A ground breaking partnership between builders and contractors should revolutionise attitudes to health and safety, says Bob Towse, head of technical and safety at the HVCA
WITH the 2007 version of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations just round the corner, it is fantastic news that two organisations that together represent more than 80% of the construction industry's turnover have agreed to put health and safety issues at the heart of their work.

The Construction Confederation and the Specialist Engineering Contractors' (SEC) Group represent more than 11,000 contracting companies between them and have signed a 'statement of intent' to work together to tackle health and safety on site.

Priority health and safety initiatives have been identified and, equally importantly, the organisations will seek to persuade contractors and clients to adopt jointly agreed 'core criteria' for the assessment of contractor competence.

The most positive aspect of this is the promise of an integrated approach. It is often the case that various parties involved with site-based projects have good intentions and commendable individual health and safety strategies but, amid the hustle, bustle and confusion of a building site with various trades and multiple companies involved, accidents do still occur.

This initiative could go a long way towards joining up our approaches for the long-term health of the whole sector and make it easier for different trades and organisations to co-ordinate their safety policies.

Specific action will be taken on slips, trips and falls on site, and practical support for the Health and Safety Executive's Occupational Health Risk Management Model.

The core criteria cover all the important aspects of health, safety and site welfare, so if these are met there should be no need for clients to demand anything else. They include the need for contractors to have a health and safety policy; ensure the appropriate training and qualifications are in place for individual workers; monitor and review processes; have a clear accident reporting strategy and follow-up procedures; put risk assessment methodology in place and make adequate provision for the welfare of their employees.

Hopefully, this will make it easier for clients to tackle their increased responsibilities under the new CDM Regulations. These include the fact that it will no longer be acceptable for them to procure work on lowest possible cost and then leave it to the contractors alone to sort out how they are going to deliver the project on time and to budget without compromising on health and safety.

This statement of intent should herald a new era of collaboration and co-operation between all parties involved in construction projects to their mutual benefit.

See Newslink pages 20 and 21

For more information contact Bob Towse on 020 7313 4928 (btowse@hvca.org.uk)