Instruct staff on home maintenance safety
On the move
Trades staff such as electricians, appliance repairers, gas engineers, etc. go from house to house to carry out their role. They work unsupervised but as the employer you’re still legally responsible for their health and safety. Furthermore, you don’t want your staff catching or spreading coronavirus. Our safety briefing - tradespersons visiting homes will help you to deliver a short training session, giving you confidence that you’ve said what needs to be said, and that you have a record of it.
Tip. We’ve tried to anticipate the hazards which commonly affect trades staff when visiting domestic properties. Make sure that before you put this to use, you read through and make any amendments required. Once the session has been delivered, ask staff to complete a training record with their signature, date and details of who delivered the briefing.
What’s covered?
Our document begins with an introductory statement explaining that the risks of working in homes are two-way - affecting both the worker and those who live there. This is followed by a simple list of hazards which might be experienced. We’ve begun with the risk of exposure to infectious diseases and moved on to hazards which have been an issue for far longer such as working at height, electricity and lone working.
What’s the problem?
The fourth part of the briefing has a heading “Reasons for concern” and here we’ve built on the list of hazards, explaining how harm might occur. For example, there could be children or vulnerable adults present who might interfere about with tools if left available to them, or there could be pests in the property putting the worker at risk of bites or disease.
How to act
The main part of our briefing lists the various subject areas with simple “dos” and “don’ts” . We’ve started this section with “Coronavirus precautions” and included standard government guidance such as not attending the homes of those who are self-isolating, hand washing and social distancing. We’ve included reminders to staff to protect occupants in case they’ve inadvertently brought the virus with them, by wiping down surfaces with sanitising spray once the work is complete.
Normal hazards
Looking beyond coronavirus, we’ve also included information on: (1)“lighting”;(2)“work at height”;(3)“fibrous materials”;(4)“services”;(5)“lone working”;(6)“first aid” ; and (7)“general rules for safe working” .
Tip. Read through your existing policy, risk assessments and any safety procedures and ensure that you’ve covered what you need within the briefing. Cross-refer to other training and information staff have been given, such as asbestos awareness, lone working procedures and so on.
For a free copy of the safety briefing - tradespersons visiting homes, visit http://tipsandadvice-healthandsafety.co.uk/download (HS 18.17.05).
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