Avoiding Gaps in Safety: What Every Business Needs to Know

When multiple businesses are working on the same site, it can sometimes be unclear who is responsible for what. However, the guiding principle is straightforward: each business must do what it can, within reason, to keep everyone on-site safe—whether it’s their own team, other workers, or anyone else present. The key to achieving this is to work together and communicate effectively.

Safety is a shared responsibility

Health and safety on-site isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about protecting everyone who steps foot on the worksite. With several businesses involved, overlapping safety activities are inevitable. That’s why the three C’s—consult, cooperate, and coordinate—are vital.

By following the three C’s, businesses can ensure that everyone is aware of any overlapping duties, roles are clearly defined, and work proceeds smoothly without compromising safety.

The importance of communication

Construction sites are busy places with contractors and subcontractors constantly coming and going. Without clear communication, it’s easy for safety risks to slip through the cracks.

Start by ensuring every team that arrives on-site gets a proper induction. If responsibilities overlap, discuss this early by consulting, cooperating, and coordinating with other parties. This proactive approach sets the tone for a safer, more organized worksite.

Addressing overlaps in responsibility

Why is it so important to communicate when there are overlapping responsibilities? There are two main reasons:

1. Defining roles and responsibilities: Clear communication allows all parties to define their roles and responsibilities and to establish a plan for managing health and safety.
2. Identifying risks: Working together can help identify risks that one party may overlook. By sharing insights, businesses can broaden their awareness of potential hazards, ultimately making the site safer.

Gaps in safety can occur when:

• Businesses lack an understanding of each other’s roles.
• One business assumes that another is responsible for a particular risk.
• The business tasked with managing a risk is not the best equipped to do so.
• There is a lack of awareness about the work other businesses are performing.

Determining the extent of your duty

When duties overlap on-site, how do you determine the extent of your responsibility? The key is to assess how much influence or control you have over the risk in question.

Consider the following factors:

• Control over the work activity: Are you the business managing or overseeing the work being done?
• Control over the site: Are you the main contractor or a subcontractor with significant control over the site?
• Control over your team: You will naturally have more control over your own team or contractors than over others on-site.

Ultimately, the more influence and control you have over the site or workers, the greater your responsibility for managing the associated risks.

Collaborative safety in construction

Working alongside other businesses is a natural part of the construction process. Everyone on-site has a duty to keep the lines of communication open and to look out for one another. By fostering a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility, we can create safer worksites for everyone involved.