Job site dispatch: 3 checks before crews leave

• Confirm the customer contact, arrival arrangements and access details.
• Match workers to tasks and confirm their briefing and supervision.
• Name who controls the site and checks that the plan still fits.
• Hold dispatch when a check reveals an unresolved gap.

A crew rolls out to a customer's home, plant, or rental unit with a job ticket, a van full of tools, and a schedule to keep. Most visits go smoothly. Trouble starts when the crew arrives to find a locked gate, a tenant nobody told about the visit, a task nobody scoped, or a worker sent to a job they were not trained for. Many of these gaps are visible from the dispatch desk before anyone leaves the yard.

This post gives dispatchers and team leads three checks to run before a worker reaches a customer's job site. They are practical questions, not a legal checklist. The first covers the customer and access. The second covers the people you are sending. The third covers the plan and who controls the site while the work runs.

A note on sources. The rule quotes here come from the UK's Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They apply to construction projects covered by that law. If you dispatch crews elsewhere, treat them as a picture of good practice and check your local requirements. Nothing here replaces advice from your insurer, safety lead, or a qualified professional.

Start with the customer. A job that begins without the customer's knowledge causes problems at once. The crew may be turned away at the door, the homeowner may be surprised by noise or vehicles, and any dispute about what was agreed gets harder to settle later. Before you dispatch, confirm what work is booked, when the crew is expected, and who will let them in. Write those answers down.

The UK regulations put a clear duty on contractors here. Under regulation 15(1), a contractor must not carry out construction work on a project unless it is satisfied that the client is aware of the duties the client owes under the Regulations. Record that confirmation in the job file; scope, timing and access are separate desk questions.

Check the details that tend to go wrong. Ask who controls the property. It might be the homeowner, a property manager, a tenant, or a business with its own safety rules. Get a name and phone number that will work on the day, not just the number on the booking form. Ask about parking, gate codes, key handovers, pets, and areas that are off limits. A crew that arrives at a locked gate loses time and sometimes makes poor decisions while trying to get in.

Think also about people who are not the customer. Neighbours, other trades, and anyone sharing a driveway or entrance may be affected by noise, dust, blocked access, or changes to the space. Tell the team lead before dispatch so the plan can account for them. A short note to a neighbour or building manager, sent in advance, often prevents a complaint on the day. Use a customer arrival message plan to organise those updates.

Access also means keeping out people who should not be there. Regulation 15(10) says a contractor must not begin work on a construction site unless reasonable steps have been taken to prevent access by unauthorised persons to that site. A dispatcher cannot make that happen alone, but can ask the right question before the crew leaves: who is responsible for securing the work area, and how? Is there a fence, barrier, sign, or locked store? Will an open trench, ladder, or edge be left unattended at any point?

Before you release a job, check:

• Has the customer confirmed the scope, date, and time window?
• Is a named contact on site or reachable during the visit?
• Do we know how the crew gets in, where they park, and how keys or codes are handled?
• Have we identified anyone else affected by the work?
• Do we know who will secure the work area, and how?

If any answer is no, hold the job until you have it. A short delay at the desk is almost always cheaper than a crew standing outside a locked property.

The second check is about the people you send. Under regulation 15(7), a contractor must not employ or appoint a person to work on a construction site unless that person has, or is in the process of obtaining, the necessary skills, knowledge, training and experience to carry out the tasks allocated to them in a manner that secures the health and safety of anyone working on the site.

The test is specific. A worker being experienced in general, reliable, or free that afternoon is not enough. The question is whether they have the skills for the specific tasks on this job. A technician excellent at routine residential work may not suit a job involving live services, a confined space, or work at height. A worker who has done a dozen similar jobs may still need to be told what is different about this one.

Apply the check in three steps.

First, match tasks to skills. List the tasks before assigning the crew, and check whether each worker has the training for them. Where a task calls for a certificate, licence, or manufacturer training, confirm it is current and on file. You do not need to be an expert in every trade. You need a list, a way to check it, and the discipline to stop when a name does not match a task.

Second, make supervision real. Regulation 15(8) says a contractor must provide each worker under its control with appropriate supervision, instructions and information, so that the work can be carried out, so far as is reasonably practicable, without risks to health and safety. If a newer or less experienced worker is going out, name who will supervise them before they leave the yard. Confirm that the named supervisor can provide appropriate supervision for the work.

Third, brief the crew before they arrive. Share the job ticket, site notes, known hazards, and the customer contact. Mention anything unusual: a dog that has bitten someone before, a gas meter in an awkward spot, a steep or icy driveway, or a loft reachable only through one hatch. Workers should not discover key hazards only when they start work.

Keep a simple record of who was briefed, when, and by whom. A line on the job ticket or a confirmation message from the crew will do. The record is not about blame. It shows the information was passed on and reveals gaps early. Agree in advance who will give on-site instructions, and make sure the crew knows who to call with questions. Keep these details together with a dispatch handoff checklist.

Before a crew leaves, confirm:

• Does each worker hold the training and certificates the tasks require?
• Is there a named supervisor for any newer or less experienced worker?
• Did each worker receive and confirm the brief?
• Are known site hazards written down and shared with everyone going out?
• Does the crew know who to contact if something changes?

A crew that knows what it is doing, in what order, and with which controls is safer than one working from memory. Ask for the plan before the crew leaves. The UK regulations set the expectation. Regulation 15(2) says a contractor must plan, manage and monitor construction work, whether carried out by the contractor or by workers under its control, to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it is carried out without risks to health and safety.

Those three verbs map onto the dispatch desk. Planning happens before work starts. Managing happens on site, when someone decides on sequence, materials, and people. Monitoring means checking the plan still fits the conditions. A dispatcher or team lead can drive all three, even if a senior technician handles the detail.

The regulations also address planning directly. Regulation 15(5) says that if there is only one contractor on the project, the contractor must draw up a construction phase plan, or make arrangements for one, as soon as is practicable before setting up a construction site.

For a small routine job, a plan can be short: tasks in order, equipment needed, main hazards, controls for each hazard, and the person in charge. Bigger jobs need more detail, including how the work area will be separated from the rest of the property.

Turn the plan into dispatch questions:

• Is there a written plan or method for this job, even a short one?
• Does the crew have a copy, and have they read it?
• Who is in charge on site, and how can the crew reach them?
• If the plan changes on the day, who approves the change and how is it recorded?
• Do any steps depend on something outside the team's control, such as a utility shutdown, a delivery, or a customer decision?

Then return to site control. Who can get near the work, and how is that managed while the crew is busy? A fence or barrier around an open area, a cordon for a loading zone, a warning sign, a locked store for tools, or a clear arrangement with the homeowner about children and pets are all reasonable steps. Match the control to the work: a few hand tools on a driveway need less than a trench, a roof, or a scaffold.

Monitoring is the easiest part to forget. For any job longer than a single visit, set check-in points before the crew leaves: a call at the start to confirm the site matches the plan, a call if scope changes, and a call at the end to confirm the work is finished and the area is safe. Ask whether the plan still fits, whether anyone unexpected has come near the work, and whether the crew needs anything. If a concern comes up, the team lead decides what happens next, not the crew alone.

When the job ends, close the loop. Confirm the work is complete, the area is left as agreed, and tools, materials, and waste are dealt with. Then tell the customer the visit is over and whether anything needs their attention, such as a follow-up visit or a part on order.

Before the crew leaves, confirm:

• Is there a plan the crew can see and understand?
• Is the person in charge named and reachable?
• Have reasonable steps been taken to keep unauthorised people away from work areas?
• Who checks in during the job, and at what points?
• Does the customer know when the crew will leave, and what state the site will be in?

A failed check is the process working. If one cannot be completed, do not dispatch until the gap is closed. That might mean calling the customer again, swapping in a worker with the right training, writing a short plan, or arranging a fence or sign. It might mean moving the job to another day. When the risk is unclear, waiting is almost always right.

If a check fails after the crew has left, tell the team lead at once. Stop the work if it is unsafe, make sure the crew can return to the yard, and record what happened: which check failed, what was done, and what will change for the next similar job. Over time these notes reveal patterns. Repeated access problems at one address point to a missing contact. Repeated training gaps point to a skills list that needs updating.

Make the checks routine. Keep them with the job ticket, and ask crews for feedback after each visit. Workers often know what the desk did not think to ask, such as a gate that sticks or a customer who forgets they booked.

A dispatcher reviews 10 job tickets before crews leave. A ticket has a confirmed arrival time but no gate code or reachable contact. The dispatcher holds that job, calls the customer, records the access arrangement and shares it with the team lead. The access gap is closed; the crew and plan checks still need their own answers before dispatch.

The three checks are simple to describe and harder to keep up on a busy day. Access and customer awareness come first, because nothing else holds without them. Crew competence and briefing come second. The plan and site control come third, keeping the work organised and the area secured while the crew is busy.

Start with one. Pick the check that causes the most trouble now, usually access or the crew brief, and make it habit before adding the next. Teams that change everything at once often end up doing none of it well.

Some jobs will still go badly. A customer will change their mind at the door, a worker will be unwell, or a part will be missing. The checks do not stop every problem. They make problems visible earlier, when there is still time to decide what to do. That is the real aim of a dispatch desk: send crews to jobs that are ready for them, and know before the van leaves the yard what they are walking into.

If you work under the UK rules quoted here, read the full text on the legislation.gov.uk page and check how it applies to your work. Elsewhere, look up the equivalent rules where you are. The questions in this post still help, but the rules you must meet are set by the law where the job is.

Today, take the next booked job ticket and run the three checks with its team lead. Record and resolve any gap before releasing that job.

Does a confirmed booking satisfy the client-awareness duty?

Keep that confirmation separate from the scope, timing and access arrangements.

What should go in the crew brief?

Include the job ticket, site notes, known hazards and customer contact. Record who received the brief and who will answer questions on site.