The CDM Regulations require that a Health and Safety Plan be developed pre-tender and then continued and modified in the construction phase. The pre-tender plan is to help potential contractors understand the specific risks of a site and the work to be undertaken. It is drawn together from an assessment of the site and information from the designers. The aim is to target key issues and not to spell out the usual hazards of construction which should be apparent to any competent contractor. Too much detail may obscure vital matters.
The pre-tender plan will be issued to tenderers but need not become a contract document; if it does there is a possibility that the plan could interfere with a contractors freedom of choice of methods of construction and of dealing with hazards. However, if a client has specific safety rules, say on an existing works site, then these should be included in the contract documents as they are intended to become obligations on the contractor.
The pre-tender plan should include:
Project description and details of client, planning supervisor and designers.
Existing safety arrangements and rules, permits and emergency procedures.
Safety hazards including: access, hazardous materials or structures, existing services and ground conditions.
Health hazards including asbestos and contamination.
Design assumptions and identified risks, co-ordination of future design changes.
Safety goals for the project and arrangements for monitoring and review.
Environmental restrictions and on-site risks.
The construction phase of the Health and Safety Plan will be drawn up by the Principal Contractor to account for risks noted above and to allow for methods of dealing with these risks and other risks arising on site and must include:
Management structure and arrangements for monitoring health and safety matters.
Liaison with other parties on site and with the workforce.
Selection and control of other contractors and exchange of information.
Site security, induction, training and welfare details.
Production of risk assessment and method statements.
Emergency and reporting procedures.
The above are of course only an indication of the requirements and each project will have its own particular needs. The HSE Approved Code of Practice (see Section 10.6) gives further guidance on these and other requirements of the CDM Regulations.