Looking after health and safety on construction sites is what gets everyone home to their loved ones each day.
While most sites have the basics in place, like PPE, signage and basic tools training, the reality is that serious incidents still happen far too often. As UK statistics show, the construction sector still has the largest share of fatal injuries to workers – as high as 28% in 2024/25. During that period, the industry saw 35 workers lose their lives in work-related incidents.
As managers, we’ve got a responsibility to make sure safety practices aren’t just written into policy but actually lived on site. Here at Mando Solutions, health and safety is a big part of our focus as construction recruitment professionals. Drawing from our own on-site experience, here are some practical safety tips that go beyond the basics and help ensure everyone working in construction jobs stays safe at work.
1. Make Daily Briefings Worth Showing Up To
We all know toolbox talks can be hit or miss. A five-minute monologue about ‘staying alert’ isn’t always enough. Use daily briefings to highlight the real, current risks on that day’s job, like weather conditions, new machinery, trades working at height nearby.
A good way to approach briefings is to make them interactive. Get input from your team and invite questions to make it a conversation and not a lecture.
Pro tip: Rotate who leads the brief, such as supervisors, operatives, even plant drivers. It keeps things fresh and reinforces shared responsibility.
2. Enforce a ‘Clean-as-You-Go’ Policy
Trips, slips and falls are still one of the top causes of injury. Often, they’re due to something that could’ve easily been cleared away. Spilled materials, offcuts and packaging debris can build up fast.
Make housekeeping part of the job to stop hazards from building up. It doesn’t need to be obsessive, but crews should finish each shift with a clean area, especially in shared access zones.
3. Build Micro-Breaks into the Day
Aside from impacting productivity, fatigue also increases the chance of mistakes, accidents, and overall poor decision-making.
On longer shifts, especially in hot, cold, or mentally demanding conditions (like night work or operating machinery), micro-breaks can help staff stay alert.
Micro breaks don’t have to be tea and biscuits every hour. Even 5 minutes to hydrate, reset and check in with each other can make a real difference.
4. Get Smart with Near-Miss Reporting
Near misses are critical signals. They help highlight risks before someone gets hurt. But only if people report them!
When it comes to reporting, make it easy and blame-free. That might mean a quick form on a phone, a whiteboard in the site hut, or a morning mention (without finger-pointing). Celebrate the reporting of near misses, not just the absence of accidents. This helps support a strong culture of health and safety on construction sites.
5. Treat Mental Health as a Safety Issue
Mental health and physical safety are linked. A distracted or stressed worker is more likely to miss a hazard, misuse equipment or take a shortcut.
Have a mental health policy that’s more than just a poster. Train up a few mental health first aiders on site. Make it easy for people to speak up. If someone’s struggling, they should feel safe reaching out to someone without judgement.
6. Designate a ‘Last Pair of Eyes’ for High-Risk Tasks
Before complex or high-risk activities (e.g. earthmoving, lifting operations, confined space entry, working near services), assign someone to do a final sense check. Are the right people briefed? Has the area been cleared? Is the kit up to scratch?
Making just one extra check gives you a chance to catch any last-minute issues before the job starts. A fresh pair of eyes can spot what others miss when they’re too close to the task.
7. Be Clear About Who’s Doing What
Confusion over roles can lead to cut corners or duplicated effort. Before the job starts, make sure everyone knows what they’re doing and who’s in charge.
This is especially important when multiple trades are involved or plans change during the day.
Tip: Quick role rundown in the morning briefing saves mistakes later.
8. Use the ‘What If’ Test in Planning
When reviewing a method statement or RAMS, ask “What if something goes wrong at each stage?” What if the weather turns? What if the machine fails? What if the delivery is late and the job gets rushed?
Thinking through worst-case scenarios in advance builds resilience into your safety planning. Asking ‘what if’ is the key to being prepared if the unexpected happens.
9. Keep Subbies to the Same Standard
Don’t let safety standards slip just because someone’s a subcontractor. All trades on site, whether directly employed or subcontracted, should follow the same rules, attend the same briefings, and be held to the same expectations. Build this into onboarding from the start and make sure supervisors feel confident enforcing it.
At Mando Solutions, we take this seriously. Every operative we place goes through thorough health and safety checks, with up-to-date training verified before they arrive on site.
In Summary
On-site construction jobs will never be entirely risk-free. But with the right practices and a team-wide mindset, construction work in the UK can be far safer than it’s often given credit for. Small improvements in daily habits can prevent major incidents. And if something doesn’t look right, speak up. Most accidents are preventable if someone calls it out early. So don’t settle for ‘good enough’. Lead from the front, and others will follow!
Work with a Reputable Construction Recruitment Agency
At Mando Solutions, we work closely with our clients to ensure our workforce is safety-first. As an ISO 9001 accredited company, we know that keeping standards high is a shared responsibility, and we don’t believe in cutting corners.
If you’re looking for reliable, qualified staff who take safety as seriously as you do, get in touch with our team today. Let’s build safer sites together.
