A Safety Plan is not the easiest of tasks to complete. There are many different types of safety plans depending on the industry you operate in. Download your safety plan template and get it completed quickly and efficiently.
Table of Contents
Safety Plans
In this article, we will explore safety plans and safety plan templates. We will discuss what they are, the different types, what they include and how to create one.
Further to this we will investigate finding safety plan templates to create your safety plan quickly and efficiently.
We will also explore free safety plans and you can even download your own free template. It’s down a bit further. So let’s get underway.
Click here for a comprehensive Safety Plan Template.
What is a Safety Plan?
A safety plan is a document or strategy that allows you to plan for avoiding dangerous situations. A safety plan identifies how to react when a dangerous situation occurs and can be used in several areas of life from domestic violence through to construction.
What is a Safety Plan Template?
A safety plan template is a formatted document that has been created with the intention of increasing the ability to complete a safety plan faster and easier.
Typically, a template will include a lot of the information already completed and a simple task of removing unwanted content is required. A safety plan template is going to save you an incredible amount of time and allow you to create your finished safety plan in minutes instead of weeks.
Types of Safety Plans
There are many different types of safety plans. For instance, a simple Google search reveals a massive amount of information around this topic.
Check out the numbers below. Is that billions? Looks like it to me.
About 3,040,000,000 results. Wow! Safety plans are certainly something that are important.
A safety plan can apply to many different parts of life and can also cover many different industries or fields of work. There are plans for many situations and events and can include safety plans from construction through to the management of infrastructure.
8 Different Types of Safety Plans
Here are eight different types of safety plans including plans in these areas.
- Construction
- Mental health
- Domestic violence
- Emergency
- Event Safety
- Internet Safety
- Mandatory Safety Plan
- Infrastructure
- And the list goes on and on.
They can be simple ‘go to’ lists through to comprehensive plans that include many complex scenarios.
So let’s have a detailed look at the different types of safety plans and the content within them. Then we will explore how to create your own safety plan depending on the type you want.
Check out some of the types of plans below on this info-graphic.
Whatever the type of safety plan, it is important that the plan outlines in detail preventative actions as well as action plans to ensure users are kept safe.
Below we will talk about some of the templates available online – both free and paid.
Different Types of Safety Plans
Let’s drill down and look at the different types of safety plans in a little more detail.
Event Safety Plans
Where there are large gatherings of people safety is critical. Likewise, imagine how easily it can get out of hand. Just look at the list of human stampedes on Wikipedia!
Safety Plans to deal with large numbers of people are relevant. Generally, these tie in with transport plans and crowd management plans. All relevant to keeping people safe.
Event Safety Plan Example
Check out Safety Culture’s Event Safety Plan for more information regarding Event Safety.
Recommended Content of an Event Safety Plan
Typical content of an event safety plan includes:
- Health and Safety Assessment
- Consideration of Risks and Methods to Alleviate
- Traffic and Parking Management
- Patron Management
- Training for all Staff and Security
- Security Management
- Food Safety
- Emergency Plan, Resources and Access.
Events should have a detailed and comprehensive safety plan that captures all aspects of the event from crowd control through to emergency personnel and access.
Construction Safety Plans
Safety Plans for construction purposes are complex and associated with WHS (Workplace Health and Safety).
These safety plans are site specific and come come with a large amount of detail and are required by law before site work can start.
Depending on the country and the jurisdiction you live in, Workplace Health and Safety is usually a high priority. Furthermore, protecting people in dangerous roles and jobs is critical.
If you are looking to create a safety plan for construction purposes, there are many options online available to you. There are also free templates available as well as paid versions to assist you in creating a safety plan for your project.
Specific Construction Safety Plans
As mentioned above, in construction safety is critical. Looking after your fellow human being is a core responsibility in anyone’s life. Preventing accidents is of an upmost priority. Everyone should go home after a hard day’s work and deserves to work in a safe environment.
A company safety plan will address any aspects of safety that personnel from the company may experience in their daily work. It doesn’t just have to be construction firms. All businesses must consider safety.
A Dangerous Industry
The construction industry is no doubt more dangerous than a lot of industries. Due to the nature of the work, significant machinery and dangerous worksites, safety becomes paramount.
Typically, a construction safety plan word document is the format that most people create their document in. Usually this is a .doc or .docx file format and they then save it as a .pdf. This makes it easy to edit and update quickly.
Demolition Plans
Other things to consider within a construction site safety plan template is whether it has a demolition safety plan template within it as a separate section or is an additional document. Demolition has its own risks as obviously things potentially are flying everywhere, and safety is paramount.
If you are a managing contractor, then providing a subcontractor site specific safety plan for subcontractors on your site is essential to meet government regulations and law in many countries.
Safe Work Method Statements
SWMS or Safe Work Method Statements are a critical part of any construction site. These documents detail specifics when it comes to performing a risky task on site.
It outlines step by step how the task will be completed and identifies risks and hazards that must be addressed prior to the task commencing onsite.
Utilise a safety method statement template to create your SWMS quickly and efficiently. If you are looking for a builder’s safety swms (Safe Work Method Statement), then there are plenty examples available online.
What is Safety in Design
Safety in design is something that has become critical over the last 20 years.
It is about ensuring all aspects of safety have been considered in the design process before work commences onsite.
It is really a checklist process to ensure all consultants have considered safety in their design discipline and documented this process as a record of what has been reviewed and amended.
As part of the design process, typically a safety in design report is completed and sometimes there can be a requirement for a safety in design presentation.
Whatever the process is, using a safety in design report template will save considerable time and effort when completing these tasks.
Safety in Design Risk Assessment
Safety in design risk assessment involves considering the aspects of the site and the level of risk. These risks are typically rated from low risk to extreme risk and this is graphically represented on a chart included within the report.
Specifically, as an example, a low risk element of a project maybe a small trip hazard in a walkway.
This is something that could be easily addressed with signage or safety markings on the ground. This would help identify the risk to users.
In comparison, a high-risk element might be an accessible area on a high rise building that doesn’t have any fall protection to prevent people falling from a great height.
These are just 2 safety in design risk assessment examples that should be addressed in the safety in design process.
A safety in design template as well as a safety matrix template are documents that assist in completing the safety in design requirements for any project to meet local regulations and law.
Regulating Authorities
United States
The United States Department of Labor aims to protect and enhance the welfare of workers. They also have recommendations regarding safety in the workplace and are a great reference point for anything related to site safety.
Recommended Content of a Construction Safety Plan
Typical content of a construction safety plan includes:
- The details of all safety personnel and responsible personnel at the workplace or construction site
- Roles of safety officers on the site
- Safety arrangements with other parties involved in the construction
- Project specific rules and safety requirements
- Monitoring, review and documentation of Safe Work Method Statements
- Emergency procedures, contacts and requirements.
Construction sites are dangerous environments and every year workers are injured or killed due to site accidents. Site safety is an important aspect of any construction site and ensuring a safe workplace is paramount for a successful construction process.
Mental Health Safety Plans
They are created so people refer to them to remind them of reasons to live. For example, to look at the good things in life such as family, friends and activities to do when they are alone. Safety Plans also provide strategies to help people reflect on positive thoughts.
These safety plans are personal and it is possible to create one online. Refer to some of the websites available by a simple search if you are looking to create this type of safety plan.
As mentioned above, safety plans stretch also to personal issues such as mental health.
A mental health safety plan template will identify the aspects of a mental health safety plan that are important to be considered as part of keeping safe.
A personal safety plan identifies specific actions to be take in a high-risk environment that a vulnerable person may find themselves in. It provides a step by step instruction to follow in a time of risk.
As an example, this could include something such as a domestic violence situation where a domestic violence safety plan created from a template becomes important.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Check out the example below from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. This template is a patient safety plan template and outlines step by step what should be considered for personal safety.
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Brown_StanleySafetyPlanTemplate.pdf
Mental Health Safety Plans provide security for people to have a little bit of confidence that they have something to revert to should they find themselves in a situation they need to get out of quickly and these plans provide that exit advice they can apply immediately.
Recommended Content of a Mental Health Safety Plan
Typical content of a mental health safety plan includes:
- When the plan should be used by the user
- Strategies to comfort the user when they are feeling vulnerable, suicidal or at risk
- A list of reasons for living
- Contacts who the user can talk to easily and readily
- Contacts who the user can access for professional help
- Ways to make the users environment safe.
Mental health plans are relatively simple but very effective in assisting the user to re-frame their perspective for the situation they are in and immediately seek help. They are effective to assist users to think of alternative options in vulnerable situations and act on those options.
Emergency Safety Plans
Safety plans for emergencies are prepared for the workplace or for situations where people address an emergency. They are a written set of instructions to assist in dealing with the situation.
Information within a document like this is usually clear, straight to the point and also provides a list of step by step instructions to follow.
Commonly known as an emergency plan.
There are also situations where a safety plan is created and kept in a safe place ready for use for when an emergency occurs. For example in a bush fire scenario.
Recommended Content of an Emergency Safety Plan
Typical content of an emergency safety plan includes:
- an effective response to an emergency
- how to evacuate and all procedures associated with evacuation
- medical treatment
- communication and testing of emergency procedures.
Emergency Safety Plans are great at communicating directly in times of stress. They should be clear and direct and identify measures that aim to keep people calm and render assistance as soon as possible.
Internet Safety Plans
Keeping people safe online is important as the amount of risk escalates daily. Having a safety plan in place can help to keep people and children safe from predators. Also keeping people safe from scams is important – which are rife.
Recommended Content of an Internet Safety Plan
Typical content of an internet safety plan includes:
- Online safety checklist
- Social media checklist
- Securing accounts and devices
- Keeping children safe
- Virus software.
Internet Safety Plans are only as good as the supervisor or parent activating them.
Domestic Violence Safety Plans
Also useful in domestic violence situations, safety plans assist people in situations where they feel they may need help. They also help people to feel safer.
They have things such as an escape plan and practical strategies such as improving home security and personal security. These types of plans help people plan for unexpected situations. They are about taking proactive steps to take back control over their life and the lives of their children.
These types of safety plans address all areas of life. This can include at home, in the car, at work or in social settings.
Recommended Content of a Domestic Violence Safety Plan
Some of the typical content of a domestic violence safety plan includes:
- Safety during a violent incident
- Advice for when preparing to leave
- Safety in residence
- Requirements and safety with a violence restraining order (VRO).
- Considerations in regard to safety on the job and in public
- Drug or alcohol use and safety
- Emotional health and safety considerations.
Domestic Safety Plans can be quite detailed however they give the user plenty of information and options to make the best decision in very stressful situations.
Infrastructure Safety Plans
Critical Infrastructure Resilience. This stuff is important. All communities rely on provision of services including the provision of the most basic needs like water, food and safe transport.
What about the health system, finance system, communications and all these types of services that make up our society? Having safety plans to keep all these things protected makes sense.
It is unlikely you would be producing a safety plan for something like this. Unless of course you are in some government department. And then, they are likely to have their own standards and requirements.
However, these types of safety plans are usually very detailed and include large broad scale principles to protect our infrastructure.
Recommended Content of an Infrastructure Safety Plan
Typical content of an infrastructure safety plan includes:
- regular maintenance and servicing
- access for personnel and contractors
- extreme weather events and damage
- management and contacts regarding operations
- emergency personnel and external emergency contacts.
Infrastructure Safety Plans are tools to keep the public’s assets operating effectively and safely particularly in unusual events such as terrorism risks or severe weather events.
Safe Work a Major Focus for Governments
In countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA, there are organizations that promote and regulate work safety.
Workplace Safety
Workplace safety effects everyone not just those that are not at work. Injuries and accidents have a huge cost to the community, and we all have a responsibility to look after others to minimize the impacts of these events that can be life changing for many.
Not just in high risk industries such as mining and construction, workplace safety covers all businesses and workplaces.
It is the most important aspect of running a business and should be the number one priority for management in any business.
Work Safety Plans, Procedures and Manuals
Typically, a workplace health and safety policies and procedures manual is a document that helps to communicate expectations across any organization. These work safety plan templates assist in delivering safe work environments for all.
There are plenty of workplace safety plan examples and templates available online, so it really isn’t that hard anymore to identify strict safe rules for a workplace. It is harder however to ensure everyone abides by the rules and looks after their fellow workers.
Safe Work Australia
Down under in Australia, Safe Work Australia is the organization initiated by the Australian Government leading safe work practices in the workplace. This is to reduce site accidents and these organizations focus on promoting safe work places.
There are also WHS (WHS stands for Workplace Health and Safety) laws and these laws are attempts to create a consistent approach to safety. Typically developed through National Standards and National Codes of Practice .
Safe Work USA
In the US, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration oversea work safe initiatives and have a range of standards, help and resources.
Safe Work UK
In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive is the government agency responsible for safe work practices.
These organizations provide a range of information and guidance regarding employer’s responsibilities, managing risk and reporting obligations. They are a great reference tool to refer to.
Safety Plans for Health and Safety in Construction
So if you’re in the market for a workplace health and safety construction based safety plan template, then there are plenty of opportunities you can find online.
WHS Management Safety Plans
If you are developing a construction based safety plan, there are plenty of things to consider.
For example, what are the duties required with regard to safety of personnel on site? Specifically, for any tasks within the construction work to be completed?
Then other things to consider are managing risks in construction and also WHS management safety plans. There are so many things to consider when you are developing your safety plan for construction.
A Typical Example
For example, let’s consider a typical construction site. On this site it may be a small block of units. The managing contractor sublets all works to subcontractors. The subcontractors need to attend site to complete their work. If the safety of any subcontractor is at risk, the managing contractor can be liable.
It makes sense for the managing contractor to get his safety plan and WHS management plan sorted out. And then to also distribute it to all subcontractors before they can commence on site. Even detailed tasks such as handling materials or picking up heavy objects require guidelines on how to prevent injury.
Clearly a safety plan is going to be a detailed document and something that anybody involved in your project needs to read and apply.
The following are a list of parts of a WHS Management Plan or Safety Plan that you should consider.
Safe Work Method Statements
How about safe work method statements? These types of documents outline how to perform specific tasks safely. These detailed documents list out each step and each safety requirement for each step.
In other words, safe work method statements show workers exactly what is required to keep safe.
Incident Management
What about incident management? Don’t think that incidents may not happen. They may and are you prepared if they do?
Incident management reports, incident forms and all types of documents suitable to manage incidents are also part of a WHS Management Plan.
Signage
Safety signage is an important aspect of a construction site. Do you have the correct signage? Is the signage positioned correctly? Does your signage meet the required codes for clarity and legibility?
All of these aspects must be considered.
Safe Handling and Use of Dangerous Substances
Handling dangerous substances, chemicals and materials is an extremely important part of a safety plan. It is something you need to consider. What are the national standards for storing chemicals and handling dangerous goods on your work site?
Worker Training
Training is about how workers go about their jobs safely. It is critical to ensure safety standards are followed on site. This type of training is important for any field to educate workers on the correct behavior and hazard identification.
Emergency Procedures
Procedures for when an emergency occurs is another aspect of site safety plans and workplace environments. Creation of evacuation procedures, notification procedures, emergency drills and responsible personnel all make up the emergency procedure requirements when creating a safety plan.
Safety Plan Templates – Save Time
Searching online brings up a huge list of results regarding safety plan templates.
The majority of the top results are focused around patient safety. They are also focused around as suicide safety planning. It’s not until page 2 of the Google results do the construction safety plans start appearing.
There are a lot of construction based health and safety templates available. They seem to be very popular and you can purchase these through a number of websites.
Other Types of Safety Plan Templates
However, other types of safety plans and templates are generally less detailed and more basic. These typically are for domestic violence and other types of human resource issues.
There seem to be limited opportunities to purchase templates online for for government base entities for infrastructure requirements and community safe requirements.
Free Safety Plan Template
If you are looking for a free safety plan template then consider your options online. Below is an image of the results at time of writing.
You can see there are plenty of results that are offering a free template.
However, if you dig down further, the part that is free is usually just to get you interested in spending money on a more complex version which is fair enough for any online business.
OK, so after all the text above and all the talking, we would love for you to download our free safety plan template. It’s not our full version, however it is a good version if you want something for free to get your safety plan up and running.
If however, you want to save a lot of time then consider purchasing our full version Safety Plan Template as it will save you a ton of time.
So, check it out below in an easy MS Word format for you to download – 100% free with no signups or anything. Just a gift from us for coming to our website and reading this far down….so here it is.
Conclusion
So that is a lot to consider don’t you think?
There is a ton of information you need to consider when producing a safety plan regardless of the type. Check out the graphic below for a summary of WHS Management Plan essentials.
So that’s about it for safety plans and safety plan templates. Leave a comment below.
What do you think about safety plans and have you created a safety plan easily or has it been hard work?
Safety Plan Template Download
You can read more about the Digital Document Direct’s Safety Plan Template.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I create a Safety Plan Fast?
A safety plan template is going to be the fastest way to create your safety plan quickly and efficiently. The best way to get hold of a safety plan template is to purchase one online.
What should be in a Safety Plan?
Depending what industry you are creating your safety plan for will determine what should be in your safety plan. For example, if it is for a construction site then you should include all aspects of site safety requirements. If it is a personal safety plan you require, then you should consider things like mental health strategies to keep people safe.
Is a Safety Plan Easy to Create?
A construction safety plan is usually very detailed and can be complex. It will depend on the scale of the project so you should consider using a safety plan template to speed up the process. Other types of safety plans can range from simple to detailed. Consider the audience and the reason for creating the plan.
What types of Safety Plans are there?
There are many types of safety plans such as mental health safety plans, construction safety plans, domestic violence safety plans through to Emergency response safety plans and Infrastructure safety plans. The list goes on and on.
Speak Your Mind
Got something to say about Safety Plans? Leave a comment below.
