“Did you remember to…..” - The regulations that are sometimes forgotten

It can be difficult to keep up to date with regulations.  As logistics professionals we seem to come into contact with so many! Those that we have to deal with every day usually become routine quite quickly and we set up procedures to ensure that we comply, but what about the ones that we encounter less frequently, perhaps only once every few years?  The Health and Safety Executive’s ‘Construction (Design and Management) regulations 2007′ (CDM) which came into effect in April 2007, are in this category.

Many logistics professionals, at some time in their careers, initiate a project that might fall under these regulations and assume that the main contractor will take responsibility for “all the Health and Safety stuff”.

Not so! The CDM regulations no longer allow ‘the Client’ to wash his hands of this responsibility and they place specific duties on him in relation to the project’s Health and Safety management.

Although the regulations do require ‘Designers’ and Principal Contractors’ to ensure that the Client is aware of his duties, this cannot always be relied upon and it is wise to ensure that one has an understanding of these responsibilities at the outset.

The Client must first determine whether the project is ‘notifiable’ (to the Health and Safety Executive’).  Notifiable projects are those where the ‘construction phase’ will last for more than 30 days or require more than 500 person-days.

Whether notifiable for not, the client has a number of responsibilities for health and safety during the course of the construction phase.  Clearly, however, the requirements are more exacting for a notifiable project, and one of the first things is to appoint a CDM Coordinator (previously know as the Planning Supervisor under the old regulations) to;

• Advise and assist the Client with their responsibilities,
• Notify the HSE of the details of the project,
• Co-ordinate health and safety aspects of the design work,
• Ensure communications between the Client, designers and contractors,
• Liaise with the principal contractor regarding design changes,
• Compile pre-construction information and pass to contractors,
• Prepare the health and safety file.

Too often, clients are not aware of these requirements, or leave them until the contractors are appointed.  This can mean that those responsible for the health and safety management of the project are rushed to ensure that everything is in place for the construction phase, or has required re-negotiation with main contractors because there has not been a clear understanding between client and contractor of who will take responsibility or the provision of facilities, access equipment, etc.

In summary the Clients responsibilities, for all projects where there is a construction phase, are;

• Check the competence of all appointees,
• Make sure there is suitable management of project welfare facilities,
• Allow sufficient time and resources for each stage of the project,
• Provide pre-construction information for designers and contractors.

In addition, when a project is classified as ‘notifiable’;

• Appoint CDM co-ordinator,
• Appoint principal contractor,
• Ensure that suitable welfare facilities and a construction phase health and safety plan are in place before the construction phase begins,
• Provide Health and Safety File information to the CDM co-ordinator.

And after the project;

• Retain and provide access to the Health and Safety File.