The course takes slightly longer (about an hour and a half extra) but it means in addition to IOSH certification for the underground services course we give candidates certification under our own banner, for the RD8100. This saves time and more importantly – makes the course more relevant for site managers and engineers, where the use of this cable locator is a mandatory training requirement.

Need to know more? Give us a call.

All projects starting after this date will need to comply with the new regulations. All existing projects must be compliant by 6^th October 2015.

They mean significant changes to your duties as an organisation whether you are a client, a designer or a contractor. The aim of the regulations is to simplify the CDM process, reduce bureaucracy and improve safety – particularly on smaller construction site.

The following attempts to answer questions you may have and give some guidance as to what is required.

What constitutes construction under the terms of the regulations?

The definition of construction remains broadly unchanged from the 2007 version: 

Construction means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes—

(a) the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance (including cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure, or the use of corrosive or toxic substances), de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure;

(b) the preparation for an intended structure, including site clearance, exploration, investigation (but not site survey) and excavation (but not pre-construction archaeological investigations), and the clearance or preparation of the site or structure for use or occupation at its conclusion;

(c) the assembly on site of prefabricated elements to form a structure or the disassembly on site of the prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure;

(d) the removal of a structure, or of any product or waste resulting from demolition or dismantling of a structure, or from disassembly of prefabricated elements which immediately before such disassembly formed such a structure;

(e) the installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunications, computer or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure.

What are the main changes?

The main changes are as follows:

• Replacement of the CDM Coordinator (CDMC) role, with the role of Principal Designer (PD)
• Client must appoint (in writing) a Principal Designer (PD) and Principal Contractor (PC) if a project involves more than one contractor (regardless of notification status) at the earliest practicable opportunity and at least before site work starts
• Domestic work will be covered under the full scope of the regulations
• Construction phase health and safety plans will be required for all projects
• The notification threshold changes to cover projects lasting more than 30 working days and having more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point in the project, or exceeding 500 person-days

What will be kept?

Most general duties similar to those under the Health and Safety at Work Act and Management Regulations, such as the duties to others and the duties to produce risk assessments, will remain. The following will also be kept:

• The Client is the person who whom the work is ultimately being undertaken
• Principles of prevention and designers duties
• Part 4 and Schedule 2, which set out the specific technical requirements relating to health and safety on construction sites
• The need to employ competent contractors, staff and others

So as client, what are my duties?

As Client, you need to ensure you consider the project in plenty of time and ensure you have engaged competent persons and organisations to allow the project to proceed safely. As Client, it will be down to you to ensure you have provided sufficient time, resources and arrangements to allow those with duties under the regulations to safely complete the work.

CDM2015 increases the emphasis on the Client to ensure the work is carried out safely. It states:

‘CDM 2015 makes the client accountable for the impact their decisions and approach have on health, safety and welfare on the project.’

‘Most clients, particularly those who only occasionally commission construction work, will not be experts in the construction process and for this reason they are not required to take an active role in managing the work. However, the client is required to make suitable arrangements for managing the project so that health, safety and welfare is secured.’

As a client, you will need to be clear about your expectations and ensure everyone involved in the project communicates fully. As Client you must ensure that the Principal Contractor and Principal Designer, when appointed, are competent to fulfill their duties. If you do not make these appointments (they must be in writing), you will pick up the duties yourselves and be expected to fulfill them.

The main change will be that the Client may now be held accountable for the activities of those undertaking the work.

What do I do if I work for domestic clients?

Domestic clients are in scope of CDM 2015, but their duties as a client are normally transferred to either:

• The contractor, on a single contractor project
• The principal contractor, on a project involving more than one contractor
• The principal designer where there is a written agreement that the principal designer will fulfil those duties

What is a contractor?

The definition of a contractor is broad. A contractor is any person (including a non-domestic client) who, in the course or furtherance of a business, carries out, manages or controls construction work.

Contractors must ensure they are competent to undertake the tasks for which they have been engaged and ensure they cooperate will other parties involved in the project.

What is a Principal Contractor and what is their role?

Where more than one contractor will be required on a project, a Principal Contractor (PC) will need to be appointed in writing by the Client. The PC will need to ensure they:

• Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the construction phase of a project
• Liaise with the client and principal designer
• Prepare the construction phase plan
• Organise cooperation between contractors

They must ensure:

• Suitable site inductions are provided
• Reasonable steps are taken to prevent unauthorised access
• Workers are consulted and engaged in securing their health and safety and that welfare facilities are provided

Who is a Principal Designer and what is their role?

A Principal Designer (PD) is a designer appointed in writing by the Client in projects involving more than one contractor. They can be an organisation or an individual with sufficient knowledge, experience and ability to carry out the role. They are responsible for:

• Eliminating or controlling foreseeable risks
• Ensuring designers carry out their duties
• Preparing and providing relevant information to other duty holders
• Liaise with the Principal Contractor to help in the planning, management, monitoring and coordination of the construction phase

On small projects, the role of the PD will be fairly simple but on larger projects, the PD duties will be more onerous – requiring project management skills. In all cases, the PD will need to have a broad understanding of the construction techniques involved and be familiar with the principles of prevention.

The role of PD can be combined with other duties (PC, Client etc.) but the duty holder needs to be clearly identified and there must be a level of independence between duty holders.

Who are designers and what are their duties?

Designers are those, who as part of a business, prepare or modify designs for a building, product or system relating to construction work.

Anyone from the client to a contractor can be a designer, if they make a decision related to the design of the project. This could range from specialist design skills such as the specification and design of foundations or roofing structures, to the selection of floor coverings, paints, windows etc.

Their main duties:

• When preparing or modifying designs, to eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks that may arise during construction and the maintenance and use of a building once it is built.
• Provide information to other members of the project team to help them fulfil their duties.

What is a construction phase plan?

The principal contractor should be appointed early enough in the preconstruction phase to help the client meet their duty to ensure a construction phase plan is drawn up before the construction phase starts.

A Construction Phase Plan (CPP) is a site or project specific document that outlines the arrangements for managing safety. It is intended as a guide for those engaged on the project to help them understand and comply with their duties, how the Principal Contractor and client expects the work to be managed and how everyone on site will be engaged in safety.

The construction phase plan must set out the arrangements for securing health and safety for the period during which construction work in a project is carried out. These arrangements include site rules and any specific measures put in place to where work involves one or more of the risks listed in Schedule 3 (regulation 12(2)) of the Regulations.

For projects involving more than one contractor, the principal contractor must ensure the plan is drawn up during the pre-construction phase and before the construction site is set up. It must take into account the information the principal designer holds such as the pre-construction information and any information obtained from designers. During the construction phase, the principal contractor must ensure that the plan is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised so that it remains effective.

For single contractor projects, it is the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the construction phase plan is drawn up.

Need a CSCS Labourers Card?

IOSH’s one-day Working safely course, has now been recognised by CSCS as an equivalent to a Level 1 Award in health and safety in a construction environment. It means that delegates who successfully complete Working safely can apply for a CSCS green Labourer card once they have also passed the CITB Health, Safety and Environment Operatives Test.

The IOSH Working safely one-day training course is for all employees and meets the government’s guidelines for introductory health and safety training and conforms to the HSE’s Passport Scheme syllabus.

This is particularly important if you are a contractor or client, involved in small projects, as the requirements are becoming more onerous.

The guides can be found here: http://www.citb.co.uk/health-safety-and-other-topics/health-safety/construction-design-and-management-regulations/

We are currently working with our clients to bring them up to speed with the changes and will be holding some seminars to outline what is required.

If you would like more advice, then please call us.

The generation and management of health hazards such as dust, noise and hand arm vibration (to name but 3) are commonly given little attention, as contractors focus understandably on reducing the risk of death and serious injury.

So what can a contractor do?

When the inspector calls, there are certain actions that will serve as an immediate probation and possible prosecution – the most obvious being the dry cutting of blocks and kerbs which can result in a very debilitating disease known as silicosis. The contractor needs to understand the health risks on site, have considered eliminating them where they occur and where this is not possible, to have provided mitigation measures.

The inspector will also want to see that the contractor has taken into consideration the need for health surveillance, for the potentially exposed.

Get yourself prepared for the changes by reading the consolation documents:

http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/consult.ti/conregs/listdocuments

Or call us to find out more 01933 382004

As the UK needs to incorporate domestic client duties into the regulations, to comply with EU directives, the proposal is are to create a default position where duties which fall on domestic clients, will fall to the 1st appointee – either contractor or designer.

It would appear that the role of CDMC will disappear – with duties and obligations being placed on a ‘Principal Designer’ (working title at this stage). Duties will be clarified in a simplified ACoP and full CDM duties (i.e. notification duties) will apply on sites where there is more than 1 contractor (both domestic and non-domestic).

The latter change (notification of sites where there is more than 1 contractor) seems to us to be aimed at tackling the current safety culture disparity between large construction sites and smaller domestic projects.

We’ll have to see what the ACoP contains, which should be out for consultation later this year. More details, when we know more – so check back soon.

The HSE are concerned about this fact and carried out a review of CDM2007, in conjunction with the construction industry advisory body CONIAC.

‘Bureaucracy is still problematic and a primary source of dissatisfaction to the industry. For those who favour it, often as a way of transferring the risk of non-compliance to others, there is little within the existing CDM portfolio to clearly identify it as bad practice.’ – CONIAC meeting July 2013 – Evaluation of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 – A paper by Andrew Maxey.

With an industry and economy slowly climbing out of recession, there is little appetite for extra burden on business, but a distinct possibility that CDM will change in 2014 because as a nation, we are in non-compliance with ‘EU Directive 92/57/EEC – temporary or mobile construction sites’ as we have exempted domestic clients from any responsibility on projects. The HSE and CONIAC have recognised the need for change and do not want to discard those areas they feel are effective, but with a government committed to stopping ‘gold plating’ of legislation from Europe and committed to direct ‘copy out’ of European directives, what can we look forward to?

If we see a direct copy out, the responsibilities for safety will still rest with the Client, but be extended to cover domestic clients. It is likely however, and possible under the scope of the directive, that the Client may pass this responsibility to the contractor but how this will happen, is still unclear. Projects where there is only one contractor will also be less onerous, but there will still be a need to plan health and safety in all instances.

Notifiability is also likely to change, but not dramatically (although as outlined above, domestic projects may also become notifiable), as the directive currently states that where work is scheduled to last longer than 30 working days and on which more than 20 workers are occupied simultaneously, or on which the volume of work is scheduled to exceed 500 person-days, the client or the project supervisor shall communicate a prior notice to the competent authorities before work starts. This would be similar to the current need for F10 submission on notifiable projects under CDM2007.

Gone would be the role of Principal Contractor and the CDM Coordinator and in would come two new role holders – Coordinators for Safety and Health matters at the project preparation stage and Coordinators for Safety and Health matters at the project execution stage. It is possible within the scope of the directive that these can be internal appointments, but it is likely that on larger projects, these may be two different entities.

The first, the coordinators for project preparation stage, may be fulfill a similar role to the current CDMCs and may require a similar skill set and I can foresee that this will be a role strongly aimed at designers. The directive places great emphasis on the responsibilities of those involved in the design process to employ the principles of prevention, which are in line with UK duties under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The role of the coordinators for project preparation stage will be to ensure this happens.

Coordinators for project execution stage however, seems to me to be a role more suited to the contractor, in more of a site-safety coordination role. This must be done in proportion with the levels of risk involved in the project and there seems little in the regulations to suggest this must be a stand-alone entity. On larger projects I think this is likely to be an independent appointment but on smaller projects I see no reason why it could not be done by suitably trained site managers.

In both cases, they will be responsible for ensuring parties communicate regarding risk during design and build and that the required plans and paperwork are in place. Little change from the current format here.

The Construction Phase Plan is likely to be replaced by the Safety and Health Plan, which looks to be a fairly similar document. The extent to which it becomes a paper chase though is likely to be down to the coordinators of safety, but it is hoped that the ‘proportional risk’ message will be emphasised.

One area of interest, which I think will reduce bureaucracy, will be the HSEs wish to see a vastly reduced Approved Code of Practice (ACoP), replaced instead by industry guidance documents. The requirement will be for duty holders to satisfy the regulations, not to blindly follow the ACoP, which should go some way to reducing the torrent of generic paperwork currently frustrating everyone involved.

Another area of change, is likely to be the removal of the formulaic ‘competence assessments’ many organisations seem to have adopted as a result of CDM2007- currently the headache of many contracting businesses. Some have suggested this might mean there will be no need to check the competence of appointees in future, but I don’t think so. Everyone has duties to check contractors under the Health and Safety at Work Act, but at least it will be an opportunity to make checks proportional.

Earlier in the article I said there was a distinct chance of new regulations in 2014/15 to leave some room for manoeuvre. The HSE were due to publish a 12-week public consultation in the late summer of 2013, with a view to revised regulations coming into force in October 2014, but as the leaves on the trees are falling and we get the first early frosts, there is still no sign of any consultation. That coupled with an election in May 2015, in which at least one of the possible winners is proposing a referendum on Europe, and an industry reluctant to see further change, who knows what will happen!

Additionally I understand the directive is currently up for review so watch this space – perhaps…

Having spoken with the inspector responsible for this project, having been asked to review and comment on a draft and being familiar with other changes to legislation, I felt it timely to provide a summary of the potential changes.

When looking at an HSG document and anticipating changes, to second guess what they are likely to contain, it is important to understand that an HSG is not a legal document. Its contents illustrate good practice and are a snapshot in time, rather than a definitive guide as to how to do the work. Unlike an ACoP, which outlines the minimal legal standards, an HSG document is used as a summary and may be used to judge if a company has done sufficient to comply broadly with the scope of existing regulations.

The greatest change to HSG47 that we know about is the removal of one of the four ‘steps’ in the safe system of work. ‘Maps and plans’ is likely to disappear as a discrete stage and instead be incorporated into the ‘planning’ section. This makes sense, as it is further reinforces the need to have access to maps and plans as part of the pre construction safety process.

Other changes are updated summaries of more recent technologies such as vacuum excavation, ground penetrating radar and the use of 3^rd party mapping systems. Essentially, HSG47 will still be a snapshot of the best available techniques and technologies, against which an organisation (and an inspector) will be able to decide if everything is being done, so far as reasonably practicable, to protect employees and others.

When looking at other possible changes to HSG47, we should look at changes to the wider legislative picture since the current version was published in 2000. The greatest changes to health and safety since then, have been imposed through the implementation of CDM2007. HSG47 is based around the 1994 version of CDM and therefore does not reflect the current CDM ACoP and must be therefore be updated to include it.

The new version of HSG47 is likely to reinforce the duty of the Client to ensure all the appointees are competent in line with CDM, a process seen as overly bureaucratic and largely ineffective. To this end, HSG47 is likely to stress the need for training of employees to risk assess their work, recognising it is highly dynamic, rather than just training them how to operate a CAT and Genny.

Additionally, the role of the CDM Coordinator as outlined in CDM2007 and the importance of construction phase plans (neither of these existed in 2000) are likely to be outlined in the new version of HSG47.

To further complicate matters, the CDM2007 ACoP is currently being revised as the UK is not in full compliance with the EU Directive 92/57/EEC – ‘temporary or mobile construction sites’. In the next revision there is likely to be an extension of the definition of Client to include domestic individuals under the scope of some CDM projects, which may mean many more construction sites fall under scope of notifiability of some sort.

As an interesting aside, a document (PAS128) is currently being developed by British Standards – sponsored by the ICE, to standardise underground service surveys. Clients, designers, CDM Coordinators and contractors will all be able to specify the type of survey required, to improve consistency. It will be interesting to see how the construction industry picks this standard up and how Clients adopt it.

The delays in HSG47 and the forthcoming changes to CDM cannot be used to claim a lack of knowledge or for a delay in implementing a safe system of work. The legal standard that the employer is responsible for assessing is that which is ‘reasonably foreseeable’ and this includes both industry and expert knowledge. Despite the delays in publication there is still enough information and guidance out there for anyone with responsibilities for underground services, to be judged against this threshold.

The changes to CDM2007 (expected in 2014) are likely to have far more effect on geotechnical projects than HSG47, but that’s another article, when we know more about what is likely to be included. So I’ll hopefully be back again next year, with more updates on CDM and by then we should know the contents of HSG47 (fingers crossed).

Also, many thanks to everyone who came to our talk and asked questions, about the forthcoming changes to HSG47.

Thanks to Equipe for organising another great event.