Page 123 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Civil Engineering Project Management
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promote effective health and safety measures by placing certain duties on the
client, designers and contractors involved in a project, and introducing a new
role of planning supervisor. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) adminis-
ters and enforces the regulations. The following are the main requirements.
• The client has to appoint a planning supervisor and name the principal
contractor and be reasonably satisfied that they, and also the designers, have
adequate resources and competence to carry out their duties (Regulations 6,
8 and 9). He must provide the planning supervisor with any relevant infor-
mation (Regulation 11) and ensure that information in any health and
safety file delivered to him (see below) is kept available for inspection by
persons needing to comply therewith (Regulation 12). The planning super-
visor and principal contractor can be the same person, or the client himself
can act as either or both (Regulation 6(6)).
• The planning supervisor has to notify the HSE of the intended project
(Regulation 7) and ensure that a health and safety plan is prepared in respect
of the project (Regulation 15(1)). He has to ensure that the designers pay
adequate regard to health and safety matters (Regulation 14(a)(b)) and be
in a position to give advice on the competence and adequacy of resources
of designers and contractors (Regulation 14(c)). He ensures that a health and
safety file is prepared for each structure (Regulation 14(d)), which includes
relevant safety information and is kept up to date with any changes during
construction (Regulation 14(e)). He must ensure that the file is delivered to
the client on completion of the construction (Regulation 14(f)).
• The designers have to ensure that any design ‘includes among the design
considerations adequate regard to the need (i) to avoid foreseeable risks’ to
health and safety; (ii) to ‘combat at source (such) risks’; (iii) to ‘give priority
to measures which will protect all persons carrying out construction work or
cleaning work at any time and all persons who may be affected by the work
of such persons’ (Regulation 13(2)(a)). Designers must also ensure that the
design includes ‘adequate information about any aspect of the project or
structure or materials (including articles or substances) which might affect
the health or safety of any person’ (Regulation 13(2)(b)). The foregoing
requirements are to be met ‘to the extent that it is reasonable to expect the
designer to address them at the time the design is prepared and to the extent
that it is otherwise reasonably practicable to do so’ (Regulation 13(3)).
• The principal contractor is required to comply with the health and safety
plan and augment its provisions as necessary during construction (Regula-
tions 15(4) and 16(1)(e)). As principal contractor he has to co-ordinate the
activities of all other contractors and sub-contractors on the site and see
that they comply with the health and safety plan (Regulations 16 and 17).
He must permit employees and self-employed persons to discuss and advise
him on health or safety matters (Regulation 18). All contractors must com-
ply with rules in the health and safety plan, and clients and self-employed
persons must be informed of the contents of the plan or such part of it as is
relevant to their work (Regulation 19).