At last - Consultation Opens on CDM

• Content
• Legal
• At last - Consultation Opens on CDM

30 May 2014 | Updated 01 January 1970

The long awaited consultation on the Health and Safety Executive’s proposals to replace the current Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007) and withdraw the Approved Code of Practice has commenced and is scheduled to continue until 6th June 2014.

A 98 page consultation document has been published, which is known as CD261 and sets out the proposed amendments to the existing Regulations. The consultation document can be found by clicking here.

The current timetable for these proposals, which are subject to Ministerial and Parliamentary scrutiny, is that the revised Regulations will come into force in April 2015 and will be known as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

While the consultation document makes it plain that there has been significant improvement in the construction industry’s performance on health and safety over recent years, it remains one of the highest risk industry sectors in which to work.

Despite the improvements made within the construction industry, based on the HSE’s statistics, it still accounts each year for 53 deaths to workers involved in work place accidents (averaged from 2007/08 to 2011/12).

The proposed changes were created following an evaluation of the current CDM 2007 via independent research commissioned by the HSE and further to the gathering of views from a cross-industry working group, established under the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC).

 The proposals will be of interest to Clients of construction work (including householders as Clients), Designers, Principal Contractors, contractors, sub-contractors (including the self-employed), CDM Co-Ordinators and safety representatives.

The stated policy objectives behind the proposals for CDM 2015 are to:

• Maintain or improve worker protection
• Simplify the regulatory package
• Improve health and safety standards on small construction sites
• Implement the Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive (TMCSD) in a proportionate way
• Discourage bureaucracy
• Meet better regulation principles.

The consultation is seeking views on several proposed

issues including:

• The structure of the draft Regulations
• Replacing the CDM Co-Ordinator role with a Principal Designer
• Replacing the ACOP with more targeted guidance
• Replacing the detailed and prescriptive requirements for individual and corporate competence with a more generic requirement.

We will keep you updated as this consultation progresses - Rod Hunt.

Further information

If you would like further information on any issue raised in this update please contact:

Rod Hunt, t. +44 (0)161 240 2610, rod.hunt@clydeco.com

Clyde & Co Chancery Place, 50 Brown Street, Manchester M2 2JT

Further advice should be taken before relying on the contents of this summary.

Article written by Rod Hunt | Published 30 May 2014

Share

Related Articles