ContractorsSHEQ officersConstructionMinesProcess plants

    Safety File Checklist and Index Template (Construction Regulations)

    A safety file checklist and index: every document a contractor's health and safety file (the "safety file") must hold under the Construction Regulations, 2014, the regulation that requires it, where it sits in the file and when it expires. The client's agent, or the contractor-management office on a mine, checks the file against this index before work starts.

    Compiled before the contractor's work starts, kept on site for the life of the project, and updated whenever a document is added, replaced or expires.

    Legal basis checked 26 October 2026

    Two construction workers in hard hats and hi-vis working among rebar on a building site

    What is in the template

    File cover details

    • Contractor (name, registration number, letter of good standing number)
    • Client and client's agent
    • Project and site
    • Scope of work
    • Contract period (start and end)
    • File custodian (name and contact number)

    Document index

    Columns: Document · Required by · Present (Y/N) · Location in file · Version or date · Expiry

    • Construction work permit, or the notification of construction work · CR 3(6); CR 4
    • Client's baseline risk assessment · CR 5(1)(a)
    • Client's health and safety specification · CR 5(1)(b)
    • Health and safety plan, and the client's approval of it · CR 5(1)(l); CR 7(1)(a)
    • Appointment of the principal contractor, and of each contractor · CR 5(1)(k); CR 7(1)(c)(v)
    • Legal appointments: construction manager, supervisors, health and safety officer and the work-specific appointments · CR 8; OHS Act s16(2)
    • COIDA letters of good standing, for the principal contractor and each contractor · CR 7(1)(c)(iv)
    • List of contractors, their agreements and the work each does · CR 7(1)(f)
    • Risk assessments and safe work procedures · CR 9(1)
    • Fall protection plan · CR 10
    • Temporary works designs and drawings · CR 12(3)(c)
    • Induction records, including visitors · CR 7(5) to 7(7)
    • Medical certificates of fitness (Annexure 3) · CR 7(1)(g); CR 7(8)
    • Training records and toolbox talks · CR 9(3)
    • Inspection registers: excavations, temporary works, scaffolding, vehicles and plant, temporary electrics, fire equipment · CR 12(3)(f), 13(2)(h), 16, 23(1)(k), 24(d) and (e), 29(h)
    • Incident reports and investigations · OHS Act s24
    • 30-day health and safety audit reports · CR 5(1)(o) and (p); CR 7(1)(c)(vii)
    • Emergency and evacuation plan · CR 29

    One row per document, with the regulation that requires it already filled in; add the documents the client's health and safety specification asks for in the blank rows. A medical, appointment or letter of good standing that has expired is not present. On completion the principal contractor hands the client a consolidated file, including the drawings, designs and materials used (CR 7(1)(e)), and each contractor keeps a file for its own work (CR 7(2)(b)).

    Review and acceptance

    • Reviewed by (client's agent or contractor manager)
    • Date of review
    • Documents missing or expired (row numbers)
    • Accepted for work to start (Y/N)
    • Reviewer signature
    • Contractor representative signature

    How to fill it in

    1. 1Fill in the cover details first: who the contractor is, who the client is, what the scope is and who keeps the file. A file with no custodian goes stale.
    2. 2Strike out the listed documents the work does not need, and add anything else the client's health and safety specification requires in the blank rows, with the clause that requires it.
    3. 3Walk the file and mark each row present or not, with the tab or page number where it sits. A medical, an appointment or a letter of good standing that has expired is marked N.
    4. 4Record the version or date of each document and its expiry, so an expiry shows on the index before an inspector or the client's agent finds it in the file.
    5. 5Have the client's agent or the contractor manager sign the acceptance. Every row marked N goes into your corrective-action register with an owner and a due date.

    A general template, not legal advice. Check it against the Act, the regulations and the codes of practice that apply to your site, and against your own safety management system. The Construction Regulations, 2014, regulation 7(1)(b) require the principal contractor to open and keep on site a health and safety file holding all documentation required under the OHS Act and the regulations, and to make it available to an inspector, the client, the client's agent or a contractor on request. The OHS Act section 37(2) governs the written agreement between an employer and a mandatary such as a contractor. On a mine, the MHSA section 2 and section 3 place the duties on the owner and the employer, and the contractor file is checked against the mine's own standards. The regulation numbers are those of the Construction Regulations, 2014 (GN R84 of 7 February 2014); draft replacement regulations were published for comment in March 2025 and had not been finalised when this template was made.

    Legal basis checked on against: Construction Regulations, 2014 (GN R84 of 7 February 2014), regulations 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 23, 24 and 29; Occupational Health and Safety Act, 85 of 1993, section 16(2).

    Convert this template into a digital form

    Run it on an Android phone with no signal, attach photos as evidence, and every failed item raises an issue with an owner and a due date.

    Start the trial from here and this template is waiting in your workspace as a ready-made form.

    Start free trialBook a demo

    The same record in Inspecable

    On paper the register is only as current as the last person who updated it. In Inspecable the same record keeps going:

    Do it in InspecableLegal registerThe longer readHow to Prepare for a Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate Audit

    Questions

    What is a safety file?

    A safety file, or health and safety file, is the folder of documents a contractor keeps on site to show it meets the OHS Act and the Construction Regulations, 2014: the health and safety plan, appointments, risk assessments, medicals, training, inspection registers and incident records. Regulation 7(1)(b) requires the principal contractor to keep one.

    What must a health and safety file contain?

    Every document the OHS Act, the Construction Regulations, 2014 and the client's health and safety specification require: the contractor's health and safety plan, risk assessments, legal appointments, the letter of good standing, medical certificates, induction and training records, inspection registers, incident records and the emergency plan. The index lists each with where it sits in the file.

    Who keeps the health and safety file on a construction site?

    The principal contractor, on site, under regulation 7(1)(b) of the Construction Regulations, 2014. Each contractor keeps the documents for its own work and the principal contractor checks them. The file must be available to an inspector, the client, the client's agent or a contractor on request.

    Does a contractor on a mine need a safety file?

    In practice, yes. The Construction Regulations are made under the OHS Act, but the MHSA places the duties for contractors' work on the mine's owner and employer, and most mines require a contractor file with the same contents as a condition of access, checked by the contractor-management office before work starts.

    More free templates

    Looking for an inspection checklist instead? Free checklists.