Posted By Vicky Godber-Ford Moore I am thinking of banning the use of mobile phones on all our construction sites whilst men/women are working. Has anyone else done the same and has it improved site safety? Victoria Chester Masonry

Posted By jason telford it depends on the people you are going to prohibit will this be a total ban site wide or limited to the "workers" the site i work on is 55 acras we depend on mobile phones to be contacted or contact relevant people in an emergency

Posted By John Murgatroyd Does this mean all mobile phone activity ? Or just the use of one with hands ? You see, phones with bluetooth headsets are all about now. So ? What constitutes a "high risk" area ? Or is it just sour grapes ? Or just an effort to get the work done !

Posted By Martyn Hendrie Sorry, To answer your question that contractor now has a strict ban on mobile phones on site.

Posted By John Murgatroyd been tried. Building sites. A motley collection of self-employed contractors or employees of other companies fulfilling various contracts, all of who may well NEED to contact their bases in case of need. Most of who will ignore you anyway. My firm tried it, no mobiles at work. The site teams refused to answer calls during work hours...citing safety and company policy...they had to leave the site to call base, usually from a pub. That ended that. Employees that can do the job are harder to get than jobs. This sounds like another silly idea to justify your jobs...again.

Posted By Pete Moran Vicky....I would be interested to know if there was a specific incident that led you to consider an outright ban? We have a conventional policy on mobile phone use whilst driving but when working for one particular main contractor we comply with their blanket ban on phone use whilst working on site. It seemed a bit heavy handed at first but most operatives have gone along with it. On road surfacing works with both site and public traffic hazards the tendency to wander around, head-down whilst on a call can be very dangerous. Many is the time that an operative has had to pull an oblivious supervisor from the path of an approaching lorry!

Posted By Vicky Godber-Ford Moore No there has not been an incident. However, I have heard about other mobile related accidents and decided to have a think about it as I am reviewing the Company H & S Policy at the mo. It's rather a difficult one to keep track of! Vicky

Posted By James M Hi Vicky, I have been on sites that have total bans on all use of mobile phones, including bluetooth and others that have implemented phone use areas that are identified by signs. The latter have been on large sites where it would not be practical to walk off site or to the welfare area to take a call. Again, like smoking bans it is about being able to police it. Good luck Jim

Posted By Vicky Godber-Ford Moore Yes....this is the point. It has to be looked at from all aspects. An outright ban would not be practical on our sites, due to the reasons aforementioned. These may be emergency response, unforeseen hazards arising etc. There is also the fact that site personnel gabbing to family and friends is not good for productivity...but lets not go there!!! However, I think it is right to assess the increased risk on site when a person is using a mobile. For example, we may all remember the days when we could chat freely on mobiles whilst driving and probably have a few near missess in the process, I did! There is an increased risk of danger involved, hence the ban. This also relates to site, the users mind is elsewhere and not concentrating on the job in hand. Potentially increasing the likelyhood of an accident occurring, not only to him/herself but to fellow workers. I think a risk assessment needs to be made in such situations.