Site setup in the first week: what to have in place
The excavator arrives on Tuesday, a day before the site trailer. By Thursday nine people are working, the only toilet is booked for next week, and the emergency procedures are still in the superintendent's truck. Nobody has checked whether a notice of project was needed.
Setup goes wrong when it stops at a fence and a trailer, and the rest waits until someone complains or an inspector asks. Which rules apply depends on where you are: Canada has fourteen occupational health and safety jurisdictions, and in the United States federal OSHA or an approved state plan applies.
What to have in place by Friday
- List where the site's requirements come from: the health and safety regulator, the municipality and the contract's general requirements. Confirm with your safety lead who carries the site-wide duties — the constructor in Ontario, the owner or prime contractor in British Columbia.
- File and post the required notices. In Ontario, the labour ministry must be notified before work begins on projects meeting the regulation's conditions, such as labour and materials expected to exceed $50,000; in British Columbia, WorkSafeBC needs the notice at least 24 hours before work begins where its conditions apply. Both expect a copy on site.
- Lay out access and storage: fence, gates, a sign with the address and a contact, a delivery route, laydown, and locked storage for tools and hazardous products. In Canada, WHMIS requires safety data sheets to be readily available to exposed workers.
- Size facilities for the peak crew: toilets, handwashing, drinking water, first aid and a place to eat. Rules often scale with crew size: federal OSHA sets one toilet for up to 20 workers and more above that, and British Columbia requires flush toilets, where practicable, once 25 or more workers will be on site.
- Post the emergency information: written procedures with this site's address, the first aid location, the muster point and required posters. Ontario requires the constructor to post written emergency procedures; OSHA requires its workplace poster where workers can see it.
- Start the records on day one: orientation and sign-in, the daily report, photos of existing conditions, and permits and drawings on site.
- Walk it all on Friday with this list, and give every gap a name and a date.
Common mistakes
- Reusing the last job's emergency procedures without changing the address.
- Assuming the rules from your last province or state apply here.
- Leaving the records until things settle down.
Checklist
By the end of week one
- Regulator, municipal and contract requirements listed
- Notices filed and posted where required
- Access, laydown and storage in place
- Facilities and first aid sized for the peak crew
- Emergency procedures with this site's address posted
- Orientation, sign-in, daily report and photos started
- Gaps from the Friday walk assigned
Check your understanding
Why size washrooms and first aid for the peak crew in week one?
Show the answer
Crews grow faster than rentals can follow, and regulators often set facility numbers by head count. Ordering for the peak once avoids weeks of falling short and puts the cost in the budget while you can still plan for it.
Sources
- Health and Safety Legislation in Canada — Introduction
- State Plans
- Constructor guideline
- File a work notice (notice of project)
- OHS Regulation Part 20: Construction, Excavation and Demolition (sections 20.2, 20.3 and 20.3.2)
- WHMIS — Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
- 29 CFR 1926.51 — Sanitation
- Job Safety and Health workplace poster (OSHA 3165)
