Health and Safety Does Not Stop at the Gate

Understanding overlapping PCBU duties when working on public land, client sites and shared workplaces

When work happens away from a business’s usual workplace, health and safety responsibility does not simply transfer to the landowner, client, principal contractor or host site. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, more than one Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) can hold duties in relation to the same work, workplace, workers or risk.

Those duties may overlap, but they do not cancel each other out. A PCBU cannot contract out of its duties. Each PCBU must do what is reasonably practicable within the extent of its control or influence, and where duties overlap, the PCBUs must consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other.

The practical question is not simply “whose site is it?” The better question is: who can control or influence the site, the task, the people, the equipment or the risk?

A practical way to allocate responsibility

Most offsite work can be analysed by breaking the work into four areas:

The site - the location, existing hazards, access, public interface and emergency arrangements.

The task - the work being carried out and the risks created by that work.

The person - the worker or contractor, including competence, training, supervision and authority to stop unsafe work.

The equipment - plant, tools, vehicles, PPE, substances and materials used for the job.

This approach helps identify who controls what, where duties overlap, and what needs to be agreed before work starts. It is not enough to assume another party has everything covered. The parties must actively exchange relevant information, agree controls and keep communicating if the work or conditions change.

Example 1: Electrical subcontractor on a residential construction site

A self-employed electrician is subcontracted to a builder, who is working for a construction company on a residential build located on a landowner’s property. Several PCBUs may be involved, and each may have duties depending on their role and level of control or influence.

The construction company or principal contractor may control overall site arrangements, site rules, access, emergency procedures and coordination between trades. The builder may control day-to-day site activity and sequencing. The electrician controls the electrical work, including isolation, testing, tools, leads, temporary supply arrangements and competence. The landowner may still hold relevant information about the property, such as underground services, access constraints, unstable ground or other existing hazards.

The PCBUs must consult, cooperate and coordinate so that risks are not missed between them. For example, the electrician needs to understand the site rules and other activities nearby. The builder and principal contractor need to ensure trades are not working over the top of each other in a way that creates new risks. If the landowner has relevant property information, that information should be provided to the parties planning or carrying out the work.

Example 2: Landscaper working on council-owned public land

A landscaping business is engaged to carry out work on council-owned land that remains accessible to the public. The work may involve mowing, planting, trenching, irrigation repairs, spraying, machinery use or vehicle movements.

The council may own or manage the land and may control permissions, access requirements, public use of the area, environmental restrictions, known site hazards and expectations for pedestrian or traffic management. The council may also hold information about underground services, drainage, protected areas, public access patterns or other restrictions.

The landscaping business controls the work activity. It controls its workers, tools, machinery, vehicles, substances, temporary work methods, exclusion zones and how the task is carried out. If the work creates risks from machinery, flying debris, noise, open holes, moving vehicles, chemicals or stored materials, the landscaper must manage those risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

Because the work is on public land, the risk extends beyond the workers doing the task. Members of the public may walk, cycle, drive, exercise dogs or supervise children near the work area. Public access makes coordination more important, not less.

Both the council and the landscaping business may have overlapping duties. The council cannot simply say, “The contractor is doing the work, so it is their problem.” Equally, the landscaper cannot simply say, “It is council land, so the council is responsible.” Each party must consider what it controls or influences and coordinate with the other party.

Before work starts, the parties should confirm the exact work area, known site hazards, whether underground services need to be identified, how the public will be separated from the work, what signage or barriers are required, how vehicles and machinery will access the site, and who must be contacted if conditions change.

What good coordination looks like

Consulting, cooperating and coordinating does not need to be complicated, but it does need to be deliberate. The level of formality should match the risk. A short, low-risk visit may only require a simple briefing and check-in. Higher-risk work involving plant, excavation, vehicles, public access, hazardous substances, electrical work or other critical risks requires more structured planning and documentation.

Useful tools include:

·        Contractor agreements and prequalification;

·        Site inductions and visitor controls;

·        Job Safety Analysis or Safe Work Method Statements;

·        Site-Specific Safety Plans;

·        Permit-to-work, excavation, isolation or traffic management controls;

·        Plant and vehicle checks;

·        Competency records;

·        Pre-start meetings, toolbox talks and change-management records.

The purpose is not paperwork for its own sake. The purpose is to ensure the right people have identified the risks, agreed the controls, understood who is responsible for what, and communicated that information to the workers doing the job.

Final point

Health and safety duties do not stop at the gate. They follow the work, the worker, the plant, the task and the risk.

When several businesses are involved, the law does not expect every PCBU to control everything. It does expect each PCBU to understand what it controls or influences, work with the other PCBUs involved, and ensure risks are managed so far as is reasonably practicable. Where everyone assumes someone else is responsible, risk falls into the gap. The duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate exists to close that gap.