The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007)

Following a European Directive the CDM regualtions were enacted in 1994 to improve safety in the construction industry by addressing the causes of accidents at design, construction, maintenance, use, and demolition stages. The CDM 2007 regulations refined the 1994 legislation, building upon its success.

There have been significant improvements in safety. Despite this, the figures for 2007/2008 show 72 deaths in the Construction Industry representing 31% of all workers killed, and an accident rate of 1550 per 100,000; more than 1.6 times the average accross all industries (source: www.hse.gov.uk).

Abbey CCL as the Registered CDM Co-ordinator

Clients have a number of duties under CDM 2007 Regulations with which we can assist.

ACCL are corporate members of the Association for Project Safety. Keith Philpott is a registered CDM Co-ordinator and may act as Competent Person or CDM Co-ordinator as required.

Construction Health and Safety relies heavily on large amounts of common sense, good training and knowledge, an awareness of the hazards, and a wide appreciation of all the issues. The ACCL team possess these qualities. Safety is related not to the amount of paper generated, but to the relevance and content.

We add value by promoting positive mental attitudes towards safety and welfare, assisting Clients to understand and perform their important roles of goal setting and information provision, working with Designers and Contractors to identify safety issues and provide health and safety advice to the whole team when needed. The outcome is safer and more efficient sites.

In many respects the most difficult duty is that of ensuring the most current information is available to all who require it. To assist Clients in complying with the regulations we now use the Abbey CDM and Project Management Database to ensure accurate and timely provision of information to all parties.

We use the database to collate information from all parties and provide access via the internet so that Clients, Contractors, and Designers all have access to the most up to date information to work in safety when they require it.

Under the regulations Clients must appoint a CDM Co-ordinator from project inception (the only statutory appointment in construction) and a Principal Contractor for all commercial building projects that will last more than 30 working days, and in some other circumstances.

The CDM 2007 Regulations now apply to all building work of any scale that meet the criteria of the regulations, meaning that many previously exempt projects including maintenance, repair, and small fit-out contracts now fall within their scope.

Also, liability for the safety agenda is placed upon the Client. For non-notifiable works the Client may appoint a Competent Person to assist with this.

Issues that must be properly addressed range from the provision of information, checking the competence and resources of everyone employed, and not allowing work to progress until certain actions are complete.