The Association for Project Safety and the Health & Safety Executive, via the new CDM2015 Regulations, will be working to see an end to the days of poor quality CDM Co-ordination.
The days of simple form-filling, paper pushing, a lack of project team involvement or provision of advice and guidance are, hopefully, coming to an end.
For all but the simplest of projects, the industry should look to the Appendix 5 guidance for assessing the competence of a CDM Co-ordinator, i.e. someone who is professionally qualified to Chartered level in a relevant construction related institution, has validated CPD in this field and a typical additional qualification (e.g. membership of the Association for Project Safety) and evidence of significant work on similar projects with comparable hazards and complexity.
The proposed Principal Designer role will have a legal responsibility for co-ordinating health & safety through the design phase. Designers are usually good co-ordinators as this is part and parcel of a designer’s role. Designers need to consider the Principal Designer role as less about being an expert in health & safety and more about being a good co-ordinator of information and making sure they have the right advice to hand.
Source: APS Digest Issue 30 08/14
