Your Responsibilities To Jobsite Visitors

When your jobsite has visitors, it is easy to take their safety for granted. Many construction professionals forget that jobsite visitors often do not have the experience of a construction worker and do not have the instincts to stay out of harm’s way. There are also certain responsibilities you as a contractor have whenever visitors are on your jobsite that can affect your risk coverage.

If you do not have a comprehensive visitors policy for your jobsites, then you are asking for trouble. When we say that we consider every detail that goes into running a construction site, we mean that we cover everything from the equipment you rent to the people you allow onsite.

Visitor Protocol

Each and every visitor to your jobsite should be accounted for, and their business on your site should also be logged in detail. Each visitor should be issued a badge that is easy for everyone to read, and every visitor should be issued a safety helmet or any other appropriate safety equipment. Visitors who are not wearing the proper clothing to safely walk around the jobsite should not be allowed onsite.

We notice that many of our clients get in trouble when they allow someone’s friend or an important person who could be offering another big job to come onsite and not follow protocol. When you establish a visitor protocol, it should be followed by every visitor at all times.

Jobsite Layout

The safety layout for your jobsite is as important to your visitors as it is to your workers. Temporary walkways and properly constructed scaffolding are critical to the safety of everyone who visits your site. If you have visitors who do not have the proper training to enter some areas of your site, then obviously you do not want to allow them access. But if a visitor is capable of being on your jobsite, then the site should be laid out for everyone’s maximum safety.

Safety Outside Containment

There are many safety laws regarding establishing safety areas for pedestrians and others to get around and even through your jobsite, if that is what the job specifications entail. In 2016, a pedestrian outside of a New York City jobsite was killed when a crane toppled over onto an area that was supposed to be safe for pedestrians to walk on.

With each job, you establish safety areas that are outside the containment of the actual worksite, and you have to honor those areas to make sure that all of your visitors and all pedestrians are safe. This is especially true in the areas you designate to act as shipping and receiving areas for materials and job waste.

Give Plenty Of Information

The key to having a jobsite safe for visitors is to understand what kind of information your visitors will need, and then supply them with that information when they reach your jobsite. Most of our clients have a short orientation for all visitors before they are allowed on the site to make sure that all questions are answered and all safety rules are understood. The time you take to educate your visitors will result in less injuries and incidents that could cost your company a lot of money and time.

Every jobsite has visitors, and every construction company needs a system in place to provide for visitor safety. As a risk mitigation company, we work with all of our clients on the best ways to accept visitors on jobsites without bringing on extra risk and potential danger.