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Site-specific safety plan (SSSP): template, sample and builder

A site-specific safety plan is the document a general contractor asks each subcontractor for before mobilizing: how your company will do its work safely on this site. Skip the blank template. Answer the job questions and SitePack assembles the plan from a rule library of tasks, hazards, controls and OSHA citations.

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  • About 10 minutes
  • Word and PDF

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Start your site-specific safety plan

Answer questions about the job. Fixed rules pick the hazards, controls and OSHA citations, and you review the whole plan on screen before you pay.

Trades on this job

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The basics

What is a site-specific safety plan?

A site-specific safety plan (SSSP) applies your company's safety program to one project. It names the people responsible, describes your scope of work, lists every task your crew will perform with its hazards and controls, and covers the written programs, training, PPE and emergency procedures that apply on that site.

General contractors require one from each subcontractor because they coordinate many employers on one site. The GC keeps a site-wide plan; yours covers your crew, your work and how it fits the GC's site rules. It is usually due before mobilization, sometimes with the name of your safety representative days ahead of your start date.

Federal OSHA rules don't require a document by that name, but they do require specific written programs and accident prevention programs (29 CFR 1926.20(b)). The SSSP requirement itself usually comes from your subcontract or the owner.

Before you mobilize

What GCs typically ask subcontractors for

Requirements differ by GC and owner, but these come up on most commercial jobs. A SitePack plan addresses each one: it fills in the details from your answers and lists the written programs the job calls for.

  • A written site-specific safety plan

    Your scope, your crew and how you will control the hazards of this job, on this site. Not the company manual with a new cover page.

  • A named safety representative

    Someone on your side the GC can call, often with a phone number and a note on training. Some subcontracts want the name days before you start.

  • Emergency details

    Nearest hospital, emergency number, assembly point, first-aid and extinguisher locations, and who reports an incident to whom.

  • Task hazard analyses

    Called JHAs, JSAs or AHAs depending on the GC: each task your crew performs, its hazards, the controls and the PPE.

  • Written programs

    Hazard communication and any other written programs the work triggers, such as fall protection or lockout, with the standards behind them.

  • Training and competent persons

    Proof your crew is trained for the work and the names of the competent or qualified persons the hazards call for.

Template or builder?

A template gives you headings. The builder fills them in.

Free SSSP templates are a fine start if you have the time to research every task. Here's the difference.

ItemBlank templateSitePack builder
Hazards for the tasks you actually doYou research and type themLoaded by rule from the tasks you pick
Controls, PPE and OSHA citationsLook them up yourselfFrom the rule library, with citations
Written programs the job calls forGuessworkListed by rule, with when each is required
Missing emergency or contact detailsEasy to missCompleteness check blocks export
Editable Word fileUsuallyYes, plus PDF
CostFreeFree to build and preview; $49 per job to download

Plan contents

The 19 sections of a SitePack plan

The same structure on every job, filled with that job's details. You review and confirm each one before export.

  1. 1

    Project information

    Company, site, GC, dates and crew

  2. 2

    Safety policy

    Commitment and stop-work authority

  3. 3

    Responsibilities

    Safety representative, supervisor, competent persons, workers

  4. 4

    Drug and alcohol policy

    Fitness for duty, impairment and the general contractor's testing requirements

  5. 5

    Enforcement and discipline

    Progressive discipline and removal from the project

  6. 6

    Scope of work

    Narrative and selected tasks

  7. 7

    Training

    Training the applicable programs require, and the training roster

  8. 8

    Pre-task planning and safety meetings

    Daily written pre-task plans and weekly toolbox talks

  9. 9

    Task hazard analysis

    Hazards, controls, PPE and standards per task

  10. 10

    Site-specific conditions

    Site conditions answered yes and other hazards

  11. 11

    Crane and rigging lift plan

    Written lift plans, critical lifts and the load path

  12. 12

    Written safety programs

    Programs the job calls for

  13. 13

    Personal protective equipment

    PPE for this job

  14. 14

    Emergency action plan

    Emergency contacts and procedures, including severe weather

  15. 15

    Incident reporting

    Reporting and investigation

  16. 16

    Coordination with the general contractor

    Multi-employer coordination and lower-tier subcontractors

  17. 17

    Inspections

    Site and equipment inspections

  18. 18

    Crew acknowledgment

    Crew sign-in

  19. 19

    Approval

    Prepared-by and approved-by signatures

Site-specific safety plan sample

A sample plan for HVAC work

Generated by the same rules as your plan, from a fictional company and job. Here is one task's hazard analysis; each full sample has every section, as your GC would receive it.

9. Task hazard analysis · Set or replace rooftop units

Example Mechanical, LLC · Medical Office Building - Rooftop Unit Replacement (sample) · GC: Example Builders, Inc.

Fictional sample19 sections in the full plan
HazardControlsPPEStandard
Falls from roof edges and open sides
  • Protect anyone working 6 feet or more above a lower level at roof edges and open sides with guardrails, safety nets or personal fall arrest systems.
  • Guardrail top rails are 42 inches (plus or minus 3 inches) high and withstand a 200-pound force, with midrails or equivalent below.
  • Plan prompt rescue for anyone suspended in a harness before work at height begins.
  • Every worker exposed to fall hazards is trained by a competent person, and the written training certification is kept.
  • Personal fall arrest: full-body harness, anchorage rated for 5,000 pounds per worker or designed by a qualified person, rigged so a worker cannot free fall more than 6 feet or contact a lower level.
  • Hard hat
  • Safety-toe footwear
  • Personal fall arrest system
  • 29 CFR 1926.96
  • 29 CFR 1926.100
  • 29 CFR 1926.501
  • 29 CFR 1926.502
  • 29 CFR 1926.503
Falls through skylights, roof openings and floor holes
  • Cover skylights, roof openings and floor holes with covers that support at least twice the expected load, are secured against displacement and are color coded or marked HOLE or COVER, or guard them with guardrails.
  • Do not remove a cover or guardrail without the GC's approval and replacement protection; re-cover openings when work stops.
  • Use personal fall arrest when working at an unguarded opening, such as during curb or unit removal.
  • Hard hat
  • Safety-toe footwear
  • 29 CFR 1926.96
  • 29 CFR 1926.100
  • 29 CFR 1926.501
  • 29 CFR 1926.502
Unexpected start-up or release of stored energy
  • Shut down, isolate, lock and tag equipment (fans, pumps, compressors, boilers) and release stored energy (pressure, springs, capacitors) before working on it, then verify it cannot start.
  • Coordinate shutdowns with the GC and building owner; each worker applies their own lock and removes only their own.
  • Safety glasses
  • 29 CFR 1926.102
  • 29 CFR 1926.417
Refrigerant exposure and frostbite
  • Ventilate mechanical rooms and enclosed spaces during recovery and charging, because refrigerant displaces oxygen.
  • Only EPA Section 608-certified technicians open refrigerant circuits; recover refrigerant with certified equipment and never knowingly vent it.
  • With mildly flammable A2L refrigerants (such as R-454B and R-32), keep ignition sources away, use tools rated for A2Ls and follow the equipment manufacturer's instructions.
  • Wear safety glasses or goggles and insulated gloves when connecting hoses or handling refrigerant.
  • Safety glasses
  • Chemical-resistant gloves
  • 29 CFR 1926.95
  • 29 CFR 1926.102
  • 40 CFR Part 82, Subpart F
Manual handling and lifting
  • Use carts, dollies, pipe rollers, reel stands, material lifts and hoists instead of carrying heavy items.
  • Plan team lifts for heavy or awkward loads and keep loads close to the body.
  • Cut-resistant gloves
  • Safety-toe footwear
  • 29 CFR 1926.95
  • 29 CFR 1926.96

Read a full sample plan: HVAC · Plumbing · Electrical

By trade

Site-specific safety plans by trade

Each trade page loads that trade's tasks into the builder and shows its hazards, standards and a full sample.

FAQ

Site-specific safety plan questions

What is a site-specific safety plan (SSSP)?

A written plan for one project that says how your company will do its work safely on that site: who is responsible, which tasks your crew will perform, the hazards of each task and how they are controlled, the written programs and training that apply, PPE, and what to do in an emergency. General contractors usually require one from every subcontractor before mobilization.

Is there a free site-specific safety plan template?

Plenty, and they are a fine starting point if you have time to fill them in. A template gives you headings; you still research the hazards for each task, find the standards and write the controls. SitePack's builder fills those from a rule library based on your answers. Building and previewing is free; downloading the Word and PDF files is $49 per job.

Who writes the SSSP: the general contractor or the subcontractor?

Usually both. The GC keeps a site-wide safety plan for the project, and the subcontract asks each subcontractor for its own plan covering its scope, its crew and its hazards, plus a named safety representative. Your plan has to fit inside the GC's site rules, so ask for them before you finish yours.

Is a site-specific safety plan required by OSHA?

Federal OSHA rules do not use the term for subcontractors, but they do require specific written programs (hazard communication, for example) and require employers to run accident prevention programs (29 CFR 1926.20(b)). The SSSP requirement usually comes from the GC's subcontract or the owner, and some public owners and cities have their own versions.

When is the plan due?

Whenever your subcontract says. Some ask for the plan and the name of your safety representative several days before you start (one published sample subcontract asks for both 10 days ahead); others want it at the pre-mobilization meeting. Late plans can hold up your start, so check the safety exhibit early.

What does the AI do, and what doesn't it do?

Fixed rules decide the content: which hazards, controls, written programs, PPE and citations go into the plan, based on the trades, tasks and site conditions you pick. No AI is involved in those choices.

AI only drafts the two narrative paragraphs (scope of work and site conditions) when you click Draft, working from your own answers. It cannot add or remove hazards or programs, its text is checked against your selections, and it stays flagged in the plan until you approve or rewrite it. Prefer to write them yourself? Skip the Draft button.

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Answer the job questions, review every section, and preview the whole plan free.

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