As a business owner, you are responsible for everyone on your premises. The new WHS Act's do not differentiate between employees, contractors, or visitors; ensuring the safety of all personal on site is your responsibility.
A visitor is any person on site that is not a worker or contractor. Your employees and contractors should already be familiar with the safety requirements of your business or at least the industry. Many visitors, however, won’t be and you’ll need to take extra steps to ensure visitors do not inadvertently cause any harm to themselves or your personnel.
All visitors should only be allowed to enter the site via attended nominated entry points (e.g. main gate, reception, etc). Upon entry, they should be registered and given a visitor's pass; upon departure, this pass should be returned and the visitor signed out.
A site access identification tag should be displayed at all times.
All visitors, other than short-term visitors (e.g. delivery persons, couriers, etc), should be given a brief induction, covering the following as a minimum:
If required, induction sessions should be conducted (e.g. video or personal instruction).
Short-term visitors, who have not received the basic induction (i.e. hazards and emergency evacuation), should be accompanied at all times by a company representative while they are on site.
If necessary, visitors should be issued with the appropriate personal protective equipment, which should be worn for the duration of their visit.
Our Safety Consultants have years of experience helping organisations acheive sustainable performance improvement.
