Health and safety is often associated with construction sites, specialist equipment, and high-risk environments. However, at Timberwise, health and safety extends far beyond the treatment area. Every role within the business faces its own unique risks and responsibilities, whether that’s supporting customers from an office, surveying complex structural environments, or carrying out remedial works on site.
As the UK’s largest family-run specialist property care company, Timberwise relies on the expertise of its surveyors, technicians, and office teams working together to deliver safe, effective property care solutions. Each role requires different controls, training and procedures to help ensure that everyone returns home safely at the end of the working day.
As part of our continuing health and series during National Safety Month, we explore how Timberwise protects colleagues across every part of the business, and why maintaining a strong health and safety culture requires involvement from everyone.
Surveyor Safety: Managing Risks in Diverse Environments
Timberwise surveyors are often the first specialists to visit a property. They work independently across domestic homes, commercial buildings, historic structures, and active construction projects throughout the UK. Because every property is different, surveyors must be prepared to adapt to a wide range of environments and hazards.
Dynamic Risk Assessments
No two properties are identical. While standard procedures provide a framework for safe working, surveyors must continually assess the environment around them.
Dynamic risk assessments are a critical part of surveying activities. These involve identifying hazards as they arise and adjusting working methods accordingly. This could include recognising unstable flooring, restricted access points, inadequate lighting, evidence of structural movement, or environmental hazards not identified or disclosed prior to arrival.
By continually reviewing the risks present, surveyors can make informed decisions about whether it is safe to proceed or whether additional controls are required.
Lone Working
Surveyors frequently undertake appointments independently and travel extensively. Lone working arrangements are essential to ensure that surveyors remain supported throughout the day. This includes communication protocols, scheduling systems, and procedures designed to maintain contact with colleagues while travelling between appointments and visiting unfamiliar locations. Effective lone worker arrangements provide reassurance that support can be accessed quickly should an issue arise.
Working in Occupied Properties
Much of Timberwise’s work takes place within occupied homes and businesses. This creates additional considerations beyond the physical hazards associated with construction activities. Surveyors are regularly granted access to people’s homes and workplaces. This responsibility requires both professionalism and an awareness of potential hazards.
Properties may contain vulnerable occupants, pets, restricted access areas, or hidden structural defects. Surveyors must balance the need to complete a thorough inspection while maintaining safe working practices and respecting the occupants and their property. We also protect our staff from uncommon but potential risks from the public, such as physical attack.
Surveyors frequently inspect areas that are rarely accessed by occupants, including lofts, basements, and underfloor voids. These environments present different risks to the habitable areas of a property, and so special consideration is required prior to surveying these areas.
- Structural instability
- Poor lighting
- Damp conditions
- Fungal decay
- Trip hazards
- Low headroom
Timberwise surveyors receive specialist training, and many hold recognised industry qualifications including CSTDB, CSRT and CSSW certifications, helping ensure they possess the technical knowledge required to identify property defects safely and accurately.
Technician Safety: Protecting Those Delivering the Work
While surveyors identify problems, Timberwise technicians carry out the specialist remedial work required to resolve them. Whether treating damp, repairing timber structures, installing waterproofing systems or undertaking structural repairs, technicians often work in environments where hazards are more pronounced.
Site Inspections and Safety Audits
Site inspections and safety audits provide a consistent review of any working conditions to ensure the safety of our staff as well as any other contractors or visitors working on a site or within a property. They are essential for ensuring open communication about any hazards, as well as maintaining good health and safety practices.
Site inspections focus on identifying the current conditions of a property, as well as ensuring the proper identification of hazards and the correct use of PPE. Site inspections are frequently undertaken, and are often unannounced.
Conversely, safety audits are conducted periodically, and focus on the wider legal compliance and correct implementation of health and safety policies, training records, and potential oversights.
Equipment Checks and Competency
Specialist property care work relies on a variety of tools and equipment.
Before equipment is used, pre-use inspections and regular formal checks and servicing help identify defects that could affect safety or performance. This may include checking power tools, access equipment, extraction systems, and specialist treatment equipment. Equipment checks are also a legal requirement, and the Health and Safety Executive’s Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) forms part of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974).
However, equipment safety is not solely about the condition of the tool itself. Competency is equally important. Timberwise places significant emphasis on training to ensure technicians understand how to use equipment correctly, safely and efficiently. Regular refresher training and toolbox talks help maintain these standards over time.
PPE Inspections and Use
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) forms an important layer of protection when engineering or administrative controls alone cannot eliminate risk. Depending on the task being undertaken, technicians may use:
- Safety footwear
- Hard hats
- Protective gloves
- Safety glasses or goggles
- Face-fitted respiratory protective equipment (RPE)
- Hearing protection
- Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) monitoring
- Protective clothing
PPE is regularly inspected to ensure it remains fit for purpose. Employees also receive training on selecting the correct equipment for specific tasks and understanding its limitations.
Annual Health Surveillance
Of course, it’s not enough to just protect a person while they’re on site. To ensure adequate protection, our technicians also undertake annual health checks to identify any health concerns they may experience due to exposure to their exposure to high-risk environments.
The Health and Safety Executive describes health surveillance as ‘a scheme of repeated health checks which are used to identify ill health caused by work’ (hse.gov.uk). These periodic checks aim to secure the health of our technicians, ensuring that any ongoing health concerns are managed, and any new concerns are identified, with corrective measures taken to reduce the impact on our technicians’ health.
Vehicle Safety
Timberwise technicians and surveyors spend a considerable amount of time travelling on site, as well as between sites and offices. Vehicle safety therefore plays an important role in protecting employees. Routine vehicle inspections help identify maintenance issues early, while safe loading procedures ensure equipment and materials are transported securely.
It’s not enough to just manage the vehicle, however: fatigue can also play a key role in our team’s safety. While our teams are regional and work within a specific catchment area, some of these areas require long travel times, especially when working in remote areas. To manage fatigue, our technicians are encouraged to keep hydrated and keep their vehicle well ventilated. When required, they are also encouraged to take a break every 100 miles or 2 hours, stopping to stretch their legs or take a power nap if required.
Journey planning, vehicle maintenance, and fatigue management contribute significantly to reducing risk both on and off site.
Office Safety: Creating a Safe Working Environment
Although office environments are generally considered lower risk than construction sites, they still present a range of hazards that require effective management.
Fire Safety
Fire safety forms a fundamental part of both workplace and on-site health and safety. Like our on-site staff, Timberwise offices maintain fire safety procedures, emergency evacuation arrangements, and appropriate fire-fighting equipment to help ensure employees and visitors can respond safely in an emergency.
Regular reviews of office layouts, escape routes, and emergency procedures help ensure that fire risks remain controlled and that staff understand what to do should an incident occur.
Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Assessments
Many office-based employees spend a significant proportion of their day using computers and other display screen equipment. Without proper workstation setup, employees can experience discomfort, fatigue, and musculoskeletal issues.
DSE assessments help ensure that desks, chairs, screens and peripherals are positioned correctly to support comfortable and healthy working practices. Small adjustments to posture and workstation layout can significantly reduce the risk of long-term discomfort and injury.
Electrical Safety and PAT Testing
Electrical equipment is essential to the day-to-day operation of any modern workplace. Any corded tool or appliance, such as computers, monitors, printers, and kitchen equipment all require routine inspection to ensure they remain safe to use.
Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) forms part of Timberwise’s wider approach to electrical safety. Regular inspections help identify damaged cables, faulty equipment, or other defects before they become a risk to employees or visitors.
Toolbox Talks and Internal Communication
Health and safety is not something that can simply be addressed once and forgotten. Ongoing communication is essential, and competency is a fundamental part to working safely.
Timberwise regularly holds health & safety meetings with all teams, providing an open forum to discuss ongoing activities and best practices. Outside of these meetings, we also conduct regular check-ins and development discussions to identify new health and safety opportunities.
Timberwise also regularly shares toolbox talks and health and safety updates covering relevant topics such as manual handling, dust exposure, vibration, workplace wellbeing, and emerging industry risks. Toolbox talks are widely recognised throughout the construction industry as an effective way of reinforcing health and safety awareness through short, focused discussions on specific hazards.
This continual flow of information helps ensure health and safety remains at the forefront of employees’ minds regardless of their role within the business.
A Shared Safety Culture
While the risks faced by office staff, surveyors and technicians may differ considerably, the principles that underpin their safety remain the same.
At Timberwise, health and safety is built around communication, training, competency and continuous improvement. Employees are encouraged to raise concerns, report hazards and contribute ideas that may improve safety across the organisation. Regular reviews, external audits and ongoing professional development help ensure standards continue to evolve alongside the industry. Timberwise’s commitment to health and safety is further supported through membership of the Property Care Association (PCA) and independent accreditation schemes including CHAS and Constructionline, and our staff work to ISO 45001 occupational health and safety standards.
Whether supporting customers from an office, diagnosing defects in a historic building, or carrying out specialist remedial treatments on site, every colleague plays an integral role in maintaining a safe working environment.
By fostering a culture where health and safety is everyone’s responsibility, Timberwise continues to work towards its vision of providing a working environment free from harm while delivering safe, professional and reliable property care solutions throughout the UK.
FAQs
What is a Dynamic Risk Assessment?
A dynamic risk assessment is the process of continuously identifying and evaluating hazards as they arise during a task. Unlike a formal written risk assessment completed before work begins, a dynamic assessment allows workers to respond to changing conditions and unexpected hazards in real time.
Why are Equipment Inspections Important?
Equipment inspections help identify defects, wear, and damage before tools or equipment are used. Regular inspections reduce the risk of equipment failure, injury and downtime, while helping ensure employees can carry out their work safely and efficiently. Equipment checks are also a requirement of the Health and Safety Executive’s Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
What are Lone Working Procedures?
Lone working procedures are systems designed to protect employees who work independently. They typically include communication protocols, check-in arrangements, emergency procedures, and risk assessments, to help ensure support can be provided if needed.
What is PAT Testing?
Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) is the inspection and testing of electrical appliances to ensure they remain safe to use. PAT testing helps identify faults such as damaged cables, defective plugs, or internal electrical issues before they present a safety risk.
What PPE do Property Care Technicians Use?
The PPE used depends on the task being carried out. Common examples include safety boots, gloves, hard hats, eye protection, hearing protection, respiratory protective equipment (RPE) and protective clothing. Appropriate PPE is selected based on the hazards identified through risk assessments and safe working procedures.
