Small builder health and safety checklist

1. Check the business basics

• Arrange access to competent health and safety assistance.
• Have a policy; record it in writing where five or more people are employed.
• Maintain employers’ liability insurance where required.
• Provide suitable information, instruction, training and supervision.
• Consult workers about the risks and controls affecting them.
• Arrange first aid, incident response and statutory reporting where applicable.

A company policy describes the business arrangements. It is not a substitute for planning the hazards of the job you are about to start.

2. Before each project

• Confirm the location, scope, client and your CDM role.
• Obtain relevant pre-construction information, including surveys and their limitations.
• Identify other contractors and agree how work will be coordinated.
• Allow time and resources to resolve information gaps.
• Prepare a proportionate construction phase plan.
• Assess significant risks and explain the safe sequence, people and equipment needed.

For a refurbishment, ask whether the proposed work will disturb concealed materials or services. If that information is missing, identify the affected activity and resolve the gap before it starts. A generic risk assessment cannot supply a missing survey.

3. Review the conditions on site

• Provide suitable welfare from the start and maintain it.
• Control access, vehicles, deliveries and risks to the public.
• Check work at height, excavations, temporary works and service risks.
• Plan controls for dust, substances and other health risks.
• Brief workers in a way they understand and check the method is workable.
• Arrange equipment and site inspections at the required times.

Think through an ordinary shift: arrival, unloading, reaching the work, using tools, taking a break and leaving. This often exposes gaps that a folder review misses, such as shared vehicle access or a welfare unit behind a locked gate.

4. Use the pre-start review

5. Keep evidence that helps you manage the job

Useful records include competence evidence, inspection findings, briefings, subcontractor decisions and completed corrective actions. Record decisions in a way another responsible person can follow if the supervisor changes.

For each open issue, name an owner, state the next action and set a deadline. Make clear whether affected work must wait. Reassess when the scope, design, workforce or conditions change.

Use our free document review checklists for RAMS, CPPs and PQQ evidence. If you need help organising the arrangements, see support for small builders and specialist contractors or remote safety support.

Official sources

• HSE: small builder responsibilities
• HSE: health and safety in construction site toolkit
• HSE: construction phase plans for busy builders

General guidance only. Check the current official sources and your project conditions. Unless stated otherwise, legislation discussed is for Great Britain; Northern Ireland has separate rules. Remote advice supports, but does not replace, competent site management or specialist assessment.