Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994

The construction industry has one of the worst accident records in the country with an average of 60 people killed each year in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that 70% of deaths could have been prevented by positive action by managers.

CDM is an acronym for the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994. These regulations are intended to reduce accidents on site. They are often treated as an irritation and nothing but a paper exercise. The truth is that the construction industry is one of the most dangerous in the country, and the majority of the accidents could - and should - be avoided by planning and proper management. The intention of the regulations is that safety should be designed into the project from the start

Construction sites are inherently dangerous - everything is temporary and changing. As soon as the work is finished, the workforce pushes off to a new site.

Some parts of the CDM regulations apply to almost every construction project. All but the smallest projects have to be notified to the HSE, and a Planning Supervisor has to be appointed in almost every case. There are limited exemptions for domestic clients, and domestic projects, but not for the designers dealing with a domestic client.The penalties are severe and are covered by the criminal law. It is too late to start learning about regulations after someone is hurt.

Specific roles are assigned in the CDM regulations to the Client, Designer, Principal Contractor and Planning Supervisor (a creation of the regulations).

The essence is planning. If you can't write down what you are going to do, and the risks this will create, you shouldn't be doing it. A well planned project should be both safer and more efficient. This saves money, as well as lives and suffering, both in the short and long term.

As a student, I spent a summer working on a large project in Yorkshire. Over the summer, eight men were killed on the project. It seemed that every week, someone would bring a collecting tin around for another widow.

Looking back over 30 years, every one of these tragedies was avoidable by the simplest of planning and care. The 'Danger High Voltage Electricity' signs went up the day after a driver was killed, when his tipper touched the 11kV overhead lines in the next field to me.

The regulations are only what a competent bunch of construction professionals should be doing anyway, with the addition of the Planning Supervisor to check things are being done. The duties of the various individuals are outlined in the following pages. Follow the links on the left.

Steve Winpenny, Managing Director, Fenland Hydrotech.

If the CDM regulations affect you in any way, you should also invest £7.95 in the Approved Code of Practice, published by HSE Books, ISBN 0-7176-0792-5 If any of this applies to you, you should seek professional advice, preferably from us.