20.3 Workplace Safety Checks & Hazard Control
Key Takeaways
- EPC 44 is a critical capability: describe a workplace safety check, identify hazards and suggest accident prevention measures
- A pre-start safety check runs before any tool comes out: access and egress, other trades, services, environment, equipment condition and emergency arrangements
- Hazard categories to scan are electrical, height, plant and vehicles, hazardous substances, manual handling, environment and other people’s work
- Working with a group to identify and modify controls is a published requirement, not optional consultation
- Anything you cannot control yourself must be reported to the person who can, and the work must not proceed until the risk is controlled
Workplace Safety Checks & Hazard Control
Quick Answer: Before any tool comes out, run a pre-start check: access, other trades, services, environment, equipment, emergency arrangements. Scan the seven hazard categories. Develop controls with the people doing the work, act on what you can control, and report what you cannot. Work does not proceed until the risk is controlled.
What a Workplace Safety Check Is
A workplace safety check is a structured look at a work area before and during work, to identify hazards and confirm that controls are in place. It is different from a SWMS — the SWMS addresses your task, the safety check addresses the place and everything else happening in it.
Assessors ask candidates to describe one, so learn a sequence you can recite and then apply.
The Pre-Start Sequence
- Access and egress. Can you get in and out safely? Is there a clear path for an emergency exit and for a stretcher? Are ladders and scaffolds secure and rated?
- Other trades and occupants. Who else is working here and what are they doing above, below and beside you? Is the building occupied? Are there children, customers or livestock?
- Services. Where are the existing electrical, gas, water, communications and fire services? Has a service location been done for excavation? Where is the isolation point for the supply you will work on?
- Environment. Weather, heat, lighting, noise, dust, wet ground, confined or elevated positions, traffic.
- Equipment condition. Tools, leads, extension cords, RCD protection on portable supply, test instruments in calibration, ladders undamaged, PPE serviceable.
- Housekeeping. Trip hazards, stored material blocking the switchboard, offcuts, spills.
- Emergency arrangements. First-aid kit and defibrillator location, emergency contacts, muster point, the site's incident reporting process, and the nearest emergency isolation point.
Then, before energised-adjacent work: confirm the isolation point, confirm your locks and tags, and confirm somebody knows where you are.
Hazard Categories to Scan
| Category | Typical site examples |
|---|---|
| Electrical | Live parts exposed, damaged leads, no RCD on portable supply, overhead lines near the work, unidentified circuits |
| Height | Unsecured ladders, unprotected edges, fragile roof sheeting, ceiling access |
| Plant and vehicles | Elevated work platforms, excavators, forklifts, delivery traffic, reversing vehicles |
| Hazardous substances | Asbestos, silica dust, solvents, fuels, battery acid, welding fume |
| Manual handling | Cable drums, switchboards, conduit lengths, awkward roof-space postures |
| Environment | Heat stress in roof spaces, storms, poor lighting, noise, vermin and snakes |
| Other people's work | Trades working above, hot works, concrete cutting, crane lifts, unattended excavations |
Overhead powerlines deserve special mention. Contact with a distribution line by a ladder, scaffold, elevated work platform or tipper is a recurring cause of Australian electrical fatalities. Establish exclusion distances and use a spotter where any plant or long object could approach a line.
Working With a Group to Control Hazards
UEEEL0039's knowledge evidence explicitly includes working with a group to identify effective hazard control measures and working with a group to modify and/or develop safe work methods. Consultation is a legal duty, not a courtesy.
Practically:
- Run the pre-start with everyone who will do the work, not at them.
- Ask the people doing the task what could go wrong — they will name hazards a checklist misses.
- Agree the controls out loud and confirm who is responsible for each.
- Revisit when the job changes: new trade on site, weather turns, the scope grows.
- Capture the agreed changes in the SWMS or JSA rather than leaving them as a verbal understanding.
Suggesting Accident Prevention Measures
When asked to suggest a measure, always answer using the hierarchy of control and be specific:
| Weak answer | Strong answer |
|---|---|
| "Be careful around the open trench" | "Barricade the trench with mesh fencing, install trench covers over the crossing point, and light it after dark" |
| "Wear gloves" | "De-energise and prove dead; if a live test is unavoidable, use category-rated instruments, insulated gloves and a face shield, with a second person present" |
| "Watch out for the forklift" | "Establish a designated pedestrian route separated from the forklift path, with the operator confirming visual contact before moving" |
| "Take care in the roof space" | "Provide task lighting, use crawl boards over the ceiling battens, schedule the work for early morning to avoid heat, and have a second person aware of the entry" |
The pattern: name the specific hazard, name the control level, name the physical measure, name who does it.
Reporting What You Cannot Control
Some hazards are outside your authority: a fragile roof, an unfenced excavation another trade left, an overhead line too close to the work area, a suspected asbestos product.
The response is consistent:
- Do not proceed with work affected by the hazard.
- Make the immediate area safe if you can do so without risk — barricade, sign, isolate.
- Report to the site controller or PCBU, and record that you did.
- Escalate if nothing changes. Workers have the right to cease unsafe work, and health and safety representatives can direct that unsafe work stop.
- Confirm the control is in place before returning to that area.
Continuing to work around an uncontrolled hazard because "someone else should have fixed it" is a failure of your own duty of care, not just theirs.
What is the difference between a safe work method statement and a workplace safety check?
Which response best demonstrates the standard expected when suggesting an accident prevention measure?
An electrician arrives to find an overhead distribution line close to where an elevated work platform must operate. The hazard is outside their authority to fix. What should they do?
Why does UEEEL0039 specifically require working with a group to identify hazard controls?