Plaster boarding remains a distinct skill, and one that is often contracted out to professionals. Another reason for this is the hazards that can be incurred when dealing with plaster, which can create significant levels of dust and introduce contaminants into the air.

At the same time, plasterboard has been banned from landfill sites in England since 2005, thanks to the gypsum found in the material (which when mixed with biodegradables like food can produce hydrogen sulphide).

In this post, we’ll ask why you need a risk assessment when dealing with plasterboard, while appraising what form this process should take.

Why do You Need a Risk Assessment?

Let’s start with the basics; as a risk assessment when dealing with plasterboard helps to account for the various hazards and dangerous materials that you’re likely to encounter.

These materials and risks need to be controlled to avoid impacting the health and safety of workers and those who handle plasterboard directly once the materials in question have been procured from a reputable supplier.

When starting your risk assessment, it’s also important to identify and assess the specific risks involved in lifting and carrying potentially heavy plasterboard. The processes put in place must conform to manual handling guides, and include the following considerations:

• Access and Difficulty: When manoeuvring plasterboard, consider whether you’ll have to access difficult places such as stairs or tight corners.

• The Weight of Materials: For especially heavy or large items of plasterboard, you’ll need to calculate how many people are required for lifting.

• Installation: Here, you’ll address the circumstances and complexity of the installation, taking into account whether the plasterboard must be fixed above shoulder height.

Consider Manual Handling or Mechanical Aids

Ultimately, it’s impossible to transport or fix plasterboard without manual handling, and in some cases, manual handling aids may be required. These should include safe working and team handling systems, which help to distribute weight and workload depending on the dimensions of individual boards.

At this stage, it’s also worth consulting employees before they carry out the work, so that any systems deployed can be as effective as possible and implemented without impacting on morale or performance.

Training is also vital to ensure a clear understanding of both the task and systems subsequently put in place to manage risk, while the details of work should also be communicated clearly and proactively to sub-contractors and others who may be involved in the project.

In the case of more strenuous and larger scale projects, there may also be a need for mechanical aids.

There are currently several mechanical or technological ways of reducing manual labour, from basic tools like pallet trucks and trolleys to pivoting board tables for larger pieces of plasterboard.

Scaffold loading bays may even be required in some instances, although your team will need to have the relevant knowledge and experience in terms of how to handle these.