Site Safety and Health Awareness
Safe Pass is a one-day safety awareness programme administered by SOLAS and is a condition of entry to most Irish construction sites. The Site Safety and Health Awareness domain checks that you know who carries legal duties on a site, which documents control the work, and what is expected of you personally. It is awareness, not competence: holding the card does not qualify you to operate plant, erect scaffolding or work at height.
Legal duties
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 places duties on employers, the self-employed, designers and employees. As an employee you must cooperate with safety measures, use PPE and other controls, never work while under the influence of drink or drugs, and report hazards and defective equipment.
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 require a written Safety Statement and site-specific risk assessments, a Project Supervisor Design Process (PSDP) and a Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS), an agreed Safety and Health Plan, and notification to the HSA on form AF1 for larger projects.
Documents that control the job
A site-specific induction before you start; method statements, permits to work and risk assessments - read them, work to them, and stop if the job on the ground differs from the plan. Only carry out work you are trained and authorised for.
Everyday behaviour
Housekeeping, using marked pedestrian routes, staying out of exclusion zones, no horseplay, and reporting near misses as well as accidents.
Worked example
New site, 7am. The foreman says: 'Get up on the scaffold, we will do your induction at lunch.' The correct answer is to refuse politely and explain why - you must be inducted and given site-specific information (traffic routes, assembly point, first aiders, live hazards) before starting. Your Safe Pass shows general awareness only; it cannot tell you this site's layout.
Traps
Believing Safe Pass is a skills card; confusing the Safety Statement with the site induction; assuming risk belongs to the supervisor when the 2005 Act places duties on you personally.