Open workspaces: Putting a hard hat on public safety
At the mention of the term ‘work’, people often think of offices or cubicles. However, many industries, such as construction and engineering, take their work outside and aren’t stationed in one location.
Occupational health and safety are important in any setup where the public is present in and around activities. It can be more challenging to manage public safety when working in open spaces.
The law and working in public-access areas
The Health and Safety at Work Act (HASWA) 1974 stipulates that employers, which includes self-employed people, must perform their work in such a way that it doesn’t endanger themselves, their employees or members of the public. This can be a visitor to a site, a consultant, a temporary worker or a passerby.
You must apply the mentioned law in tandem with other applicable health and safety legislation. Some of these include the:
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
- Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
- Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
- Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998.
In broad terms, the legislation places a duty on all companies to carefully control the risks in and around open workspaces. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something as involved as road construction, but includes activities such as window washing in commercial centres. So, for adequate public safety in open workspaces, you may need:
- Traffic and car park signs to control foot and vehicle traffic.
- Safety signs showing people where they can and cannot go. These also limit actions and issue warnings.
- Barriers to cordon off risky areas and protect your workers from activities around them.
Potential hazards in open workspaces
Any open workspace features multiple risks that can have catastrophic consequences. Just think about a construction site where workers manoeuvre heavy-duty vehicles, assemble scaffolding or operate hazardous equipment.
If these risks aren’t identified and controlled, companies can end up in hot legal waters and may have to fork out thousands and much more for claims and settlements. Recorded cases contain a myriad of scenarios covering everything from slips and trips to fatal injuries.
For example, the Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority was found guilty of negligence when someone slipped on excess dust. Another case reflects how a self-employed bricklayer – thus not an employee of the construction company in question – received an £80,000 settlement for falling on the construction site. Even trespassers in open workspaces or areas receive legal protection under HASWA, as proven by the person who sued Congleton Borough Council and Cheshire County Council for getting hurt when diving into a lake.
So, risk management in open workspaces is crucial to protect people and your company’s bottom line. Some hazards include:
- Unauthorised access.
- Falling materials or tools.
- Trips, slips and falls in trenches or uneven ground.
- Plant and on-site vehicle collisions, whether it’s vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-person accidents.
The HSE highlights boundary protection and access control as vital steps in reducing or preventing public safety risks in open workspaces. That’s why we stock an extensive range of barriers and cones to keep your on-site locations safe.
Public safety in open workspaces
Your public safety in open workspaces relies on a thorough risk assessment. When doing this, it’s important to objectively consider all possible pitfalls and the measures to prevent or mitigate them. A few examples are:
- Falling objects: Install toe boards, brick guards and netting on scaffolds to ensure that nothing lands outside the site boundary.
- Site vehicles: Use safety signs to direct all traffic and take care not to block pavements and force pedestrians into traffic lanes.
- Temporary structures: Implement safe practices when erecting scaffolding and other structures.
- Storage: Follow health and safety guidelines to store things such as cylinders within the site parameters or in storage facilities.
- Openings and excavations: Use barriers or covers to demarcate or cover things such as manholes or stairwells.
Remember, a barrier can be something as simple as a few cones to alert people to an unusual situation. When placed strategically, Seton’s colour-coded warning cones are eye-catching deterrents to certain areas.
When you need a robust and versatile barrier, the new EasyExtend Retractable Barrier post, base and sign kit is just the thing for your open workspace. It’s a complete modular demarcation solution that’s easy to transport and install with:
- A4 sign holders for customised safety messages depending on the nature of your site.
- An integrated weight in the base so that it stays put in windy conditions.
Don’t forget about the impact that a simple sign can have. Warning signage flips an unconscious trigger to be careful or stay out. Our brightly coloured hazard signs are HSE-compliant and contain warnings on anything from moving vehicles to trip risks.
You should also include possible emergencies in your risk assessment. For example, when you work with electrical equipment, shocks are always possible and all indoor or outdoor sites run a fire risk.
Whether you need fire extinguishers, fire warden kits, AEDs or dedicated eye-wash stations, you’ll find them here. Reach out to our health and safety experts to get your open workspace safe for the public.