So much change has happened in Canterbury since the earthquakes that shook the region in 2010 and continue to do so. Early on in the days after the initial earthquake, a Charter was developed as a way to make sure that everyone is involved in the area to rebuild and come home safe and healthy every night.
What is The Charter you ask? It is an agreement on health and safety for when you are on a construction site. It has been signed by more than 340 organisations and is a collaborative effort to keep workers from all companies working on projects safe. Those that have signed up to the Charter range from small companies, large construction firms, government organisations to NGOs.
If your company, builder, or contractors have signed up to the Charter you can feel secure in the knowledge that their organisations will meet or work towards the Charter’s ten commitments and detailed actions. The ten commitments and actions are:
- Leadership
- Worker Engagement, Participation and Representation
- Reporting
- Upstream and Downstream Duties
- Critical Risks
- Managing Site Safety Risks
- Site Induction
- Training
- Impairment
- Health & Wellbeing
That sounds all good – but is there a point of why have Site Nets joined? Site Nets pride ourselves in keeping your safety at the forefront of everything we do. We can not provide you, our customers, with a safety product without taking the responsibility of your safety seriously. Site Nets feel that the Charter will help us to raise our standards of health and safety across all the sites in Canterbury that we install at.
Site Nets has taken on board the Charter’s standards for a consistent and collective approach to health and safety on Canterbury worksites. This means that along with all other contractors on building sites, everyone knows what is expected of them, and what they have to do to keep themselves and others safe.
Site Nets have given all of our staff training in the key attributes of The Charter and we are fully implementing the Charter’s actions. There are many benefits to signing up to the Charter besides improving the health, safety and wellbeing of our workforce.
It means that everyone involved in your build has the same vision and the same understanding of workplace safety. It brings contractors together in the sense of having the best practices in place – not just paperwork – but how people work has a governance.
Companies that normally compete with each other are now collaborating to ensure that everyone’s teams are safe on a building site. There are systems now in place to protect everyone and prevent injury. Site Nets are proud of being part of rebuilding Canterbury and being part of a proud legacy.
Let’s get everyone home safely.
