You're first on site at 7:45am, the property is accessible, the meter box location is confirmed, and you haven't completed a start card. If something goes wrong in the next twenty minutes — an electric shock hazard at the mains, a dog you didn't account for, a pipe bursting while you're clearing access — your documentation of a pre-work hazard assessment is the difference between a compensable incident with demonstrated due diligence and a worker's comp dispute where the contractor's safety culture is being examined.

The Fitness and Authorization Gate

I agreed that I am fit and ready for the job, I have read and understood the SWMS for the work, I have a valid Coliban Contractor card, and I have received AMR Installation training are the four authorization confirmations that establish whether the worker is legally permitted to commence. The Coliban contractor card is the site access credential. The SWMS acknowledgment is the Safe Work Method Statement confirmation — the document that defines the safe procedure for the specific task type. AMR installation training is the competency-specific certification for smart meter work.

All four must be affirmative before proceeding. The start card creates the evidence that each check was made, by whom, and at what time. Without the record, "I always check this" is an assertion. With the record, it's verifiable.

I have all required PPE and I have access to Emergency communications close the physical readiness check. The PPE confirmation isn't about whether PPE is in the van — it's about whether it's been checked and is worn correctly at the moment of first site entry. The emergency communications field confirms the worker has functional contact with dispatch before working in an area where they may be isolated.

The Hazard Awareness Layer

Difficult Customers, Dogs & dangerous animals, Snakes, Spiders, Bull Ants & insects, Electric shock hazards, Mains voltage on meter, Plants - Eye, Ear and face injuries, Vehicles entering/leaving driveway & property, Traffic when crossing streets, Pipe bursting when clearing around pipes, and Confined spaces are the ten site hazard categories that the start card requires active consideration of before work begins.

Each hazard field isn't a checkbox that says the hazard doesn't exist — it's an acknowledgment that the worker has considered whether it applies to this site. A property with an unfenced front yard and large dog breed visible through the gate requires a different entry approach than a property with a clearly accessible front path. The dog hazard field forces that consideration before the van door opens.

Why am I completing the Start Card — AM - First site, PM - First site after lunch, Task not covered by SWMS, Scope of work changed, New people on site — documents the trigger for this particular start card. Multiple start cards per day are expected; the trigger field identifies which of the five completion conditions applied.

That I will act in a safe manner and in accordance with the Safe Operating Procedures and That I will log any hazard in the installation app are the two closing commitments. The hazard log commitment is the forward-looking obligation — the promise that information discovered on site will enter the system, not stay with the worker.