The Demise of the CDM Co-ordinator

With CDM in the news at the moment, even more so with the new update being due for release early next year, there is the interesting case of a breach of the CDM regulations recently.

On Thursday (27th November) an architect's practice was fined for failing to provide contractors with sufficient relevant information about the flammability of the timber frame used in the construction of a new care home building in October 2012.

“A routine inspection of the work by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector found that the separation distance between the new timber frame building under construction and an adjacent occupied care home was insufficient.

As a result, had the timber frame caught fire there was a serious risk that the radiant heat would cause the fire to spread to the care home, putting the lives of residents and staff inside at risk.

HSE found that there was nothing in the design specification produced by the architects to alert construction workers erecting the timber frame to the additional fire risk it created, and the need to take action accordingly.”

Clearly this was a situation where the CDMc would, or should, have had an input and advised the architect accordingly. This begs the question of whether the removal of the CDMc role, as proposed by the new regulations, will not only make situations like this worse, but also more commonplace.

What do the proposed CDM Regulations mean for dutyholders?

The Health and Safety Executive are launching their proposals for the revision of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 201x this year. With that in mind, the Association for Project Safety has decided to hold a number of seminars across the UK to inform people working in construction what the CDM changes are.

Anyone is welcome to attend, with the dates and locations as follows:

25th February - South West England
25th February - Yorkshire
25th February - Northern Ireland
26th February - South West England
27th February - London
27th February - East Anglia
4th March - South East England
4th March - Scotland East
4th March - Northern England
5th March - East Midlands
5th March - Scotland North
6th March - South Central England
11th March - North West England
11th March - Wales
12th March - Midlands
12th March - Scotland West

The cost will be £15 per attendee with the programme running as follows:

17:00 Registration, Tea/coffee and sandwiches
17:30 Welcome and introduction
17:40 Presentation of proposed regulations by HSE/other
18:15 Group/workshop discussions of consultation questionnaires
19:00 Summary of responses and collection of written comments from delegates
19:30 Q&A
19:55 Closing remarks from HSE/Chairman

If you are interested in attending please visit the APS website linked to below and click the date you are interested in.
https://www.aps.org.uk/cdm2014-consultation-seminars

Institute of Construction Management launch National Register of Safety Competence

Les Helliwell, President and a Fellow of the Institute of Construction Management, is pleased to announce the launch of the National Register of Safety Competence.

Helliwell says "The register is open to new and existing institute members with entry dependent upon their competence, qualifications and experience attainments as measured against the CDM Regulations and the National Occupational Standards. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is pleased to see the register".

Helliwell added; "It is extremely important to eradicate all accidents and improve health and welfare issues in the construction industry, to ensure all personnel arrive home to their families safely each night.

The register is available to the public to enable verification of the competence of practitioners that customers, employers and authorities may be considering to engage and provides a level of assurance required by law.

Having the knowledge to operate safely within construction activities is vital to our goal and those engaging personnel, including domestic and non-domestic clients, designers, principal contractors, self-employed and workers.

We are aware that changes are being discussed with regard to the CDM Regulations that are due for review in 2014/15 and we believe that this will involve the principal contractors having greater input as CDM Co-ordinators in the future.

I commend the Institute of Construction Management and recommend the National Register of Safety Competence to all construction personnel. Membership and register applications can be found on our website at www.the-icm.com"

It goes without saying that John Woodward has applied for inclusion on the register.

C&D start 2012 with a large training order

The New Year is only a few hours old and C&D are pleased to announce a large training order.

The Association for Planning Safety have appointed John Woodward to tour the country presenting half day seminars on demolition from a CDM viewpoint. The seminars are designed to allow MaPS members to obtain knowledge about the demolition planning process, the need to appoint competent contractors and how to judge that competency, whilst accruing 4 hours CPD.

The tour dates are as follows:-

February
15th Premier Yew Lodge Inn, Kegworth, Near East Midlands Airport.
16th Hilton Tree Tops Hotel, Aberdeen.
22nd Holiday Inn, Garforth, Leeds.

March
7th Hilton Hotel, Stansted Airport.
8th Coin Street Community Builders, Central London.
20th Hilton Hotel, Southampton.
21st Holiday Inn, Gatwick Airport.
22nd Kents Hill Park Conference Centre. Milton Keynes.

May
2nd Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Glasgow.
3rd Holiday Inn, Edinburgh.
9th Bescot Stadium, Walsall.
10th Hilton Hotel, Bristol.
11th Copthorne Hotel, Cardiff.
30th Cottons Spa Hotel, Knutsford.
31st North Lakes Hotel & Spa, Newcastle upon Tyne.

June
12th Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast.

All talks will commence with registration at 13.00 and will close at 17.00.

Further details and tickets are available from the APS website (PDF)