Safety – Warning letter for safety non compliance

Warning letter for safety non compliance

Warning letter for safety non compliance sample and template

Why and when are warning letters for safety non compliance issued?

Construction and industrial sites are dangerous enough when companies and individuals are following the safety rules and regulations, with enough ever-present hazards and issues making some incidents almost inevitable.

So when companies and individuals start playing with safety non compliance, the situation gets far worse: more people make mistakes or aren't prepared, more people get injured, and projects get more delayed or also fail to be compliant.

A warning letter for safety non compliance is a tool which companies on projects and sites can use to inform and warn other companies about specific safety non compliances which need to be solved and rectified.

Some of these safety non compliances stem from the contractor or subcontractors processes or practices while others are related to an individual within one of their teams who has been non compliant or involved themselves in a non compliant activity. And unsurprisingly, the single largest cause of safety non-compliance is an inattention to safety details or safety negligence on the part of the individual.

Either way, the applicable project party (contractor, subcontractor, supplier etc.) will receive a warning latter of safety non compliance which they need to take seriously.

Avoiding warning letters is the aim of the game for safety teams and companies, and they work hard on their safety forms, permitting, safety meetings and other processes and procedures in order to establish compliant safety practices every step of the way.

Non compliance is a serious issues in the construction and any industrial industry. Compliance in how work is performed, how concrete is mixed, and how phases of work are inspected ensure that assets and projects are delivered safely for people on site and the people using that final asset.

Safety compliance is all about ensuring that the people who are delivering an asset and want to get home safely from a day of work can do exactly that - and that all of the teams and parties working on a project are held to the same safety standards.

Warning letter for safety non compliance sample

So what does one of these warning letter for safety non compliances actually look like?

The below warning letter for safety non compliance is an example and usable framework for safety non compliances.

The most important elements of your non compliance letters is that they are clear and concise - and create some form of action or rectification from the receiving party, even if just a minor adjustment to behaviour or activity.

Beneath this letter sample, you'll see an alternate way to document and share safety non compliances which is more comprehensive and professional, but if you still manage and want to continue to manage your non compliance notifications through letters and emails, you can use the below sample as a customisable template for your own letters.

The most important parts of the letter and the main 'sections' are:

  • The important details of the safety non compliance letter which help you build compliant safety records yourself
  • An opening paragraph which provides context as to the safety non compliance
  • A rectification date (where applicable)
  • State the consequences/actions which will be made if compliance is not rectified

You can see what these sections look like when they are put together into a cohesive letter which is digestible and informative.

[Insert Date]

[Insert Recipient Name]

[Insert Address]

[Contract Number]

[Project Name/Number]

NOTICE OF SAFETY NON COMPLIANCE

Your company [insert company name] is believed to be in violation of the safety requirements applicable to the project for [insert project].

On [insert date], in accordance with the [insert contract/compliance doc name], your representative [insert person responsible for non compliance] was given a notice of safety non-compliance (copy attached).

This notice specified areas where your company does not comply with project safety requirements, and requested that these items be corrected by [insert rectification date]. 

If there is no correction, more stringent measures may be taken in accordance with the [insert relevant document] and failure to comply may result in the issuance of a performance deficiency warning letter.

Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email me at [x] if I can provide additional information or assistance. Thank you for your cooperation.

Signed by,
Authorised Person
Company name

You can obviously and easily tweak the above warning letter for safety non compliance to suit the non compliance issue and consequences, but keeping your letter as standardised and consistent as possible is a good way to improve the consistency and quality of your communication and collaboration.

Warning letter for safety non compliance template

If you are looking for a more organised and professional way to create, manage and issue warning letters for safety non compliances, then we also have a free template and framework you can use below.

Unlike the letter framework above, this warning form for safety non compliance looks more like your normal site forms and documents.

This already gives you some inherent benefits, including the fact that your warning letters can sit with the other forms and documents in your information management system (IMS). This keeps your safety issues and warnings organised and searchable in the same way as your other critical information - rather than having to go back through emails or physical paper copies.

Creating warning notifications in this manner also enables you to include more information - and more quality information. The form is broken down into specific sections where you can put the date, describe the non compliance or violation, add supporting photos and videos, and sign off on the form digitally.

You can probably see how much more effective and professional this form will look than a lump of written text - and it's also much more flexible.

You can add and remove specific fields for individual safety non compliances (maybe one violation has a photo and the other doesn't) and you can access and fill in the form online - and then download, print or send it as a formatted PDF document.

This way, your digital version and digital information remains organised and secure - and you can easily convert that critical information into a hard copy format like you see below.

Take a look at this better warning letter for safety non compliance template, and then scroll down to use it for yourself.

Warning letter for safety non compliance

Use this warning letter for safety non compliances form for free.

How to reduce safety non compliances before having to issue letters and warnings

No client, contractor or subcontractor wants to issue safety non compliance letters - and there's definitely no one who wants to receive them, so how can projects and sites avoid or reduce the number of letters for safety non compliance required to get people conducting work in a safer and more compliant way?

The first is by ensuring that everyone has access to the right safety information, and understand what non-compliance looks like. While there are some activities which are obviously non-compliant or negligent, other activities or issues are more subtle, and it is easy for people to mistake or forget a specific rule or guideline. So the first step is by making sure people are aware of the standards and expectations on site, which can be done through training, documentation, posters and meetings.

The second part is to build a team and site culture of safety; to make people feel accountable to everyones safety, and to the projects safety outcomes. This type of culture and environment is the holy grail of safety compliance - because then workers work together to ensure compliance.

One of the easiest and most obvious ways of fostering this type of culture is to regularly discuss safety issues and topic through toolbox talks, safety meetings and safety training. These type of activities inform people of basic and advanced safety compliance, and also create an environment where people feel left-out or like they are letting people down when they are safety non compliant.

'Peer pressure' and group dynamics are a powerful force, and if you can reverse the old adage that safety is not cool, and make people feel uncool and lame when they aren't safe, then you will be well on your way to reducing the number of safety non compliance letters you issue and receive.

It's also important to give people the right tools for the job, including identifying risks and analysing site activity - which is where Sitemate can help.

Individual inattention to detail is the major reason for safety non compliance, so focus on creating powerful incentives for good safety compliance, and strong repercussions for safety non compliance - including the warning letter for safety non compliance when it's required.

People in 80+ countries use this safety management software to better manage safety.

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About Lance Hodgson

Lance is VP of Marketing at Sitemate. His aim is to bring awareness to a brighter future for the Built World where industrial workers and companies work smarter.

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