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Construction Phase Plan - Health and Safety Management

Peter Levers
Feb 2, 2017
3 min read

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, also known as CDM, are regulations governing the way construction projects are planned and are intended to ensure that health and safety issues are properly considered during a project's development. The regulations set out requirements for managing health and safety on each construction project in an aim to improve the overall health, safety and welfare of those working on the project by reducing the risk of harm.

Health and Safety Executive, 2015. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. [image online] Available at: http://www.safetrackassociates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Regs-Guidance.jpg [Accessed 02 February 2017]

They were introduced in 1994 and came into force on 31st March 1995 as a result of a European Directive publication on minimum health and safety standards for construction sites. The Regulations were extensively revised in both 2007 and 2015 given us the current version, which is known as CDM 2015, that we use today.

The Health and Safety Executive's Construction Division introduced CDM as a way to improve project planning and management. It also ensured that there were appropriate personnel assigned to manage on-site risks and that health and safety of the project was in itself managed accordingly. They are aiming to achieve this through encouraging everyone involved on a project to cooperate and communicate efficiently to give the project transparency and to work together and avoid any unnecessary bureaucracy.

Health and Safety Executive, Unknown. HSE Logo. [image online]

Available at: http://www.harrogatehsforum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/HSE-logo.jpg [Accessed 02 February 2017]

They CDM Regulations are divided into 5 parts:

Part 1. Commencement, interpretation and application.

Part 2. Client duties.

Part 3. Health and safety duties and roles.

Part 4. General requirements for all construction sites.

Part 5. General

The names of the Parts are correct for the current Regulations, CDM 2015, but have been known under various alternative names in previous versions. There are 39 different Regulations contained within these 5 Parts covering all aspects of health and safety on a construction site from Duties of a Designer to Fire Detection and Fire-Fighting and even Explosives.

Health and Safety Executive, 2015. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 Contents Page. [image online] Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l153.pdf [Accessed 02 February 2017]

The Regulations apply throughout the whole of the project from conceptual design and planning through to construction, use and demolition. They impose duties on a number of personnel involved with the project, otherwise known as Duty Holders. These are the Client, CDM Coordinator, Designers, Principle Contractor, Contractors and Workers. The roles and duties that each Duty Holder is responsible for is listed in further detail in the CDM Regulations.

The CDM Regulations also require a number of statutory documents to be produced for each project. These include the following:

1. Pre-Construction Information - provides information for planning and for the construction phase plan. It shows that health and safety on the project has been considered during the conceptual phase and provides information regarding relevant issues on the site or project to the Designers and Contractors.

2. Construction Phase Plan - this must contain health and safety management systems and arrangements, risk assessments and method statements for initial work. This is to ensure that health and safety issues have been properly considered during the construction phase.

3.Project Notification (Form 10) - if a project is due to last more than 30 days or involves more than 500 person days of construction work then the CDM Coordinator has to notify the local HSE office. The notification contains a detailed description of the project from important dates to a brief description of the work taking place and the planned number of contractors etc.

4. Health and Safety File - this is required only on notifiable projects. It contains information needed to allow safe construction and must be appropriate to the characteristics of the project.