Hardscape: Paths & Patios Risk Assessment Template

Typical hazards & measures

• Lone working and welfare — Assess lone work necessity; maintain phone/radio contact and establish check-in times. Provide mobile welfare access, water and lighting. Restrict hazardous tasks to supervised periods, and ensure workers know emergency rendezvous and local hospital directions.
• Resin-bound surfacing chemicals — Review SDS and ventilate mixing areas; avoid skin contact by using nitrile gloves and sleeves. Mix with mechanical ventilation outdoors or near extraction, and prevent ignition sources. Provide appropriate RPE if sensitiser content warrants it, and keep spill kits for resin drips.
• Wet cement and mortar contact — Wear long-cuff waterproof gloves, sleeves and trousers; avoid kneeling in wet mortar by using kneeling pads. Wash immediately after contact and change soaked PPE. Use chromate-reduced cement within shelf-life, barrier creams as a backup, and provide clean water and eyewash nearby.
• Mechanical excavation and augers — Select the right tool and depth stops; brief the operator and appoint a banksman. Exclusion zone 2 m around the bit; never hand-steady posts. Use anti-kickback devices, isolate and lock off to clear fouls. Scan for services and hand-dig starter holes in congested ground.
• Silica and stone dust exposure — Use water-suppressed cutting or on-tool extraction with M/H-class vacuum; check airflow. Position operators upwind, screen the area, and prohibit dry cutting. Provide RPE with assigned protection factor when controls are insufficient, and damp-wipe rather than dry sweep to clean down.