Services Project Management - Assignment Example

Services Project Management Assignment 1 Any building services construction project involves five main persons, who are involved in the project through contractual obligations, each with responsibilities enforceable by law. The CDM 2007 regulations are divided into 5 parts, of which part 2 deals with duties applicable to all construction projects, and part 3, for notifiable projects lasting more than 30 days and /or involving more than 500 person days of site work. Clients' legal responsibilities for all projects: Ascertain the ability and competence and resources of all involved parties. Ensure complete and efficient management for the project, and take steps to ensure the same. Allow allocation of sufficient time and resources for all the stages of the project. Provide a 'Pre-construction information pack' consisting of all relevant drawings, documents, and clearances (if client's responsibilities as per contract) Clients' legal responsibilities for notifiable projects: Appointment of a competent CDM co-ordinator. Appointment of the Principal Contractor, after due diligence on his capabilities and competence. Ensure the creation of a construction phase plan and 'suitable welfare facilities' (CDM, 6) Inform contractors of period allowed for mobilization. Allow the CDM co-ordinator complete access to the constantly updated Health and Safety file, so as to ensure compliance to best practice during project execution. CDM coordinator's legal responsibilities for notifiable projects: Advise the client with his duties. Notify HSE. Co-ordinate all Health and Safety issues during design process, and enable positive teamwork for all involved. Eliminate lacunae in communication between client, designer and contractor. Interact and value-add with principal contractor in the design and pre-construction stages. Collect, analyse and pass on pre-construction information. Prepare and keep the Health and Safety file current and updated. Designer's legal responsibilities for all projects: Risk assessment and hazard elimination through design. Provide information to others to reduce or eliminate remaining hazards. Designer's legal responsibilities for notifiable projects: Update client on his responsibilities and ensure appointment of CDM co-ordinator. Provide information for health and safety file. Principal contractor's legal responsibilities for notifiable projects: Monitor and oversee construction while coordinating with the contractor. Prepare and implement a plan for the project and site rules. Share relevant portions of the plan with contractors. Provide suitable welfare facilities available on site before beginning work on site, and maintain them through the project. Check competence of all parties appointed by him. Ensure dissemination of all needed information to all workers. Consult with workers before and during work on site. Assist CDM co-ordinator by liaising with him on design. Ensure security of site and safety of all workers on site. Contractor's legal responsibilities for all projects: Monitor and oversee own performance as also that of workers on site. Assume responsibility for competence for their employees. Training of their employees Providing information to their workers to enable maximum productivity and quality. Comply with requirements as set out in Part 4 of the CDM regulations document. Provide good and adequate welfare facilities for own workers. Contractor's legal responsibilities for notifiable projects: Check whether the client is aware of his own duties, and whether a CDM coordinator has been appointed and HSE notified prior to beginning work. Cooperate and coordinate with principal contractor while planning and executing work, as also setting down site rules and reasonable directions. Provide details pertaining to the work to any contractor engaged in the project, including the principal contractor. Provide information for the health and safety file whenever required. Give feedback on the plan to the principal contractor, identifying and pointing out any problems. Inform the principal contractor of any dangerous occurrences including reportable accidents or diseases. 1.2 a) Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, 1999 These regulations broadly provide for an exhaustive risk and hazard assessment by the employer / client / owner (Reg 3), Employers' steps to reduce or eliminate such risks (Reg 5 and 6), the hiring of competent people to manage risk (Reg 7), and the various ways in which different types of health and safety risks, with outlined duties of all involved (Reg 10, 11 & 14), with special emphasis on high-risk victims like pregnant women (Reg 16 & 17) and children (Reg 19). These regulations are specific to health and safety issues, problems, and how to deal with them. CDM regulations 2007, provide for a much wider range of regulation in a building construction project, and are, as such, a superset of the MHSWR, 1999 b) Construction, Design and Management Regulations, 2007 The main provisions outlined within the document and their introduction by project management is as follows. These are common for both MHSWR 1999 and CDM regulations, 2007, differing in scope and resultant measures: Encourage all involved (Client, design team, contractors and workers) to work towards the seamless integration of safety and health issues into the process of building construction. This has been made possible by introducing the CDM coordinator who makes compliance possible through extensive pre-project coordination between all concerned. Reduce and eliminate hazards through better planning and management from the start of a project. As the client responsibilities have been more clearly defined, it is in the clients best interests to involve designers and the contractors to identify and reduce hazards before actual construction starts, thereby reducing project creep through efficient project management and time lines. Effective targeting of effort to maximise health and safety improvement outcomes. This is achieved through a thorough risk assessment, followed by inclusion of health and safety into the project management Masterplan in the pre-design stage itself. Improvement in overall cooperation and coordination of the project. By clarifying duties and responsibilities, and providing a comprehensive system of systemic checks, the overall work environment is improved, and results in better management of core competencies of the stake holders in the project. 1.3 Penalties as laid down in the HSWA 1974 need to be at par with the offences and the Roben's Report (Safety and Health at Work .Cmnd. 5034, 1972) agrees that enforcement fo the law requires firm penalties. The Offshore Safety Act 1992 made more stringent health and safety penalties available to Magistrates, Crown Courts and their Scottish equivalents. Core responsibilities, as set out in sections 2 to 6 of HSWA, if breached, currently attracts a maximum fine of 20,000 on conviction. Offences are divided into three types 1. Summary Conviction: a. The penalties for breaches for sections 2 to 6 of the HSWA is a maximum penalty of 20,000. b. 20,000, with or without six months imprisonment for non-compliance with improvement or prohibition notices c. 5,000 is the maximum penalty for breaches of other sections of the HSWA. 2. Indictment: a. Indictment attracts an unlimited fine, as may be decided by courts. b. In certain types of serious cases, involving licenses, prohibition notices or explosives, imprisonment upto two years may be meted out to the offender. 3. Section 37 states that in case of offences by high ranking officials in an organization or with the knowledge of the organization or on behalf of the organization, the individuals and the organization shall both be treated as defendants for that case. As the scope of the HSWA is large and the types of offences under its purview large, every case has to be dealt meticulously and according to set principles and guidelines. Given below are a brief outline of principles according to which offences are investigated, and action taken thereafter. Transparency: The Health and Safety executive shall at all times communicate best practices to relevant persons involved with a construction project. Standards: The Health and Safety executive shall follow benchmarks set up for an impartial an unbiased audit of compliance on any project site. Helpfulness: The Health and Safety executive shall assist personnel on a project site with steps that need to be taken for compliance. Proportionality and consistency: The Health and Safety executive will apportion guilt in proportion with the degree of non-compliance or breach, and shall recommend punishment accordingly. Accountability: The Health and Safety executive and their staff shall be responsible for their actions, and the onus of fairness and due diligence is upon them. The methods by which control is maintained are: Entry to site at reasonable times for purposes of inspection and examination. Collection of samples and/or evidence from site to study oranalyse to audit compliance to best practices in Health and Safety. Appropriate documents including logs, receipts, contracts etc Implied assistance to the Health and Safety inspector by local law enforcement officials if required or requested. Right to seize items if there is an immediate and credible danger to man or machine on project site, and to quarantine / block access to or use of such items. The Health and Safety executive may recommend the stopping of work on site or the demolition of part of the work if it needs to be done, failing compliance. 1.4 The provision of welfare facilities is very important, especially for notified projects. The client has to ensure it as a part of the contract with the principal contractor, the CDM coordinator has to quantify its details and specifications, the principal contractor has to provide it, and he and the other contractors have to maintain it satisfactorily until project completion. During the project, the CDM coordinator oversees compliance of these facilities and suggests improvements to the contractors, through feedback from workers who use these facilities. Such facilities shall be composed of the following components. 1. Sanitary conveniences: These shall be clean, sufficient and shall be separately provided for men and women with lockable doors. 2. Washing facilities: provision of washbasins and / or sinks, provided, necessarily next to sanitary conveniences, and close to changing rooms. These shall be clean and well ventilated rooms have hot and cold running water, soap and towels, and separate for men and women with lockable doors. 3. Drinking water: Provision of safe, clean drinking water, with cups at suitable locations, including signage to maintain cleanliness. 4. Changing rooms and lockers: These are to provided where the nature fof the job requires changing clothes for work, or for purposes of hygiene, separately provided for men and women, lockable and secure. These should have seating and provision for individual lockers. 5. Rest Facilities: These have to be provided with sufficient seating to accommodate mealtimes and for rest for sick workers or pregnant women, with provision for boiling water. Read More