Site induction record

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• Everyone, before they start — no exceptions. Every worker, subcontractor and regular visitor gets inducted before they begin, and one-off visitors get the short version before they go past the boundary. The person who knows the site's hazards is you; the person walking onto it doesn't — the induction closes that gap. Most site accidents to newcomers trace back to a skipped or rushed induction.
• It's a CDM duty, not just good manners. Where there's more than one contractor, the principal contractor must make sure people are inducted to the site and follow the site's health-and-safety arrangements. Even on a single-contractor job, inducting your people is part of your general duty to inform and instruct them.
• Keep it short, real and site-specific. A generic induction people nod through protects no one. Cover the things that will actually hurt someone on this site today — the open riser, the live edge, the exclusion zone round the crane — plus the emergency plan and the rules. Five focused minutes beats twenty of box-ticking.
• The emergency bit is the part that saves lives. Make sure everyone knows how they'd get out, where to gather, who the first aider is, and the exact site address to give 999. On a changing site, update it as the layout and hazards change.
• Keep the register. The signed sheet is your proof that people were inducted, and it's the roll-call if you ever have to account for who's on site in an emergency. File it with the job records, and keep it current as people come and go.
• It pairs with the RAMS and permits. The induction covers the site; the RAMS covers the task. Point people to the relevant RAMS for what they're doing, and make sure anyone doing permit work knows the permit rules.
• Applies UK-wide. Site induction supports duties under CDM 2015 across Great Britain (HSE) and the equivalent construction regime in Northern Ireland (HSENI).