Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)

This element covers the safety provisions built into the fabric of a building and its management that protect occupants, workers and contractors: safe access to plant and roofs, stairs and handrails, slip-resistant surfaces, safety glazing and manifestation on glass, confined space identification, statutory and safety signage, the health and safety records that must be kept for the building, and the systems for managing contractors. It sits behind many other elements: roof safety, balustrades, lifts, plant and hazardous materials each have their own pages, and this page covers what ties them together and the provisions not covered elsewhere.

Duties sit with whoever manages or controls the building as a workplace, in Australia the person conducting a business or undertaking and those with management or control of a workplace, in Britain the employer and those in control of premises, and in the United States the employer under OSHA. Owners of tenanted buildings usually retain duties for common areas, plant and structure.

What shortens life, or effectiveness:

• Heavy traffic wearing stairs and floors.
• Cleaning regimes that polish floors or strip treatments.
• Changes to the building without updating records and signs.
• Plant added without safe access.

Records have no wear life but go out of date every time the building changes, which is the commonest way they fail.

Unsafe access to plant

Plant installed on roofs, high walls and in ceiling voids without fixed ladders, platforms and fall protection is reached by portable ladders or climbing, which causes falls. New plant is often added without access being designed.

Stair hazards

Uneven risers, worn and slippery nosings, missing contrast on edges, missing handrails, and balustrades below current heights cause falls, the most common serious injury in buildings.

Slippery floors

Polished stone, glazed tiles and smooth finishes at entries, in wet areas and on ramps become slippery when wet or contaminated; cleaning products and sealers make them worse. Slip resistance can be measured and compared with the level needed for the location.

Glazing hazards

Glass doors and full-height glazing without manifestation are walked into; ordinary annealed glass in doors and low-level panels breaks into dangerous shards. Older buildings often have glass that would not meet current safety glazing rules.

Confined spaces

Tanks, pits, sumps, ducts and voids with limited entry and poor ventilation can hold toxic or oxygen-deficient atmospheres. Deaths occur when people enter unidentified confined spaces without controls, and when rescuers follow them.

Missing safety records

Asbestos registers, plant registers, confined space registers, operation and maintenance manuals, and the health and safety file (in Britain) are needed for anyone working safely on the building. Where they are missing or out of date, contractors work blind.

Unmanaged contractors

Contractors without induction, permits or hazard information disturb asbestos, enter confined spaces, work at height without protection and isolate systems unsafely.

On site

• Plant reachable only by portable ladder or climbing; roof hatches without guardrails.
• Stairs with worn nosings, uneven risers, missing handrails or contrast.
• Polished or glazed floors at entries and wet areas; mats curling.
• Glass doors without manifestation; cracked or annealed glass in doors.
• Pits, tanks and voids without confined space signs or locks.
• Missing or faded safety signs at plant and hazards.

In the records

• Asbestos, plant and confined space registers.
• Health and safety file or building manual.
• Contractor induction and permit records.
• Incident and injury records.
• Slip resistance test results.

Incident clusters are the best guide: several slips at one entrance, or falls on one flight, point to that surface or stair rather than to the people using it.

Findings are graded by what they demand: safety (can hurt someone now), failure (failed and damaging the building), condition (distress present and progressing), lifecycle (renewal due on age and exposure), deadline (a regulator or ordinance sets the date), check (investigate before sizing works) and nil (cosmetic or stable).

A health and safety consultant or building surveyor with safety expertise leads, with specialists for slip testing, glazing and confined spaces.

• Access audit of every plant item, roof area, riser and ceiling void that needs maintenance, recording how it is reached and what protection exists.
• Stair survey: consistency of risers and goings, nosing condition and contrast, handrails on both sides where required, balustrade heights and openings.
• Slip resistance testing of floors at entries, wet areas, ramps and external paving, wet and dry, against the classification needed for each location.
• Glazing survey: safety glass markings in doors and low-level panels, and manifestation on glass doors and full-height glazing.
• Confined space survey: identify every tank, pit, sump, duct and void that meets the definition, and record entry points, hazards and controls.
• Records review: asbestos, plant and confined space registers, operation and maintenance manuals, the health and safety file, and their currency.
• Contractor management review: inductions, permits to work, isolation procedures and hazard information.
• Incident review: where and how injuries and near misses have occurred.

The report should list hazards by risk, compliance gaps, missing records, and a prioritised programme.

• Fixed access to plant: caged ladders or ladders with fall arrest, platforms with guardrails, walkways and roof hatches with guardrails.
• Stair repairs: replace worn nosings with slip-resistant, contrasting nosings, add handrails, raise balustrades where people are at risk.
• Slip remedies: anti-slip treatments, replacement finishes in wet and entry areas, recessed entry matting, and cleaning regimes that do not polish floors.
• Glazing: replace annealed glass in critical locations with safety glass; apply manifestation at the right heights.
• Confined spaces: signs, locked covers, a register and entry procedures.
• Signage at plant, hazards and emergency equipment.
• Records: compile and maintain registers, manuals and the safety file, and make them available to contractors.
• Contractor system: inductions, permits to work and isolation procedures.

Audits and slip testing are lump sums, with slip testing recurring where floors are treated. Fixed access works are priced per item: ladders, platforms, walkways and guardrails. Stair works per flight; floor treatments and replacement finishes by area; glazing per pane; signage per sign. Compiling registers and a safety file is a lump sum, then a recurring update cost. Contractor management systems are an operating cost.

Most items are code compliance; worn stairs and finishes are lifecycle; treatments and signage are repairs and maintenance; serious hazards are immediate.

• Australia. The model work health and safety laws place duties on persons conducting a business or undertaking and those with management or control of workplaces; codes of practice cover managing the risk of falls, confined spaces and the work environment and facilities; AS 1657 covers fixed platforms, walkways, stairways and ladders, AS 4586 slip resistance classification and AS 1288 glazing.
• United Kingdom. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover floors, stairs and glazing; the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 require a health and safety file for the building; the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 apply; Approved Document K covers stairs, guarding and glazing.
• United States. The OSH Act and OSHA standards for walking-working surfaces (29 CFR 1910 Subpart D) and permit-required confined spaces (1910.146) apply; building codes govern stairs and safety glazing; ANSI A326.3 sets dynamic slip resistance testing of hard surface flooring.

• Asbestos, plant and confined space registers.
• Health and safety file or building manual, with operation and maintenance manuals.
• Contractor induction, permit and isolation procedures.
• Incident and injury records, including slips and falls.
• Slip resistance test results.
• Roof and plant access records and safety system certificates.
• Glazing schedules for doors and low-level panels.