Health and safety paperwork for interior systems and plasterboard crews

The hazards that actually matter

Every trade has a long list and a short one. The short one is what the task documents have to deal with properly, because it is where the serious harm comes from.

Dust from sanding and cutting

Sanding jointing compound and cutting sheets produces a fine dust that stays airborne in a closed room long after the work stops. Some compounds and backing boards also contain crystalline silica. Extraction on the sander, or wet sanding, then respiratory protection chosen for the dust and face fit tested.

Work from stilts, trestles and platforms

Stilts are normal in this trade and change how a fall happens: no time to recover, hands occupied, and a floor that has offcuts and cords on it. A clear deck, no penetrations, and a platform instead of stilts where the task allows.

Manual handling of sheets

A 13 mm sheet is heavy, large enough to catch wind through an open frame, and usually carried up stairs through a part-built house. Most of this trade's injury record is backs and shoulders rather than anything dramatic.

Overhead and ceiling work

Fixing and stopping ceilings holds the arms above the shoulder for long periods, which is a cumulative shoulder and neck exposure rather than an event.

Asbestos in existing interiors

Textured ceiling coatings and some wall linings in buildings worked on before 2000 may contain asbestos. Sanding one is the worst case: a disturbance that goes straight into the breathing zone. Identify before the work, not during it.

Services inside the lining

Fixings into walls and ceilings go in near cables and pipes that are no longer visible once the frame is closed. Drawings and a scan, not memory.

Adhesives, compounds and noise

Hazardous substances in adhesives and some compounds, and power tools in a hard-surfaced room where noise reflects rather than dissipates.

What applies beyond the general duties

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016 apply to every business. These sit on top of them for this trade:

• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, identification before disturbing linings in a pre-2000 building
• Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, for adhesives, compounds and solvents
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, for airborne contaminants and the duty to provide and maintain respiratory protection

Competence and licensing

Interior plastering is not restricted building work, so there is no occupational licence for fixing and stopping. External plastering is a Licensed Building Practitioner class, which matters where a crew does both. Respiratory protection relied on for dust must be the right class and face fit tested for the individual wearing it, which is a recorded process rather than a size.

Notifying WorkSafe

Rarely triggered by interior work. Erecting scaffolding from which a person could fall 5 m or more brings the 24 hour notice duty where the crew does its own access. The full list and its exclusions are in notifiable work: the 10 categories.

What a main contractor will ask you for

• Your contribution to the site plan, or your own if you hold the head contract
• A Task Analysis for each task: sheet handling, fixing, stopping and sanding, work from stilts
• The dust control method for sanding, and the respiratory protection that goes with it
• Asbestos identification for any pre-2000 ceiling or lining before it is disturbed
• Face fit test records for anyone relying on a respirator
• Sign-on sheets against each document

A document per task, not one for the job. The crew doing one task should not have to read past three others to find their controls, and a site manager checking one task should not have to either.

Where to start

If you are writing from scratch, how to write a Task Analysis sets out the order. If you have been asked for something and are not sure which document it is, which document do you need covers the difference between a site plan and a task document. Our prepared documents for this trade are the Interior Systems Task Analysis Pack, or single documents from the catalogue.

Sources

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s22 (reasonably practicable), s34 and s36
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, regs 5 to 8
• Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, reg 26 (particular hazardous work requiring notice)
• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, identification before disturbing linings in a pre-2000 building
• Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, for adhesives, compounds and solvents
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, for airborne contaminants and the duty to provide and maintain respiratory protection
• WorkSafe New Zealand, Identifying, assessing and managing work risks

This guide is general information about New Zealand health and safety law as at the review date. It is not legal advice and it does not describe your site. Confirm what applies to you with WorkSafe New Zealand or your adviser.