Health & Safety builds a safer future

For builders across the UK the need to be compliant with all things relating to health and safety has never been more important.

However, before the health and safety harbingers of doom send builders running for their lives, having a sound health and safety policy can bring in new opportunities and is something that in the current economic downturn, should be seriously considered.

According to Anthony Botibol, marketing manager at HBXL, being health and safety compliant is something builders can do very easily, especially if they make use of IT and software that produces all the relevant paperwork for any job at the click of a button.

New law

But why the urgency? The first thing builders need to be aware of is the introduction of the new Health & Safety Offences Act 2008 which came into force on 16 January 2009.

Brought in to increase penalties, it provides courts with greater sentencing powers for those who break health and safety law and has three main points.

Firstly the Act has raised the maximum fine which may be imposed in the lower courts to £20,000 for most health and safety offences. Secondly it makes imprisonment an option for more health and safety offences in both the lower and higher courts. Finally it makes certain offences, which are currently triable only in the lower courts, triable in either the lower or higher courts.

The upshot is builders have to be ever more vigilant in the way they run their sites and businesses.

Commenting on the new Act Anthony said: “The introduction of this new Act sends out an important message to those who push the boundaries. It’s those who cut corners, fail to comply with health and safety law or who put workers and the public at risk that need to be worried.

“Good builders though have nothing to fear and being compliant with health and safety doesn’t mean they have to spend precious resources using specialists or investing their own time to make sure they’re on the right side of the law. Instead investing in software such as Health & Safety Xpert makes the whole process extremely easy.

“Its built-in knowledge base determines the likely tasks and risks involved in the project for you. It’s easy, cuts down the time it would normally take by hand and much cheaper than a health and safety consultant.”

Lack of awareness

On top of the introduction of the new Health & Safety Offences Act 2008, it seems the HSE has its work cut out in terms of enforcement of new legislation!

A survey carried out by HBXL showed that 47% of builders didn’t know whether the CDM (Construction Design Management) 2007 applied to them and highlights a huge lack of understanding.

Anthony said: “The introduction of the new CDM regulations meant that all building companies, no matter how big or small, have to adhere to the new updated CDM laws.

“The revised scheme was brought in to help reduce the regulatory burden on the construction industry and improve the level of health and safety but it seems there is still confusion about its application.

“The key objective of CDM 2007 was to simplify and clarify the regulations. It is often very difficult for building businesses to know where to start on health and safety, so it’s important if they haven’t already put plans in place to do so immediately and not get caught out.

“Health & Safety Xpert has been designed specifically to help builders comply with all health and safety paperwork and interprets the ACOP (Approved Code of Practice) for CDM 2007, producing all the necessary paperwork.”

Opportunity to expand

Although the primary reason for having sound health and safety procedures is ensuring safety on site, Anthony believes making sure builder’s health and safety is up to speed may provide opportunities to expand and follows pressure by groups like the FMB to fast track the planning process to release and designate land for social housing.

Should this happen, then, according to Anthony, the winners will be those who can submit the right health and safety paperwork during the tender process and by using Health & Safety Xpert will place them at the front of the queue when the contracts are awarded.

He said: “The current financial climate could see the return of a lot more social housing with the Government planning to enable local authorities to build more affordable homes. This in turn should help both the construction industry and the economy.

“The FMB warned the government not to forget the small builders ‘who are the backbone of the economy’, when it comes to dealing out these new jobs.

“If you are one of those small builders it is also down to you to make sure that you are in a position to win the work by being able to submit Health and Safety paper work with your quote.”