New regulations from the HSC in April 2007, HBXL on managing H&S processes successfully, and the latest mobile safety application

Monday, 22 January 2007

In october 2006, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) met and approved the proposed revised Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations and Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) for formal submission to the Minister.

The Regulations will revise and bring together provisions in the existing CDM Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 into a single regulatory package.

Speaking after the meeting, Richard Boland, Head of Construction Policy, said: ''I am delighted that the revised regulatory package has been approved by the Commission. We remain on target for the Regulations coming into force in April 2007.

"Over the last four years we have worked in partnership with the industry to simplify and add clarity to construction health and safety law so that risks on site can be properly managed. We will continue to work together to make sure that the new provisions and ACoP improve standards of health and safety management in our industry."

At the open meeting, Commission members discussed the effect of the regulations on small and medium sized businesses - particularly small clients - in light of some stakeholders' concerns.

The Commission noted that the Regulations do not impose new duties on clients. They make explicit what clients should already be doing as a result of existing duties in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Clear, simple guidance for SMEs and clients is being developed by industry. This will be crucial in helping smaller clients, addressing misconceptions and alleviating concerns. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) agreed to report back to the Commission in January 2007 on progress with these issues.

What happens next?

- The approved regulatory package will be formally submitted to the Minister.
- Provided the Minister agrees to the proposals, HSE is still on track to implement the revised Regulations and ACOP package in April 2007.
- The ACoP will be made available in January 2007 - three months prior to implementation.
- HSE, together with stakeholders, continues to develop the launch arrangements for the Regulations.

The importance of H&S

Making sure that building sites of small and medium sized building companies are safe has risen up the agenda with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) now making thousands of random site inspections every year

According to the latest HSE figures, over 4000 major accidents are reported each year (fractures, amputations, unconsciousness, loss of sight, electric shocks etc) and that's why the construction industry has set its own targets to reduce the rate of fatal and major injuries by 66% by 2009/10.

In addition over 70 fatalities occurred on sites between April 2004 and March 2005 - of which 70% are whilst working on small construction projects.

Building companies have a legal obligation to demonstrate that they take their responsibilities seriously and that they have done as much as is reasonably practicable to safe guard their employees, subcontractors and general public.

Serious injuries and fatalities not only costs UK building companies thousands of pounds in down time and injury claims, but if the HSE finds a company has not complied, then the implications are very serious ranging from fines, the shutting down of a site, criminal prosecutions and in some cases prison sentences.

Recent examples of fines described on the HSE's own website include a £1500 penalty for 'inadequate management of control of traffic' to a £25,000 fine when a joiner was injured on site 'when a joist failed under his weight.'

Red tape

Despite the reasonable intentions of health and safety legislation, the net result appears to be a mountain of paperwork for the jobbing builder.

A survey carried out by building software specialists HBXL revealed that over a third of builders say that health and safety red tape is putting them off the building industry.

With many already working well into the night and on weekends producing estimates and quotes, the need to comply with the latest heath and safety legislation only adds to the working day in preparing the right paperwork and documentation.

The survey also highlighted that 74% of the respondents carry out their own health and safety paperwork in-house. Of these 67% spend up to two hours per job getting the paperwork together, 18% spend half a day with 14% taking up to two days!

In addition, those who out-source their health and safety paperwork, 61% spend up to £250 per job, with 27% spending between £250 to £500 and 12% spending between £500 to £1,000.

A solution

Developed in partnership with leading health and safety professionals, Health & Safety Xpert will encourage an active approach to health and safety on building sites across the country.

All users have to do is tell Health & Safety Xpert what they are building and it simply does the rest, automatically producing Company Health & Safety Policies, Risk Assessments, COSHH Assessments, Construction Phase Health & Safety Plans, forms required by the HSE, and many more essential documents.

It has already proved to have saved builders huge amounts of time, quickly guiding them through the crucial paper work that's required under current UK law, including the Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 and Construction Design Management (CDM) Regulations 1994.

In addition Health & Safety Xpert is a fraction of the ongoing costs that builders pay for consultant's fees.

The ease at which users can produce the documentation needed to help comply with health and safety legislation will also encourage those in the construction industry whom have historically avoided this important aspect of the building process.

As there is virtually no typing required, builders will spend less of their valuable day doing health and safety paperwork and more on actively keeping their teams safe on site and building a successful business.

The benefits

Dave Tolson, Solent Home Services, Hampshire: "It's a big time saver and is incredibly simple to use. Getting started on it was an absolute doddle! I've learnt a lot from it too about things that we were missing out before. Each job we run through the software now we're finding that there are small hazards we've overlooked or bits of paperwork that could be improved because you're just not sure how to present it."

Stuart Henderson, SDH Builders, Somerset: "Now that I've got the names of all my workers into Health & Safety Xpert I can get all the health and safety paperwork I need on a job completed in close to 10 minutes. It's a massive time-saving tool, but that's not to say I'm taking less care on health and safety. In fact, I've started to find out about things I was potentially missing out of my assessments before. It's absolutely brilliant and if you've won a job using HBXL's EstimatorXpress then you can just import the job into Health & Safety Xpert saving even more time."

Andrew Snell, Essex: "I'm delighted. I completed a health and safety plan in the time it took me to eat two sandwiches, two cakes and a biscuit. It usually takes me two whole days!"

David Price, MIIRSM, NEBOSH and CITB accredited Health & Safety Consultant & CITB Accredited Trainer: "Health & Safety Xpert gives builders peace of mind because it gives them an easy-to-use tool to help with producing all their health and safety paperwork. The software is the most comprehensive package I've seen and encourages builders to take a more pro-active yet less time-consuming approach to health and safety on every job.

"The construction industry is under close scrutiny due to the nature of the work involved and I feel that investing in a piece of software such as Health & Safety Xpert is vital to assist builders with identifying potential safety risks on a job, and will help provide the necessary paperwork to perform those checks and become compliant."

Kevin Angell Health & Safety Consultant: "No-one should underestimate the consequences of non-compliance. Health & Safety Xpert is as easy as it says on the box."