Introduction
CDM stands for Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which are aimed at ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved in a construction project. These regulations apply to all types of construction work, from small projects like installing a new window, to large-scale projects like building a new office block.
The CDM regulations place responsibilities on a number of different parties involved in a construction project, including clients, designers, contractors, and workers. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at these key duty holders and their respective responsibilities.
Key Duty Holders Under the CDM Regulations
Clients
The client is the person or organisation for whom the construction work is being carried out. Their primary duty is to ensure that the project is properly planned, managed, and coordinated to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved.
This includes appointing competent duty holders (such as designers and contractors), ensuring that there are suitable welfare facilities on site, and ensuring that all relevant information about the project is communicated to everyone involved.
Designers
Designers are responsible for ensuring that the project is designed in a way that eliminates or reduces risks to health and safety during the construction, maintenance, and eventual demolition of the structure. This includes providing information on potential hazards and risks, as well as suggesting ways to eliminate or control them.
Designers must also ensure that the design is suitable for construction and that it complies with all relevant health and safety legislation and standards.
Principal Designers
Principal Designers are appointed by the client on projects that involve more than one contractor. Their main role is to plan, manage, and coordinate health and safety during the pre-construction phase of the project.
This includes identifying and eliminating potential hazards and risks, ensuring that the design is suitable for construction, and communicating relevant health and safety information to other duty holders.
Contractors
Contractors are responsible for carrying out the construction work in a way that ensures the health and safety of everyone on site. This includes ensuring that suitable welfare facilities are available, carrying out regular risk assessments, and providing appropriate training and supervision for their workers.
Contractors must also ensure that their work is carried out in accordance with the construction phase plan, that any changes are properly managed, and that the work is completed safely and within the agreed timescale.
Principal Contractors
Principal Contractors are appointed by the client on projects that involve more than one contractor. Their main role is to plan, manage, and coordinate health and safety during the construction phase of the project.
This includes ensuring that suitable welfare facilities are available, carrying out regular risk assessments, and providing appropriate training and supervision for all workers on site. Principal Contractors must also ensure that the work is completed safely and within the agreed timescale.
Workers
A worker is anyone working for or under the control of a contractor on a construction site. Examples of workers include: plumbers, electricians, scaffolders, painters, decorators, steel erectors and labourers, as well as supervisors like foremen and charge hands.
Workers have an important role and should take an active part in helping to manage health and safety risks. In particular, workers must:
- only carry out construction work if they have the relevant skills, knowledge, training and experience – or they are provided with the training and supervision that enables them to do it safely and without risk to health
- make themselves aware of the health and safety risks involved in work on every site and the way those risks are managed
- always follow site rules and procedures
- cooperate with other duty-holders, such as the contractor in control of their work and the principal contractor (who controls the overall project when there is more than one contractor)
- report any risks they find to whoever controls the work on site, whether the risks affect their own health and safety or anyone else, including other workers and members of the public
Conclusion
In conclusion, the CDM regulations are designed to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved in a construction project. They place responsibilities on a number of different duty holders, including clients, designers, contractors, principal designers, and principal contractors.
By working together and fulfilling their respective duties, these duty holders can ensure that construction projects are completed safely and without incident. For more information on the CDM regulations, be sure to consult the guidance provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or contact one of the team here at Refocus Safety Ltd.
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