Visitors, construction site

The site visitor procedure must meet the needs of the building project. For example, a high-profile building project, one which pushes the architectural boundaries such as the new Wembley Football Stadium in London, would have attracted many more visitors during its construction period than, say, a food distribution warehouse for a supermarket. 

Employees and contractors who work full time at the site or workplace are the most obvious groups at risk and it will be necessary check that they are competent to perform their particular tasks. However, there may be other groups who spend time in or around the workplace. These include young workers, trainees, new and expectant mothers, cleaners, contractor and maintenance workers and members of the public. Members of the public will include visitors, patients, students or customers as well as passers by. On a construction site, the persons at risk could be site operatives, surveyors, transport drivers, building inspectors, other visitors and the general public. 

Both authorized and unauthorized visitors to a construction site are vulnerable to an accident particularly if the trespassers are children. 

Furthermore, it also states that warning signs are not sufficient to relieve the construction site owner s liability from accidents. 2(4)(a) of the Occupiers Liability Act states that [where damage is caused to a visitor by a danger of which he had been warned by the occupier, the warning is not to be treated without more as absolving the occupier from liability, unless in aU the circumstances it was enough to enable the visitor to be reasonably safe . 

Four chapters (7, 8, 9 and 10) deal in detail with the protection required for members of the public in many different construction scenarios. These hazards may be conveniently divided between those which are present inside the site and those which may occur outside the site. Inside the site, the public may be visitors (authorized or unauthorized) or joint occupiers of the site if it is a refurbishment project. The hazards from the construction work presented to the public outside the site could include materials falling from working platforms, and the operation of cranes and other lifting equipment. 

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