Register For Safety

A little record-keeping is all it takes for strata communities to improve health and safety. The following three registers can provide your community with peace of mind.

• Register of Contractors
• Indemnity Register
• Safe Working Method Statement

A Register of Contractors lists approved licensed and reputable contractors along with any relevant industry licence details. Over time, the register will provide a handy record of service providers who are familiar with the history of your building.

In addition, a Register of Contractors protects the body corporate/owners corporation from unsafe workmanship and losses. From a safety and security perspective, a Register of Contractors provides you with a record of contractors who have entered the premises.

An Indemnity Register should list whether the contractors are insured for the work they perform by keeping a copy of their insurance documents.

As well as the body corporate/owners corporation taking responsibility for duty of care required under the WHS Act, contractors too are responsible for their own health and safety.

Contractors should provide you with a Safe Working Method Statement, which you should keep in a register. This covers the body corporate/owners corporation from liability in the event of an incident where the statement was not followed.

All the Registers and Statements become part of the permanent body corporate/owners corporation records and they should be reviewed at each committee meeting and that Workplace Health and Safety becomes a standing agenda item.

Workplace Health and Safety, Status, Notes

• Risk Assessment Report (Annual) – when was it last carried out, and by whom?
• Register of Contractors – where it is located?
• Contractors Indemnity Register – where it is located?
• Safe Working Methods Register – where it is located?
• Incident Reports – where it is located? What action is required?