You are more likely to have a dangerous or fatal accident while your construction work is carried out if you do not ensure that the CDM 2007 Regulations are followed.  In addition, your finished structure may not be safe to use, safe to maintain and may not deliver you good value for money.

Construction is a high-risk industry.  Around one third of all workplace fatalities occur in construction and many thousands are injured each year.  Such incidents often have a significant and long lasting effect on the individuals, their colleagues, family, friends and business.  By following CDM 2007, you will be helping to stop this from happening.

HSE staff are there to give help and advice, particularly to smaller businesses who may not have a lot of knowledge.  When they do find problems they will aim to deal with you in a reasonable and fair way. 

However, serious breaches of health and safety legislation on your construction project could result in construction work having to be stopped by HSE or your local authority and additional work maybe needed to rectify matters. In the most serious circumstances you may be prosecuted.

What will happen in the first year?

It is recognised that people and businesses will take time to familiarise themselves with the new CDM 2007 Regulations, whose principle aim is to reduce the risk to health and safety during construction as well as the subsequent use, maintenance and demolition.

HSE’s focus will be on what is achieved in common practice not the detail of how it is achieved or the associated documentation.

HSE will enforce CDM 2007 in accordance with the Health and Safety Commission’s (HSC) published Enforcement Policy Statement. ‘Enforcement’ has a wide definition, ranging from advice, to more formal sanctions and prosecution. The principles of the enforcement policy are: Proportionality, Targeting, Consistency, Transparency and Accountability. HSE will focus on serious problems and not trivialities.