CXCS would like to make you aware of the Construction (Design & Management) or ‘CDM Regulations 2015’, and what they may mean for your business.
Over the past few months it has been noted that many of our clients have had, or are preparing to carry out, construction work on their premises. These projects, however small, need to comply with the CDM regulations.
The definition of construction work under CDM covers a very wide range of construction activities, meaning very little falls outside of the regulations. It includes every stage of the construction process, from preparation for a structure, e.g. site clearance and groundworks, to the actual construction, plus alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance, installation of services, and finally, the demolition and dismantling of a structure.
As with all Health and Safety regulations, the key factor of the CDM regulations is to safeguard the people involved with the project; those who may be affected by the ongoing works, and the end users. If you arrange, finance and manage a project, then you become the ‘client’, meaning you must ensure that your duties satisfy the CDM regulations. Some ‘clients’ believe that if they employ a principle contractor, they have transferred their responsibilities to that contractor. This is wrong; you can never transfer your Health and Safety responsibilities to another person. Therefore, you are required to know, understand, and execute your duties, before, during and after the completion of the project.
It is important to understand that there are a number of duty holders responsible for ensuring that the CDM regulations are complied with; the client, the principle contractor, the designer, sub-contractors and workers. All of these have a duty of care, meaning that a failure for any one of these groups to maintain their duty of care could lead to accidents, damage, and prosecution by the enforcement agencies.
Our main concern at CXCS is to ensure that our clients comply with all applicable Health and Safety regulations, including CDM. We must also ensure that we are providing you, our client, with adequate guidance and the correct advice, including any temporary changes to your business, such as construction. Therefore, we are taking this opportunity to ensure that you are aware of the CDM regulations, giving you the chance to inform us of any current or future construction works taking place within your business. We must emphasise that if you have any form of construction taking place within your business, your current CXCS Health and Safety Policy would not be found suitable or sufficient if it does not relate to construction.
Within CXCS we have advisors who hold years of experience within agricultural construction, and who can provide you with advice on setting up a project, including gathering contractors’ pre-start assessments, or who can act as your project Health and Safety advisor. *
Please remember that Agriculture and Construction are the two sectors that hold the highest amount of serious accidents and fatalities in the UK workplace. To have both these industries running together on your premises means that the Health and Safety standards applied must be upheld to an exceptional degree.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any queries following reading this blog or require any advice or assistance with the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015.
*Please note this would be in addition to your current contract.
