SME builders worried about the revised Construction Design Management (CDM) 2015 regulations are being advised to use HBXL’s Health & Safety Xpert software to help them comply…
CDM 2015 came into force on 6 April 2015 and brought a raft of new measures designed to improve health and safety on site. One of the main misconceptions was who the new regulations would apply to.
The fact is, CDM 2015 applies to all.
One new rule which raised a lot of eyebrows was the need to provide a construction phase plan for all projects.
This must record the health and safety arrangements for the construction phase and site rules as well as the arrangements for managing the significant health and safety risks associated with the construction phase of a project.
Says Joanna Mulgrew, Marketing & Product Development Director at HBXL: “The reality is under CDM 2015 every construction project should have a Construction Phase Health & Safety Plan (CPH & SP) but proportionate to the risks involved. Health & Safety Xpert helps building firms quickly produce a plan for every job together with all the relevant associated Risk and COSHH assessments.”
The second main change was that the CDM Co-ordinator (or CDMC) role under CDM 2007 was replaced by Principal Designer (PD) or just a designer if only one contractor working on the project.
This particular change however raised a large number of queries particularly about who can carry out the role of the PD.
According to Dave Price, independent health and safety consultant to HBXL, the PD must be a designer, architect, consulting engineer, a quantity surveyor or anyone who specifies and alters designs as part of their work.
The PD can also be clients, contractors and tradespeople if they carry out design work or arrange for, or instruct persons under their control to do so. They must also have the right mix of skills, knowledge and experience.
Joanna is now advising that builders make sure they are now fully up to speed or risk facing the scrutiny of the HSE.
Mark Jones of MJ Building Services in Cornwall believes the arrival of CDM 2015 and HSE’s every increasing clamp down on site safety will only lead to more fines for those who are non-compliant. He also thinks it is only fair for the HSE to intervene where they find something wrong, vindicating those who operate well within the law.
Mark said: “We use Health & Safety Xpert daily in order to comply with the constant changes in the H&S regs such as risk assessments and method statements.
“Using the software has saved the business a lot of money on external health and safety consultants which in the first year alone amounted to a saving just short of £5,000.
“We now use it on everything from new builds, renovations, ground works, extensions, heating and plumbing jobs and any electrical work and wouldn’t be without it.”
Joanna Mulgrew
Marketing & Product
Development Director
HBXL Building Software
Tel: 0117 916 7898
sales@hbxl.co.uk
www.hbxl.co.uk/principaldesigners
