You can only keep people safe — and account for them — if you know they're there
A site sign-in tells you who is on site at any moment — which you need to keep visitors safe and to account for everyone in an emergency. Your HSWA duty extends to other people, not just workers, so visitors should sign in, get a quick safety briefing, and sign out. Handle their details responsibly.
Knowing exactly who is on your site is the foundation everything else rests on.
You cannot brief, protect or evacuate people you don't know are there. A sign-in register gives you a live picture of everyone on site — workers, contractors and visitors — which is essential both day to day and in an emergency. It is also the practical hook for inducting visitors and contractors before they wander into a hazardous area.
The HSWA doesn't only protect your workers — you must also ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that other people are not put at risk by your work.
A visitor walking onto an active site is exposed to hazards they don't understand and can't see coming. That is why visitor management is a health and safety task, not just a reception formality: it is how you meet your duty to people who are on your site but don't work there. The level of management scales with the risk — a quiet office needs less than a live construction site.
Sign in, brief, escort if needed, and sign out — tailored to the risk of the site.
| Step | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Sign in | Record who they are, who they're visiting, and the time in. |
| Brief | Cover the key hazards, site rules, required PPE, and what to do in an emergency. |
| Escort or restrict | Escort visitors in hazardous areas, or keep them to safe zones. |
| Identify | A visitor badge or lanyard so workers can see who is a visitor. |
| Sign out | Record the time out, so your on-site list stays accurate. |
For contractors, the sign-in connects to a fuller induction — they are doing work, not just visiting, so they need more than a visitor briefing.
Your sign-in register is what makes a head count possible when the alarm goes.
A core part of your emergency plan is being able to account for everyone — and you can only do that against an accurate list of who is on site. A current sign-in turns “I think everyone's out” into a real roll call at the assembly point. This is the single most important reason to keep the register accurate and to make sure people sign out when they leave.
A sign-in collects personal information, so collect only what you need and look after it.
Capture what is genuinely useful for safety — name, who they're visiting, time in and out, and a contact if relevant — rather than more than you need. Keep the information secure, use it for the purpose you collected it, and handle it in line with your privacy obligations. A digital sign-in makes this easier: it keeps an accurate, time-stamped record and avoids a paper book that anyone can read.
Sign visitors in, brief them, and keep an accurate roll for emergencies. Book a demo and we'll show you how it works — free 30-day trial included.
There is no single rule that says “visitors must sign a book”, but the HSWA requires you to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that visitors and others are not put at risk by your work, and your emergency plan must let you account for everyone. A sign-in is the standard, practical way to meet both.
Enough for safety and no more: the visitor's name, who they are visiting, and the time in and out, plus a contact if relevant. Keep it to what you genuinely need, store it securely, and handle it in line with your privacy obligations.
They need a briefing scaled to the risk — the key hazards, site rules, required PPE, and what to do in an emergency. Contractors need more than a visitor briefing, because they are doing work and require a full induction.
Because you can only account for people you know are on site. An accurate, current sign-in register lets you do a real head count at the assembly point, instead of guessing whether everyone got out. That is the single most important reason to keep it accurate.
A digital sign-in usually keeps a more accurate, time-stamped record, makes the on-site list easy to check in an emergency, and protects visitors' details better than an open paper book that anyone can read. Either can work, but digital tends to be tidier and more secure.
