Newsletter

HSC APPROVES CDM 2007 REGULATIONS

The Health and Safety Commission has approved the new Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations 2007, which will bring the CDM Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 into a single Statutory Instrument that, amongst other regulatory changes, makes explicit what clients should be doing (and, it is reported by the HSE) without imposing new duties.

However, inspection of the new F10 indicates the HSE’s greater focus upon ensuring that the Client complies with both the letter and spirit of the law. These new regulations are supported by a new Approved Code of Practice which is currently delayed.

Key changes include a strengthening of the client’s role and the creation of a new duty holder – the CDM coordinator (CDMC) who replaces the CDM 94 planning supervisor.

A paper entitled ‘Proposed Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations 2007 and related ACoP: draft regulatory package for approval by the HSC’ is available at http://tinyurl.com/tcmlk (pdf)

The draft regulations are available at http://tinyurl.com/tjwcc (pdf) and the draft Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) is available at http://tinyurl.com/t5cus (pdf)

(HSE Books; tel: 01787 881165).

Worker protection from exposure to asbestos has been strengthened by The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2006 which came into force in GB on 13 November.

The new regulations reduce exposure limits, introduce mandatory training for work with asbestos and implement revisions to the EU Asbestos Worker Protection Directive. They also simplify the regulatory regime by replacing three existing sets of regulations covering the prohibition of asbestos, the control of asbestos at work and asbestos licensing.

Specific changes include:-

• Single control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm 3 of air for work with all types of asbestos

• Requirement to analyse the concentration of asbestos in the air with measurements in accordance with the 1997 WHO recommended method;

• Practical guidelines for the determination of ‘sporadic and low intensity exposure’.

The regulations are available at ISBN 0 11 075191 4, £4.50, The Stationery Office (tel: 0870 600 5522) (http://tinyurl.com/ybqcj3 (pdf)

Guidance on the duty to manage asbestos can be found in ‘Approved Code of Practice: The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises’, L27, ISBN 07176 6209 8, £9.50, and ‘Work with materials containing asbestos’, ISBN 07176 6206 3, price £13.50 are both available from HSE Books (tel: 01787 881165).

An explanatory memorandum to the regulations is available at http://tinyurl.com./ybqcj3 (pdf).

RISKS FACED BY MIGRANT WORKERS

The potential for exploitation of migrant and other workers in sectors where the management of health and safety is poor, is revealed in new research commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive. It found that migrant workers may be experiencing higher frequencies of workplace accidents because they are more likely to work long hours, routinely involving shift work and have a limited knowledge of UK health and safety standards.

Language and cultural difficulties, and the fact migrant workers are likely to take up work in areas where they have little or no experience and training, are further contributory factors.

The report recommends that the issues should be tackled by better targeted HSE/local authority inspection, enforcement and support, as well as better targeted advice for the workers themselves and those who employ them.

‘Migrant workers in England and Wales: An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks’ (Research Report 502) is available at http://tinyurl.com/yb7bnr (pdf) (HSE Books; tel: 01787 881165).

It is reported that the ‘Trojan Horse’ method of disseminating health and safety information on construction sites, by delivering positive safety messages to site operatives on the components the operatives routinely worked with, has ‘resulted in high levels of awareness and information take up’, concludes research funded by the Health and Safety Executive.

Trojan messaging was adopted by the Steel Construction Institute in 2004, with HSE sponsorship, to tackle the specific construction industry problem of a high proportion of self employed operatives who have little opportunity or incentive to invest in safety training. In addition, the recruitment of overseas operatives brings additional problems and issues.

Other key messages to emerge from the research are that Trojan messages generate minimal interference with work and elicit positive responses from operatives working with media on which messages were displayed.

DIRECTORS/CONTACTS: 01925 654158

• T.H. Keelagher FRICS

• J.F. Okey FRICS MCIArb MInstCES MaPS

(Registered Auditor)

• P. Jones ABEng TechSP MaPS