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Safety, PPE & site rules

PPE, manual handling, COSHH, working at height, underground services.

All guides
Stub — growing
Last reviewed
6 sources
Regulations
  • All domestic landscaping work falls under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for the contractor and their workers. [1]
  • Domestic projects with two or more contractors are notifiable under CDM 2015 and need a Principal Contractor. [2]
  • Before any excavation — post holes, trenches, footings, dig-outs — you must locate buried services using the HSE HSG47 'Avoiding danger from underground services' method: drawings, CAT & Genny sweep, then safe digging. This is the legal duty of care under HSWA 1974 and CDM 2015. [3][4]
  • Cement, resins and solvents are COSHH-controlled substances; assessments and SDS sheets are required. [6]
Hints & tips
  • CAT & Genny — the proper HSG47 sweep. A CAT (Cable Avoidance Tool) on its own only finds LIVE mains (Power mode) and metallic services radiating stray signal (Radio mode). It will not find a plastic gas main, a plastic water main, a dead cable or an empty duct. The Genny (signal generator) fixes that — clip it to a service or set it to Induction mode and it pushes a traceable 33 kHz signal onto buried metalwork the CAT can then find. Always sweep in all three modes (Power, Radio, Genny) over a grid pattern in two directions before breaking ground. [3]
  • Plan → Locate → Dig safely. (1) Get utility records from LinesearchBeforeUDig — free and covers most asset owners. (2) CAT & Genny the area, mark services on the ground with NJUG Vol. 4 colour codes (red electric, yellow gas, blue water, green comms). (3) Hand-dig trial holes within 500 mm either side of any located service — never a breaker, never a mini-digger bucket. Re-sweep as you go down; signals weaken with depth. [3][4]
  • Wet cement is alkaline — wear nitrile gloves under work gloves, wash skin contact immediately. Cement burns develop hours later.
  • Manual handling limit guidance: men 25 kg from waist, women 16 kg — slabs over those weights need two people or a vacuum lifter.
  • Working at height: scaffold or proper tower for anything over 2 m; ladders for short-duration access only.
  • Daily kit cost: hiring a CAT4+ and Genny4 pair runs roughly £60–£90/day from HSS, Speedy or a local plant hire. Cheaper than a strike on a 25 mm gas main — which is a HSE-reportable RIDDOR incident plus the gas board's emergency call-out bill.

This app provides general UK guidance and material estimates only. It is not legal, planning, engineering or building-control advice. Always confirm requirements with your local planning authority, building control, utility providers, manufacturers or qualified professionals.