School of Engineering and Electronics & Bovis Lend Lease

School of Engineering and Electronics& Bovis Lend Lease Legislation in Health & Safety

Culture & Legislation • There are many aspects to health & safety • Culture is one of them, and this module will attempt to instil a general philosophy about attitude to H&S on a construction project • But one must always be aware of the legislation • Legislation could be considered the ‘rule book’ of constructing safely • We are, of course, aware that legislation is a dull subject • I will do this part of the lecture very quickly! • Hopefully you will be motivated to determine the ‘rules’ for yourself when you need to know them • A useful analogy may be the highway code: • The highway code does not make you a good driver • But you still needs to know the highway code

Brief History of safety legislation • The dangers posed to employees during the course of their work have been known for thousands of years • Before the days of rigid guidelines and laws, fear was the motivator for safety • Safety was first accepted by industries that had a propensity towards high-severity accidents. • Not in an attempt to protect employees, but in order to protect the business • For example, not blowing oneself up whilst manufacturing nitro-glycerine was probably viewed as a fundamental requirement for success in that particular market

Brief History of safety legislation • The Industrial Revolution saw increased use of powered machinery, • This was often designed with little or no regard for safety and convenience, • often operated by unskilled and untrained labour, and • often overseen by uncaring and unscrupulous employers • When an accident happened it was very difficult for an employee to get compensation • The courts decided cases based on the ‘assumption of risk’ principle, which means that an employee accepts all customary work-related risk by undertaking said work • Public demand for change arose due to the growing power of the labour organisations • This led to the first Employer Liability Acts being passed in the 1870s, • although the first real compensation act was passed in 1897

Early Legislation • Perhaps the first ‘step-change’ was the removal of the ‘assumption of risk’ principle’ • New legislation required employers to determine the risks to employees, though they did retain a ‘reasonably practicable’ principle, which remains to this day. • The first ‘modern’ legislation, which related to construction, was the Factory Act of 1961 • But the most important piece of legislation was the Health & Safety at Work etc Act, of 1974 • Modern legislation sets out principles, not rules

The Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 • An enabling act • Sets out employers duties & obligations: • the employer has a statutory duty to care for the health safety and welfare of their employees; • to care for the health, safety and welfare of others who may be affected by their activities (e.g. the general public); • to provide information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure the health and safety at work of employees. • Employer must put systems into place to ensure above • Since its introduction workplace fatalities have reduced by >75% in 30 years

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (revision of earlier 1992 regs) • Define more clearly employers obligations: • to conduct risk assessments of their operations; • to develop procedures to manage and reduce identified risks; • to co-operate and co-ordinate their efforts with other employers; • to appoint persons who are competent to deal with safety on site; • to provide information and training to their employers; and • to communicate their safety procedures to site visitors

The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 & Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 • Set out the principles for selecting, providing and using PPE by assessing the risks involved in work operations. • The assessments are to include most types of PPE, for example • footwear, • ear protection, • eye protection and • safety harnesses. • The PPE regulations do not supersede the Head Protection regulations – • these highlight the particular importance of the risk of head injury and require a hard hat to be worn whenever there is a risk of head injury. • In practice, most construction sites have a policy of wearing a hard hat in all situations, whether there is a risk of head injury or not.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (revision of 1994 regs) • Brought about to safeguard the health of employees working with hazardous substances: • liquids • gases • micro-organisms • dust • Requires employers to • assess the risks involved in exposure to these substances • introduce appropriate control measures

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • Previously two sets of legislation: • Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 1994 • & • Construction (Health Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1996 • Are now merged in to one new set of regulations • Due to be introduced 1 April 2007 • Together with an ACoP

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • As a response to industry fatalities, which were not reducing as quickly as the industry would like • First “CDM” introduced in 1994 • Were not well received – too complex & bureaucratic • Did not have a great impact • The HSC agreed to a consultation on a new revised set of regulations (2002) • Decision made to also incorporate CHSW96 into new CDM07 • Main impact: clarity of responsibilities; clarity of processes • Fundamentals essentially unchanged

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • Very significant • Obliges all partiesinvolved in the construction process to take responsibility for safety • The regulations themselves are details • But there are simple principles

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • The CDM Co-ordinator • co-ordinates the design phase so that risks to H&S are limited • should be independent to other project parties • responsibilities are: • review the risk assessments undertaken by the designers • ensure co-operation between multiple designers; • advise the designer, on the competence of other designers and contractors; • ensure HSE notified of project; • ensure the Health and Safety File is prepared and delivered to the client.

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • Construction Phase Plan • (Previously Health & Safety Plan) • A core element, before & during construction • The CDM Co-ordinator should liaise with the contractor to oversee this preparation • includes all significant risks that have been identified during pre-construction stages • allows contractors to develop their H&S systems • The contractor should prepare a ‘final plan’ which details their safety management system for construction

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • Health & Safety File • contains all H&S information about the project for those that follow (i.e. clients & users) • should contain information about the design & construction of every structure & element of the project • responsibility lies with the CDM Co-ordinator who must • keep it up to date • deliver to client at end of project

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • The Client’s main responsibilities under CDM: • must appoint a CDM Co-ordinator and a Principal Contractor, who are competent and have allocated adequate resources to the project; • must provide information about the state of the site to the CDM Co-ordinator as soon as possible before work commences; • must ensure that, whilst allowing sufficient time to do so, the Principal Contractor has developed the Construction Phase Plan before permitting construction work to begin;

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • The Designer’s responsibilities: • ensure designs avoid foreseeable risks to the health and safety of all persons constructing, maintaining and using the project; • include information in the designs for contractors about the risks associated with the design and the materials to be used; • co-operate with the CDM Co-ordinator

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • In CDM there is: • a Principal Contractor • employed by the client • entrusted to supervise safety on the construction site; and • contractors • otherwise known as sub-contractors • employed by the Principal Contractor

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • The Principal Contractor’s responsibilities: • develop the Construction Phase Plan into its final form before construction work can begin, and to keep it up to date during construction; • supervise and assess the performance of contractors to ensure they are complying with the Construction Phase Plan ; • co-ordinate the activities of multiple contractors with respect to H&S; • provide information on health and safety to all contractors; • ensure only authorised persons are allowed onto the site;

Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 • Cost • the extra parties and responsibilities incur an additional cost • if the safety input is appropriately planned, costs should be limited • contractors have already found that good safety procedures introduced early have reduced problems and associated costs later in the project • this is an underlying principle of the regulations. • Breaching the law • Both civil and criminal liabilities may be incurred through a breach of health and safety legislation. • Specifically, a failure to comply with CDM regulations may expose corporate bodies and individuals to unlimited fines and/or up to two years imprisonment.

Health, Safety & Welfare • Previously issues relating to general health, safety & welfare were contained in a separate set of regulations • Now contained in regulations 26 to 44 • Provides for duty holders, who have a level of duty in proportion to the level of authority and must comply with the regulations

Health, Safety & Welfare Duty Holders (Reg 25) • (1) Every contractor carrying out construction work shall comply with the requirements of regulations 26 to 44 insofar as they affect him or any person carrying out construction work under his control or relate to matters within his control.

Health, Safety & Welfare Duty Holders (Reg 25) • (2) Every person (other than a contractor carrying out construction work) who controls the way in which any construction work is carried out by a person at work shall comply with the requirements of regulations 26 to 44 insofar as they relate to matters which are within his control.

Health, Safety & Welfare Duty Holders (Reg 25) • (3) Every person at work on construction work under the control of another person shall report to that person any defect which he is aware may endanger the health and safety of himself or another person

26. Safe places of work 27. Good order and site security 28. Stability of structures 29. Demolition or dismantling 30. Explosives 31. Excavations 32. Cofferdams and caissons 33. Reports of inspections 34. Energy distribution installations 35. Prevention of drowning 36. Traffic routes 37. Vehicles 38. Prevention of risk from fire etc. 39. Emergency procedures 40. Emergency routes and exits 41. Fire detection and fire-fighting 42. Fresh air 43. Temperature and weather protection 44. Lighting Health, Safety & Welfare – general regulations

Approved Code of Practice • The CDM regulations are relatively straightforward – it is their implementation that is tricky. • Like a lot of legislation there are always multiple ways of undertaking operations which comply. • The ACoP provides practical guidance on complying with the duties set out in the regulations. • The HSE did not want an ACoP. They preferred instead ‘Guidance’. • The difference is that it would be very difficult to prosecute a contractor who can demonstrate that they adhered to the ACoP even if, say, fatalities occurred. • It is only through the insistence of the industry that an ACoP was prepared. • Including CIC • Both the CDM regulations themselves and the ACoP can be downloaded • See http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/update.htm

School of Engineering and Electronics & Bovis Lend Lease