What your main contractor expects in a Task Analysis

Before your crew starts, the site manager reads your Task Analysis. Here is what they are checking, in the order they check it, and how to have every item ready.

1. It is about this task, on this site

The first thing a site manager looks for is whether the document describes the job in front of them. A Task Analysis that lists everything your trade ever does reads as a form; one that names the task, the location and the date reads as a plan. Fill the general details, write the description of the activity in plain words, and delete the hazards that are not on this site.

2. The hazards are ranked, and the controls are real

Each step of the task, the hazard at that step, the risk before controls, the controls, and the risk after. The ranking matters because it is how the site manager sees that the big risks got the most attention. Controls should be things a person can check: the edge protection is installed, the excavation is benched, the isolation is locked and tagged. “Take care” is not a control.

3. The notifiable work decision has been made

Some work must be notified to WorkSafe 24 hours before it starts, under reg 26 of the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995. The site manager wants to see that you know whether this task is in one of the ten categories and, if it is, when WorkSafe was told. Our documents put the decision on the page: the work screening table names the notifiable categories and separates them from the ordinary prompts to assess. The ten categories, with the exclusions.

4. The people are named and the crew signed on

Who is doing the work, who supervises, who to call. Then the sign-on block: every worker who will do the task, briefed and signed. This records the briefing and worker acknowledgement. Engagement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (ss58 to 59) is an ongoing process of seeking and considering workers’ views, so signatures alone do not establish it. It is the page most often returned blank.

5. It has a date, a version and a name

A document that was never reviewed is the first thing an auditor notices. Every Task Analysis we sell carries a version number and a date field for you to complete; fill both in when you issue it, and review it when the work changes.

Having it ready

• Buy the trade pack once, keep the originals untouched, and copy a document for each job.
• Add your logo and company details to the header once; every copy inherits them.
• Complete the site fields the day before, brief the crew on the morning, take the sign-on before the first tool starts.
• Keep the completed copy where the crew and the site manager can both find it.

A completed, briefed, signed Task Analysis helps prepare the documentation the main contractor will review. A blank template does not, however good it is.

Sources

• Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, ss36, 58 and 59. legislation.govt.nz
• Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, Part 2
• Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995, reg 26 (notifiable work)
• WorkSafe New Zealand, Managing work risks, worksafe.govt.nz

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.