Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

4. Health and Safety Responsibilities

4.1 Introduction

This section gives a summary of the key health and safety responsibilities of particular roles associated with traffic management at road works. As noted in Section 5, it is recognised that some contract forms do not refer to traditional roles. For instance, for works promoted by the Highway Agency the Managing Agent or Project Consultant will carry out the role of Client Agent. The management structure and range of disciplines employed within a Highway Authority can make the distinction between client, planning supervisor and designer unclear. There is a need to ensure that the various roles within an organisation are clearly identified and recorded. In all such cases it is essential that it is clear who carries responsibility under Health and Safety legislation.

4.2 Client

A client is any person or organisation for whom a construction project is carried out.

Clients for highway works include:

• The Highways Agency
• Highway Authority
• Local Authorities
• Developers
• Utility companies.

Clients can appoint an Agent to carry out their CDM duties, but they retain their other duties, such as ensuring the health and safety of others from risks arising from the undertaking under Section 3 of HSWA. In appointing an Agent, the Client must be satisfied that the person or organisation has the competence to comply with Client duties. A declaration identifying an Agent to act for the Client should be made in writing to the HSE, and for notifiable projects can conveniently be made at the same time.

Where a Client appoints an external Project Manager to form contractual relationships between Designers and/or Contractors, the health and safety responsibilities laid down in CDM remain with the Client. These responsibilities only pass to Project Managers when they are formally appointed as Client Agent.

Where the CDM Regulations apply, the Client must appoint:

• A Planning Supervisor, and
• A Principal Contractor.

The Client must ensure all appointees are competent and will allocate sufficient resources to the project to comply with their health and safety duties (see Section 3). The Planning Supervisor should be appointed as early as possible during the design and planning stage of the project before decisions on time scale, phasing and diversion routes are made. Planning Supervisors need to be aware of the range of measures available and their interface with the main works to ensure that risks to health and safety have been minimised in the design process.

The Client should provide the Planning Supervisor with any project specific information, which is either already available or can be obtained by prior investigation, that is relevant to the functions of the Planning Supervisor. Relevant information may include:

• Traffic counts including any peaks due to, say, local schools or factories.
• Local environment aspects, eg occurrence of fog patches.
• Details of site topography.
• Location of existing services.
• Public access or rights of way, etc.
• Any health and safety files relevant to the project.

Before work commences the Client must ensure that a Health and Safety Plan (see Section 3.4) has been prepared and developed by the Principal Contractor detailing arrangements for the management of the work including:

• Risk assessments and control procedures for the tasks to be completed.
• Arrangements for welfare provision.
• Emergency procedures and responsibilities.
• Monitoring procedures to ensure compliance with relevant health and safety statutory provisions.

The client may consider it appropriate to require the Principal Contractor to appoint an individual, and deputy, who has responsibility for safety issues including the supervision and monitoring of subcontractors where the traffic management is sub-let.

4.3 Designer

The definition of Designer is wide and encompasses anyone who is involved in design, production of drawn or written information, specification or choice of materials or selection of working procedures used during construction. Traffic management Designers include:

• Highway and traffic engineers, technicians and inspectors.
• Civil and structural engineers, technicians and inspectors.
• Contractors and sub-contractors.

Designers have a duty to consider the health and safety implications of the choices and decisions they make during the design process (see Section 3). They should seek to:

• Prepare designs with adequate regard to health and safety.
• Provide adequate information about the design.
• Co-operate with people carrying out planning supervision functions and with any other designers so that each of them can comply with their duties under CDM.

Project Managers who decide or revise procedures will have Designer liabilities as will a Client who dictates design solutions that are to be adopted as part of a contractual arrangement.

4.3.1 Subcontracting of design and appointment of Contractors

Designers who appoint other Designers to complete part of the design must be satisfied that those appointed are competent and have adequate resources to complete the design work bearing in mind the requirements for health and safety and control of risk. Similarly where Designers appoint Contractors they must be satisfied that the Contractor is competent and has sufficient resources to complete the works with due regard to the requirements for maintaining health and safety.

4.3.2 Co-operation with others

Co-operation between Designers and also between the Planning Supervisor and Designers, is required to ensure that all members of the project team are aware of the various discipline interfaces and that the overall design has been completed with due regard to the individual components and how they interact. The Planning Supervisor requires information to allow a Health and Safety Plan to be prepared and following its issue the Principal Contractor must develop the plan to demonstrate the measures proposed for dealing with residual risks. The traffic management design is part of this process and the Designer may provide information to other Designers, the Planning Supervisor or the Principal Contractor. Co-operation and liaison with the police are important, particularly for high risk or unusual works.

Co-operation between Designers is essential. Where the design of traffic management schemes are completed separately from the design of the main works, the distribution of design information between the various Designers is vital to ensure that:

• The proposed sequence of phases for the main works is appreciated.
• The programme for installation and removal of traffic management measures is clearly defined.
• Requirements for tidal flows and safe public access through the works are detailed.
• Both overhead and underground services are identified and requirements of statutory undertakers understood.
• Working space restrictions are considered.
• Ground contamination is identified.
• Crane access and lifting operations are considered.

When the traffic management works are to be designed by a Contractor during a tender period then co-ordination and provision of information is vital as design time is constrained and the Contractor's Designers may need to assimilate information in a short space of time.

Co-ordination and co-operation between Designers should be second nature and normal procedures including design team meetings and use of document issue and register proformas can be used to demonstrate compliance.

4.4 Planning Supervisor

One of the functions of Planning Supervisors is to ensure that due regard is taken of health and safety during the design phase of a project and that information on residual risks is documented and issued initially to the Contractor and finally to the Client.

4.4.1 Duties

The extent of the duties of the Planning Supervisor will vary depending on the scale and form of the traffic management works. They should ensure that:

• There is co-operation between Designers.
• A Health and Safety Plan (Section 3.4 and 4.4.3) is prepared in time to allow its issue to the Contractor prior to the start of any work.
• Notification is sent to the HSE in relation to projects that are notifiable.
• The design has been completed with due regard to health and safety and that the principles of hazard control/removal have been followed.
• The design includes adequate information in relation to risks to health and safety.

The Planning Supervisor must review the design documentation produced for the works including requirements for traffic management. The principles of risk reduction and control must be considered in the design of both the main works and any associated traffic management proposals (see Section 3).

4.4.2 Advice to Client

The Planning Supervisor must have sufficient experience to be able to advise the Client regarding the competency of Designers and Contractors to complete their duties in relation to the project in hand. The assessment of competency is not restricted to health and safety issues but incorporates the normal range of duties undertaken by the relevant parties. In addition, advice may be requested with regard to adequacy of resources that may require assessment of both design and works programmes and associated manpower schedules.

4.4.3 Health and Safety Plan

The planning supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the pre-tender Health and Safety Plan (see Section 3.4.1) is prepared in time so that it is available for Contractors tendering or making similar arrangements to carry out or manage work. The Client for the project is required to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that the Health and Safety Plan has been developed by the Contractor before allowing work to start on site. In practice he will often place a contractual duty on the Planning Supervisor to complete an assessment of the plan to ensure its adequacy.

4.4.4 Project Notification

Where the project is notifiable, the Planning Supervisor should ensure that written notification, containing the specified information, is sent to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as soon as practicable after their appointment. Ordinarily, initial notification is issued early in the design stage followed by an update once the identity of the Principal Contractor is known. Where the design or implementation of traffic management schemes is completed by sub-contractors, the identity of the sub-contractor should be included in the notification. It is not a requirement for the sub-contractors to sign the project notification, but a copy must be displayed on the site.

4.5 Principal Contractor

Before starting work, the Principal Contractor must develop the pre-tender Health and Safety Plan so that it:

• Incorporates the approach to be adopted for managing health and safety by everyone involved in the work on site including those responsible for traffic management systems.
• Includes the risk assessments prepared by Contractors under MHSW and other legislation.
• Incorporates the common arrangements (including emergency procedures and welfare) - these may be imposed by the Client or developed by the Principal Contractor.
• Includes reasonable arrangements for monitoring compliance with health and safety law.
• Includes, where appropriate, rules for the management of the work for health and safety.
• Can be modified as work proceeds according to experience and information received from Contractors.

As much as possible of the Health and Safety Plan covering work on site (including traffic management) should be developed before any work begins. In particular, the procedures and arrangements that are applicable to the generality of the work and early work packages, including the initial setting out of any traffic management system. Work on site should not start until the Client has given confirmation that the plan is adequate.

As well as considering the health and safety of persons at work on the site, the Principal Contractor and other Contractors should not put the health and safety of members of the public at risk.

4.6 Site Supervisor

This is not a role recognised in the CDM Regulations, however, some organisations will appoint the 'Resident Engineer' as Site Supervisor for the duration of the works.

The Site Supervisor must work closely with the Principal Contractor and Planning Supervisor to ensure that the traffic management systems implemented actually work in practice.

The Site Supervisor must ensure that his/her team are medically fit, adequately trained, and familiar with the risks associated with working at road works sites. The Site Supervisor must also ensure that their team comply with all the Principal Contractor's site safety rules and safe systems of work.

4.7 Contractor

Contractors, including the Contractor whose responsibilities cover traffic management, must cooperate with the Principal Contractor. The duties placed upon Contractors, including all subcontractors, under CDM support those of the Principal Contractor. Co-operation between Contractors is essential to:

• Achieve effective co-ordination and co-operation of Contractors in managing the work for health, safety and welfare on site.
• Ensure compliance with the rules in the Health and Safety Plan.
• Provide the Project Supervisor with information for the health and safety file.

The development of the Health and Safety Plan and its effective implementation depends upon the flow of information from Contractors to the Principal Contractor. Risk assessments under MHSW and other legislation should be undertaken and safe systems of work devised and any relevant information passed to the Principal Contractor for inclusion in the plan.

Employers must ensure that their employees are medically fit (see Section 6.2), adequately trained and are familiar with the risks associated with working at road works. They must provide appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensure it is worn (see Section 6.6)