CDM: what you need to know

General Matters

• Notification The threshold for notification of construction work to the HSE is if there will be more than 30 days, or 500 person days, of construction work. However, a project will never be notifiable if it is for a domestic client, regardless of how long the construction phase is.
• Competence While CDM 1994 required clients and others to appoint competent designers, planning supervisors, principal contractor and contractors, the assessment of competence (if done at all) often became a bureaucratic form filling exercise. CDM 2007 is intended to give competence greater significance, and the approved code of practice (ACOP) gives more explicit guidance on competence assessment. There will also be a new duty on all persons not to accept an appointment unless they are competent.
• Co-operation CDM 1994 has various duties on designers and contractors to co-operate with the planning supervisor, other designers or principal contractor. These duties will be rolled into one single requirement for everyone involved in a project to co-operate with others to enable them to carry out their duties under CDM 2007. Co-operation is also required between different projects on the same or adjoining sites.
• Worker engagement A positive safety culture is a powerful influence for achieving better standards of health and safety. There will be a specific duty on principal contractors in CDM 2007 to have arrangements in place to consult with workers or their representatives. There should be management commitment to providing information for, and receiving information from, the workforce.
• Mobilisation period To reduce the risks created by lack of preparation time, CDM 2007 will require clients to allow sufficient resources, including time. The co-ordinator will advise prospective principal contractors and contractors of the minimum time between appointment and start of work.
• Welfare The client will need to ensure that there is adequate provision for welfare (whether it is provided by the principal contractor/contractor, or made available by the client).
• Pre-construction information The ‘pre-tender health and safety plan’ of CDM 1994 will be abolished. Instead, the client will be required to ensure that relevant information is made available to the people who need it. It is not ‘a plan’ which is important, but the actual information itself.
• Domestic clients It is not practical to place legal duties on domestic clients, so they are exempt from any duties under CDM 2007.

As well as appointing competent people, clients will need to take reasonable steps to check that there are suitable arrangements in place to manage the project safely, and that the arrangements are maintained throughout the project. This is a recognition that the client is the person who is likely to have the greatest influence over the project. To do this the client should be able to rely on the support of his project team, and particularly the co-ordinator.

CDM 2007 will end the special status of ‘client’s agent’. It was regarded as inconsistent that a client could appoint an agent under CDM 1994, which would absolve them from their legal duties. There are transitional arrangements for projects where a client’s agent has already been appointed. Clients will still be able to appoint people to assist them, but will not be able to avoid their responsibilities by doing so.

Planning Supervisors and Co-ordinators

The role of planning supervisor is to be abolished and replaced by the CDM co-ordinator. This a new function, and will be appointed by the client for all notifiable projects. The co-ordinator will act as the ‘client’s friend’ to ensure relevant preconstruction information is given to those that need it, and that there are suitable arrangements for co-ordinating health and safety during the planning and preparation phase. The co-ordinator will also compile the health and safety file for the client.

Planning supervisors lacked real authority in the project team, and everyone could ignore them if they wanted to. The co-ordinator’s role will enable a client to discharge his duties, so the co-ordinator will derive his authority directly from the client.

Designers

There are no major changes for designers. They will be required to avoid foreseeable risks arising from their design to persons undertaking construction, cleaning or maintenance, or using a building designed as a workplace. Designers will do this by eliminating hazards and reducing residual risks. Competent designers have been doing this already.

Principal Contractors

There are no significant changes for principal contractors. There will be an explicit requirement to manage the construction phase so it is carried out safely and without risk to health.

Contractors

As for principal contractors.

Demolition

Demolition is a high-risk activity which may be carried out in under 30 days or less (so non-notifiable with no construction phase plan). There will be a specific requirement for the arrangements for carrying out demolition to be recorded in writing before work begins.

Summary

CDM 2007 is a revision, and while certain elements are new the overall package is not dramatically different to the current health and safety framework for construction work. More will be expected of the client because they have the greatest influence, and the role of the CDM co-ordinator has been created to assist them. By focusing on competence, co-operation, co-ordination, consultation, and reducing unnecessary paperwork, the potential benefits to the project may go beyond health and safety. cm