The degree of detail required in the Health and Safety Plan for the construction phase and the time and effort in preparing it should be in proportion to the nature, size and level of health and safety risks involved in the project. Projects involving minimal risks will call for simple, straightforward plans. Large projects or those involving significant risks will need more detail
The Health and Safety Plan should set out the arrangements for securing the health and safety of everyone carrying out the construction work and all others who may be affected by it.
It should deal with:
Not all information relating to the project may be available to fully develop the Health and Safety Plan before the start of construction. This could be because not all the design work may have been completed or many of the subcontractors who will be carrying out the work have yet to be appointed. However, site layout drawings covering the project at different stages, completed design information and the Pre-construction Information will be valuable in developing the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan so that:
For projects where a significant amount of design work will be prepared as construction proceeds, specific arrangements for dealing with this work may need to be set out in the Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan. This is important to ensure that the health and safety aspects of the design work are considered and dealt with properly by designers and the CDM Co-ordinator.
The Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan will need to be added to, reviewed and updated as the project develops, further design work is completed, information from the subcontractors starting work becomes available, unforeseen circumstances or variations to planned circumstances arise, etc.
The Construction Phase Health and Safety Plan should start with:
These can include:
The management structure and responsibilities of the various members of the project team, whether based at site or elsewhere and the arrangements for the Principal Contractor to give directions and to co-ordinate other contractors.
The health and safety standards to which the project will be carried out. These may be set in terms of statutory requirements or higher standards that the client may require in particular circumstances.
Means for informing contractors about risks to their health and safety arising from the environment in which the project is to be carried out and the construction work itself.
The principal contractor has to make arrangements for ensuring that:
Means for communicating and passing information between the project team (including the client and any client's representatives) the designers, the CDM Co-ordinator, the Principal Contractor, other contractors, workers on site and others whose health and safety may be affected; arrangements for securing co-operation between contractors for health and safety purposes.
Arrangements for management meetings and initiatives by which the health and safety objectives of the project are to be achieved; Arrangements for dealing with design work carried out during the construction phase, ensuring it complies with the duties of designers and resultant information is passed to the appropriate person(s).
Arrangements need to be made for the identification and effective management of activities with health and safety risks. This can be acheived by carrying out risk assessments and incorporating those prepared by other contractors. Method statements should then be prepared addressing those hazards identified. These activities may be specific to a particular trade (eg falsework) or to site-wide issues, and may include:
Control measures to deal with these should be clearly set out, including protection of members of the public.
Emergency arrangements for dealing with and minimising the effects of injuries, fire and other dangerous occurrences.
The arrangements for passing information to the Principal Contractor about accidents, ill health and dangerous occurrences that require to be notified to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985.
The arrangements for the provision and maintenance of welfare facilities.
Arrangements need to be made by which the Principal Contractor will check that people on site have been provided with:
Arrangements also need to be made for:
Arrangements that have been made for consulting and co-ordinating the views of workers or their representatives.
Arrangements for making site rules and for bringing them to the attention of those affected. The rules should be set out in the Health and Safety Plan. There may be separate rules for contractors, workers, visitors and other specific groups.
Arrangements for passing on information to the CDM Co-ordinator for the preparation of the Health and Safety File.
Arrangements should be set out to ensure the monitoring systems achieve compliance with:
This may involve co-operation and regular meetings between senior management and those who provide health and safety advice to them, and may involve monitoring of:
