Health and safety paperwork for tiling and waterproofing contractors

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.

Silica from cutting and grinding

Cutting tile, grinding screed and preparing concrete all release respirable crystalline silica. Wet cutting is the control that works; a dry cut in a small room is the worst exposure in the trade. Respiratory protection on top, chosen for the dust and face fit tested.

Membranes, primers and solvents

Waterproofing membranes and their primers are hazardous substances, applied in wet areas that are enclosed by definition. Vapour collects at floor level in a shower base and a bathroom window is not ventilation. Mechanical ventilation, the right respiratory protection, and the safety data sheet read before the first coat rather than after a headache.

Kneeling, crouching and manual handling

Floor tiling is hours on the knees, and tile boxes and sheet substrates are dense and awkward. The injury record here is knees, backs and wrists over years.

Wet work and slips

The work creates the hazard: wet floors, slurry and a surface that was level and is now not. Compounded in an occupied house where someone else walks through.

Asbestos under the old floor

Old vinyl, its backing and the bitumen adhesive beneath it can contain asbestos. Lifting a floor to tile over it is a disturbance. Identify before the strip-out.

Working in occupied residences

Someone lives there, the bathroom is their only one, and there are children and pets on the other side of the plastic. Containment, isolation of the area and a cleanup standard that assumes bare feet.

Electrical in a wet area

Power tools, extension leads and water on the same floor. Residual current protection and leads kept out of the wet, not run through it.

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 (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, for membranes, primers, epoxies and solvents
• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, identification before lifting pre-2000 floor coverings
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, for airborne contaminants and respiratory protection

Competence and licensing

Tiling and internal waterproofing are not restricted building work, so there is no occupational licence, though the waterproofing of a wet area must meet the Building Code and is commonly inspected. Some substances require a certified handler above threshold quantities. Respiratory protection relied on for silica or vapour must be the right class and face fit tested for the individual, and a cartridge chosen for dust does nothing for solvent vapour.

Notifying WorkSafe

Rarely triggered by this trade. Asbestos removal above the quantity thresholds has its own notification duty, which is separate from the reg 26 list and applies before the removal starts. 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: substrate preparation, waterproofing, cutting, tiling
• Safety data sheets for the membrane system and the ventilation method for enclosed wet areas
• The cutting method and dust control, and face fit test records for respirator users
• Asbestos identification before lifting any pre-2000 floor covering
• 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 Tiling & Waterproofing 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 (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017, for membranes, primers, epoxies and solvents
• Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, identification before lifting pre-2000 floor coverings
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, for airborne contaminants and 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.