Construction - Design and workplace safety

Construction

Aim

To ensure by providing proactive advice on CDM, that:

Construction clients for LA-enforced workplaces are aware of their duties under CDM 2007;
Clients and designers fulfil their CDM duties to ensure that newly constructed or refurbished workplaces, comply with the requirements of the Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

Justification

Construction Clients are in a position to exert a considerable influence on the standard of health and safety both during the construction phase and in the completed project. To achieve this, Clients need to comply fully with their duties under CDM, for example by employing competent Designers.
Designers are key to ensuring that health and safety risks are minimised by effective, designed-in health and safety features in completed, newly-constructed or refurbished workplaces.
Evidence shows that many smaller Clients, including those in the LA-enforced sector, are unaware of their CDM duties.
LAs are in an excellent position to have a considerable impact on Clients’ level of awareness of their CDM duties.

Audience/industry

Construction Clients and Designers - especially for workplaces that are subject to LA Health & Safety enforcement. Of particular interest are those workplaces that have recently been, or are about to be, constructed or refurbished.

Messages

Construction Clients need to satisfy themselves that their designers have taken into account the requirements of the Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Where a project involves construction of a new workplace or alterations to an existing workplace, Clients should ask Designers working for them to confirm that the designs meet the standards set out in the Workplace Regulations.
Designers preparing or modifying a design which may be used in construction work, have a responsibility to avoid foreseeable health and safety risks to:

anyone carrying out the construction work itself;
anyone who may be affected by it;
anyone using the structure as a workplace, maintaining, repairing or refurbishing the structure; and
anyone removing or demolishing all or part of the structure.

For workplaces, Designers have a specific duty to take into account the requirements of the Workplace Regulations relating to the design of and materials used in the structure. Designers also need to provide information about any significant risks remaining.
Where construction work is notifiable, Designers have additional duties.

Activities required

Provide advice to construction Clients - establish a scheme to identify Planning applications and/or Building Control submissions involving significant construction work in workplaces for which the LA is or will be the Enforcing Authority. Where such work is identified, respond by providing information on client duties under CDM 2007 (seeWant Construction Work Done Safely? INDG411 [166KB}).
Identify design problems and “track back” – during routine inspections of recently constructed or refurbished workplaces, identify examples where designers have not adequately addressed aspects of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. Where identified design failures give rise to significant health and safety risks, “track back” to the Client and/or Designer(s); involve the local HSE construction team and LAPS/LOPPS partners, as appropriate. Only track back where workplaces have been constructed or refurbished since CDM 2007 came into effect on 6 April 2007.