A series of site visits and client meetings will assess how the industry has adapted to new regulations

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced a safety blitz on construction sites across the North-west of England with a series of spot checks assessing how the industry has adapted to new regulations.

The safety body's construction division will work with the sector's construction design and management (CDM) co-ordinators throughout December in a bid to improve the way the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 are implemented.

HSE inspectors are planning to make site visits to assess the ways in which the industry has changed its planning and co-ordination procedures in light of the new regulations.

They will also meet with clients and CDM co-ordinators to examine how better project planning can make workers safer during both construction and building maintenance.

HSE construction inspector Dave Charnock said: "Effective CDM co-ordination is key to reducing the risks of accidents and ill health on site. HSE will work with the CDM co-ordinator profession to ensure that their role is robust and effective in ensuring safe design, adequate planning and in challenging unhelpful bureaucracy.

He added that the inspection visits would focus predominantly on refurbishment projects, as well as the “management of risks associated with work at height, asbestos and also those hazards with the potential to cause multiple injuries such as fire and structural collapse".

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