Health and Safety Law for the Construction Industry PDF
Preview Health and Safety Law for the Construction Industry
Health and safety law for the construction industry Second edition Masons’ guide Dr Simon Joyston-Bechal and Helen Grice Christopher Dering, Consulting Editor Thomas Telford Published by Thomas Telford Publishing, Thomas Telford Ltd, 1 Heron Quay, LondonE144JD.www.thomastelford.com DistributorsforThomasTelfordbooksare USA:ASCEPress,1801AlexanderBellDrive,Reston,VA20191-4400,USA Japan:MaruzenCo.Ltd,BookDepartment,3–10Nihonbashi2-chome,Chuoku, Tokyo103 Australia:DABooksandJournals,648WhitehorseRoad,Mitcham3132,Victoria Firstpublished1997 Secondedition2004 Figures5and8courtesyofCrowncopyright.Crowncopyrightisreproducedwiththe permissionoftheControllerofHerMajesty’sStationeryOffice. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN:0727731238 ©MasonsandThomasTelfordLtd,2004 Throughoutthisbookthepersonalpronouns‘he’,‘his’,etc.areusedwhenreferring to ‘the contractor’, ‘the client’, etc. for reasons of readability. In practice these charactersmaybefemaleor,morelikely,corporatebodies. All rights, including translation reserved. Except as permitted by the Copyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopyingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthe Publishing Director, Thomas Telford Publishing, Thomas Telford Ltd, 1 Heron Quay,LondonE144JD. Thisbookispublishedontheunderstandingthattheauthorsaresolelyresponsible forthestatementsmadeandopinionsexpressedinitandthatitspublicationdoesnot necessarily imply that such statementsand/or opinions are or reflect the views or opinions of the publishers. While every effort has been made to ensure that the statementsmadeandtheopinionsexpressedinthispublicationprovideasafeand accurateguide,noliabilityorresponsibilitycanbeacceptedinthisrespectbythe authorsorpublishers. TypesetbyIanKingstonEditorialServices,Nottingham,UK PrintedinGreatBritainbyMPGBooks,Bodmin PREFACE Preface to the First Edition Healthandsafetylegislationshouldbeafundamentalpartofanysuc- cessful construction project, much the same way as are the designs, equipment and materials. Unfortunately, all too often health and safetyisdismissedas‘someoneelse’sresponsibility’ortoocomplexto botherwith.Thatattitudeisnolongeracceptabletotheresponsible employerortotheenforcingauthorities. Forthesereasonsitwasfeltthataguidebooktohealthandsafety law in the construction industry was essential. By summarising the healthandsafetylegislationthatwasineffecton1August1997,the authorhopestodrawyourattentiontothevarietyofdutiesthatevery construction employer, self-employed person, or site occupier may have.Inaddition,theauthorhopestoeliminatesomeofthecomplex- ity,aswellassomeofthemystery,ofthislegislation. Havingsaidthat,thisbookisnotintendedtobethelastwordon health and safety for the construction industry — anyone familiar with the volumes of health and safety legislation currently in force will understand why. Rather, the author has tried to highlight the main health and safety duties in a convenient and readable format, andtoidentifyanyrelatedlegislation,approvedcodesofpracticeand guidance in the extensive bibliographies provided in this book. As such,whilethisbookwillnotbeabletoanswerallofyourquestions,it should point you in the right direction toward information that can assistyouindevelopingyourownhealthandsafetyanswers. Afinalwordontheorganisationofthisbook.Theauthorhashad tocompletelyexcludecertainaspectsofconstructionsafetylawinthe iii HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW interestsofsimplicity.Forthatreasonthecomplexrulesonoilandgas safetyandtherulesrelatingtominesandquarries,forexample,have notbeenincluded.Furthermore,detailsontheBuildingRegulations, asamended,havenotbeenhighlighted,withafewexceptions.While thesedisciplinesareclearlyimportant,theauthorfeltthemtobesuf- ficientlyspecialisedtorequireindependenttreatment. TheauthorwishestoexpressherthankstoHMStationeryOffice for permitting her to reproduce a number of its publications in this book. SusanFink iv Preface to the Second Edition Numerous changes to both legislation and the way in which health and safety are managed and enforced in the construction industry haveoccurredsincepublicationofthefirstedition.Forthisreasona numberofchaptershavebeencomprehensivelyrevised — mostno- tably the chapters on CDM and work equipment to account for the new approved code of practice on CDM, the Provision of Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and LiftingEquipmentRegulations1998respectively. In this second edition, the revisers have tried to keep to the aims and format of the original text, whilst bringing the legislation up to date to 31 December 2003. However, two new chapters have been addedtoreflecttheincreasingtendencyforconstructionfatalitiesto be investigated by the police (with a view to bringing manslaughter charges) and the usefulness of comprehensive managementplans in placetodealwithsuchcrises. The revisers wish to thank their colleagues at Masons, notably StuartArmstrong,forassistingintheproductionofthissecondedition. HelenGriceandDrSimonJoyston-Bechal,January2004 v BIOGRAPHIES OF THE CONTRIBUTORS Biographies of the contributors DRSIMONJOYSTON-BECHAL Simon joined Masons as a Partner in January 2003 from Clifford Chance,wherehespent11years,havingpreviouslystudiedmedicine atCambridgeUniversityandqualifiedasadoctor.HeheadsMasons’ HealthandSafetyGroupandisthemainpointofcontactforMasons’ ProductLiabilityTeam. Simonadvisesemployersoncompliancewithhealthandsafetyob- ligations, minimising health and safety liabilities and handling acci- dent investigations, inquests and prosecutions. This advice ranges fromthehealthandsafetyissuesarisingfromhospitalPFIprojectsto dealingwithconstructionsitefatalities. Simon’sexperiencealsoencompassesawiderangeofgeneralcom- mercial litigation, liability and dispute resolution, as well as judicial review. HELENGRICE HelenjoinedMasonsin1996andqualifiedasasolicitorin1998.She specialisesinhealthandsafetylaw,whichisgreatlyassistedbyhaving workedatSellafieldasahealthandsafetyco-ordinatorforBritishNu- clear Fuels plc. She provides a comprehensive service in relation to vii HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW health and safety, primarily for the construction and infrastructure industries. Helen advises on all aspects of health and safety issues, including advisingontheimpactofnewlegislation,draftingagreementstoallo- cate risks appropriately, providing bespoke training seminars, advis- ing during regulatory and police investigations, and defending prosecutions. HelenislistedasaLeaderinHealthandSafetyinthe2002/2003 editionofChambers,whichstatesthatsheis‘recommendedbyboth peersandclientsas“wellinformed,efficient,witha‘can-do’attitude —shecannotbebetteredforhealthandsafety”’. Helen is a corporate member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the Society for Radiological Protec- tion(SRP). CHRISTOPHERDERING Chris joined Masons in 1989, after a period as a lecturer at Exeter College,Oxford,andhasbeenaPartner,workingfromthefirm’sLon- donoffice,since1992.Hepracticesinthefieldsofconstruction,engi- neering and major projects and has been responsible for the firm’s healthandsafetygroup. Intermsofconstructionexperience,hehasbeeninvolvedinawide variety of contentious and non-contentious matters, including in recenttimesthelitigationsurroundingtheChannelTunnelProject. Hehasalsoadvisedonlanddevelopment(includinglandsubjectto heavy contamination) and water concession projects in developing areasabroad. His health and safety experience has mainly been in relation to complianceissueswithintheconstructionindustry. Chris has lectured and writtenon health and safety both publicly and in-house, for government organisations and others, and was activeinthedevelopmentoftheConstruction(DesignandManage- ment)Regulations. viii BIOGRAPHIES OF THE CONTRIBUTORS Chris isaformereditoroftheJerseyLawReports,acontributorto ServiceLevelAgreements,co-editorandco-authorofEco-Management andEco-Auditing:EnvironmentalIssuesinBusiness,andisamemberof theEditorialBoardofFacilitiesManagementLegalUpdate. ix
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