risk continues remove all persons within Council control and inform the contract supervising officer and the Health and Safety Team.
• Immediately contact the contract supervising officer.

Further Action:

In all cases any verbal complaint to the contractor's supervising officer must be:

• Recorded and followed up in writing to the contract supervising officer and the Health and Safety Team so that appropriate action can be taken.

Where the employing Service area cannot be identified or contacted then the Health and Safety Team should be informed.

Only those authorised by the employing Service area may agree to or request changes in job specification.

Advice on Safety Matters in Relation to Contractors

If any doubt arises regarding the working activities of a contractor, then:

• Immediately contact the contract supervising officer.
• If you are unable to contact them or feel that you have received unsatisfactory advice, then contact the Health & Safety Team.

Action to be taken by the Supervising Officer etc.

On receipt of a report of unsafe work activities by a contractor, the supervising officer (or other nominated officer) will visit that site as soon as possible in order to take appropriate action. A record of any such reports, complaints and visits must be kept in order to facilitate the monitoring and review process.

Where breaches of safe working practice are serious and the contractor fails to respond to requests to cease dangerous activities, consideration will be given to terminating the contract and replacing the contractor. The arrangements for doing this will be written into the contract documentation.