Health and safety for building design and construction
Buildings can present a great number of possible risks both in construction and operation. There are many duties placed on those commissioning, designing, constructing and operating buildings to control those risks.
The legislation affecting health and safety in design and construction falls under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act through regulations that include:
- The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations.
- Building Regulations.
- The Health and safety at work etc Act.
- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
- Work at Height Regulations.
- The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.
- The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations.
- The Workplace (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations.
- The Work in Compressed Air Regulations.
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.
- The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
- The Manual Handling Operations Regulations.
- The Control of Noise at Work Regulations.
- The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations.
- The Control of Asbestos Regulations.
- The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations.
- The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations.
- The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.
A full list is available in the appendices of HSE Health and safety in construction, although some of the regulations listed in the publication have since been revoked following revisions to The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations in 2007 (the revoked legislation is listed in the appendices of the Approved Code of Practice. Managing health and safety in construction).
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM regulations) 2015, in particular, are intended to ensure that health and safety issues are properly considered during a project’s development. They include general requirements that apply to all projects and additional duties that only apply to notifiable construction projects (where the construction work is likely to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point in the project, or exceed 500 person days).
The CDM regulations impose duties on:
Many additional requirements are placed on the design of buildings by the Building Regulations (such as Part A: structural safety, Part B: fire safety, Part K: protection from falling, Part N: glazing safety, Part P: electrical safety, etc.).
NB: Under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations, the Fee for Intervention scheme allows the Health and Safety Executive to recover the costs of intervention from those who fail to comply with health and safety legislation.
For additional information, see articles on CDM and Building Regulations.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
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- BEIS Reforming Regulation Initiative.
- BS 7883.
- BS 7883 guide released.
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- Health and Safety Executive.
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- Public Health Act 1984.
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- Reporting accidents and injuries on construction sites.
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- Stop Make a Change SMAC-20.
- Study reveals cost of inefficient contact tracing.
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- Understanding and managing workplace stress is critically important to civil engineers.
- Understanding mental health in the built environment.
- Work at height regulations.
- Work at height rescue plan.
- Workplace drug testing methods.
- Workplace safety supplies.
[edit] External references
- COHME Construction occupational health management essentials (COHME).
- See HSE guidance on health and safety in construction.
- See HSE guidance on CDM Regulations.
- HSE Health and safety in construction.
- HSE Construction Guidance resources.
- Workplace Safety Blog
- Legal series guidance (L153). Managing health and safety in construction.
- OGC Achieving Excellence Guide 10 - Through Health and Safety.
- Workplace Safety: A Practical Guide for your Business and Employees
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Comments
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