CONSTRUCTION LAW - YEAR 3 IN QUANTITY SURVEYING - Essay Example

Introduction As a Contract Administrator it is my responsibility to apprise you of various laws and regulations that are imposed on the constructionindustry for HSE. Your work experience is largely outside of Britain. It is necessary that you be informed of the various regulations, legislation, liabilities and recommendations as per construction site HSE in Britain. Building Construction Regulations Building construction is in large part an endeavour of good design and management. This is ensured in Britain through the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 known simply as the CDM 2007.

The greatest implication of CDM is the requirement to have a permanent CDM coordinator on site especially for larger jobs. The size of your project demands that you will need to employ a full time CDM coordinator too. The CDM coordinator will be responsible for compliance with CDM regulations. CDM 2007 stipulates that the CDM coordinator must be a competent person. Moreover, CDM 2007 expects that all parties involved in the project will cooperate and coordinate with each other. All involved parties are also stipulated to coordinate in such a manner that health and safety of the people involved in the construction and the people affected by the construction are not compromised.

Prevention has also been subscribed for all people involved in the project including (but not limited to) designers, managers, contractors, clients. This set of regulations defines a client as the party involved in getting the construction done whether for business or other purposes. The client is supposed to ensure that only such practices are allowed in the design and management of the construction that do not threaten the health and safety of anyone. Contractors are directed to provide their employees with information and training to deal with workplace hazards.

Any risks that are identified under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 must be dealt with by the contractor. In case that any health or safety incidents do occur, they must be reported as required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995(2). Overall the safety of the people and the structures on site must be provided for. Entry and exit points must exist. Any structures must not be destabilised for whatever purpose and if necessary, then support structures must be placed to avoid collapse.

Inspections of the worksite should be carried out at regular frequency and the records should be compiled and audited as per Health and Safety Work Act etc. 1974(1). (Department for Work and Pensions, 2007) Ancillary Legislation regarding HSE Another major set of guidelines is provided by regulation under the Health and Safety Work Act etc. 1974 which encompasses HSE on a very wide basis. Under these regulations, the employer is bound to utilise all possible resources to secure workers against hazards of any kinds on worksites.

The government in Britain has established a comprehensive and independent system consisting of the HSE executive, inspectors etc. who ensure that HSE requirements are met. Proper provision for liability is available for people affected by HSE issues during employment. In short, the involved parties must assure that the workers involved are not put at a disadvantage due to hazards in the workplace. If hazards exist then proper control measures should be put in place to eliminate or minimise hazards.

(Department of Works and Pensions, 2011) Roles and duties for employees, contractors and employers are well defined. Moreover, other issues have been defined too such as substances in use at work sites, persons controlling work premises roles and responsibilities as well as roles and responsibilities of employees in general. The system is publicly supervised through the creation of the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive which were recently merged. (Stranks, 2005) This regime has pervasive powers for enforcement of regulations which span criminal sanction too which extends to unlimited fines and two years in prison.

(Simpson, 1973) This Act is largely synchronised with regulations present in the law of the European Union so you could expect similar provisions to your prior work experience in large part. (Ridley & Channing, 2003) The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 provides stipulations for all kinds of workplaces for health and safety. European Union directive 89/654/EEC was implemented through these regulations for minimum safety and health standards in the workplace. You might be familiar with these regulations because they are nearly the same ones in use throughout the European Union.

(Office of Public Sector Information, 2011) Any breach of these regulations is a criminal offence. The other act that is Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 covers requirements for providing workers with essential items and ensuring their use so that hazards on work sites can be reduced. (Government Legislation, 2011) You will be required to provide and supervise the appropriate use of PPEs (personal protective equipment) on your work site at all times and under all conditions.

Myriad other laws and regulations are available to cover health and safety issues. Being a multi-storeyed complex, your building will also need to implement the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 which stipulates safe lifting practices to avoid accidents. Moreover, you will also have to deal with such pieces of regulation such as Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989, Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 etc.

Please comply with these and other laws and regulations to avoid accidents. Any accident that may result in a fatality may be considered as corporate manslaughter and the indictment may involve an individual, a group or the company itself. (Glazebrook, 2002) Relevant Case Laws Corporate manslaughter and other defiance of health and safety regulations are considered a strict offence and are punished accordingly. The Herald of Free Enterprise case established that companies could commit manslaughter.

The capsizing of this vessel caused the deaths of 193 people and the neglect on the part of the employees was translated as ineffective management. Hence, the management was held responsible for manslaughter. Similarly, in R. vs. OLL Ltd. the managing director of the company was prosecuted for a canoeing disaster. Other than this any neglect of responsibilities is also prosecuted such as in the R. vs. Prentice case where a breach of duty was amounted to “gross negligence”. Therefore, anyone who fails to follow safety and health regulations is liable to prosecution whether it be an individual or a corporation.

(Fisse & Braithwaite, 1994) Recommendations The recent adoption of the Donaghy Commission Report (2010) signals the direction that health and safety is taking in Britain. Overall, businesses and corporations must now be more conducive to health and safety considerations than ever before. The Donaghy Commission Report titled One Death is Too Many holds a wealth of information on the various issues facing health and safety in workplaces today. Donaghy recommends that business directors should actively monitor and review health and safety management.

Education and appropriate training for construction site workers should be ensured to augment their skills and understanding. Furthermore, workers should be welcome to speak about safety and health problems and their solutions. Given that you might have to import labour from outside Britain, it is essential that they be trained and educated about relevant construction health and safety practices. Safety should also be encouraged from within individual workers by allowing them to consider the effects of their injury or death on their families.

Donaghy recommends using targeted safety campaigns for migrants and young people as she considers them vulnerable. (Donaghy, 2010) Bibliography Unsupported source type (Case) for source RvP91. Department for Work and Pensions, 2007. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.cal-systems.co.uk/downloads/cdm-regulations-2007.pdf" http://www.cal-systems.co.uk/downloads/cdm-regulations-2007.pdf [Accessed 22 July 2011]. Department of Works and Pensions, 2011.

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/contents" http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/contents [Accessed 22 July 2011]. Donaghy, R., 2010. One Death is too Many. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/one-death-is-too-many.pdf" http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/one-death-is-too-many.pdf [Accessed 22 July 2011]. Fisse, B. & Braithwaite, J., 1994. Corporations, Crime and Accountability. London: Cambridge University Press.

Glazebrook, P., 2002. A better way of convicting businesses of avoiding deaths and injuries. Cambridge Law Journal, 61, p.405. Government Legislation, 2011. Provision of PPE regulation 4. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/2966/regulation/4/made" http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/2966/regulation/4/made [Accessed 22 July 2011]. Office of Public Sector Information, 2011. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.opsi.gov.

uk/SI/si1992/Uksi_19923004_en_5.htm" \l "exnote" http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1992/Uksi_19923004_en_5.htm#exnote [Accessed 22 July 2011]. Ridley, J.R. & Channing, J., 2003. Safety at Work. Butterworth-Heinemann. Simpson, R.C., 1973. Safety and Health at Work: Report of the Robens Committee 1970-72. Modern Law Review, 36(2), pp.192-98. Stranks, J., 2005. Health and Safety Law. 5th ed. Prentice Hall.