Safety in bricklaying

Bricklaying involves inherent risks. Therefore, if this type of work is not carried out correctly, it can result in injuries and ill-health to staff. This applies whether it is bricks or blocks etc. being laid.

Managing the risks

To help you to identify the hazards associated with bricklaying and the appropriate ways of controlling them, use our example Risk Assessment - Safety in Bricklaying. It covers the generic hazards associated with this type of activity and suggests control measures to reduce risks to an acceptable level. You should ensure that your document only addresses “significant” hazards, i.e. any that could, and more importantly are likely to, cause an accident, injury or ill-health.

Make your instructions clear

Don’t include activities in your document that simply don’t need to be there. Work to the principle that if there is any chance of your staff being unaware of the safe way of doing something, then you will need to make it clear in your document. Finally, always ensure that any control measures you identify and follow are decided upon the principle of “so far as is reasonably practicable”.

Note. The list of potential hazards is not exhaustive. However, for your risk assessment to be considered suitable and sufficient in the eyes of the law it must accurately reflect the “significant” hazards found during bricklaying operations on each particular site on which you work.

Note. This risk assessment only deals with the generic risks associated with bricklaying. As such, tasks differ depending upon site conditions so you should ensure that relevant awareness and induction training is undertaken before the work starts. Your own risk assessment should accurately reflect the conditions on your work site.