Designers continue to improve their performance

HSE press release E086:05- 27 June 2005

The 2005 designer initiative in Scotland and Northern England has revealed that designers in the construction industry are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibilities to design out health and safety risks.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) construction inspectors, met designers at 124 construction projects across Scotland and the North of England, to discuss how design had influenced the risks associated with work at height both during construction and the future maintenance of a building.

Rosi Edwards, Acting Chief Inspector of Construction said;

"I am very pleased to see improvements being made year on year. This is indicative of all CDM dutyholders raising their game and reflects the benefit of HSE's more proactive approach with designers, the positive influence from other CDM duty holders and the efforts of the professional bodies"

Particularly good practices identified by inspectors were:

• clients, planning supervisors and principal contractors proactively engaging designers;
• increased number of designers who had identified sources of training to gain practical knowledge on health and safety;
• health and safety being seen by many as part and parcel of design and not an add-on;
• an increase in team approaches to design; and
• greater success in reducing risk through the design process.

Despite the overall improvement, poor practices continue, findings this year were:

• production of vast quantities of paperwork with no useful purpose;
• ineffective communication of information about residual risks - one designer was so confused as to what the residual risks were, he put down everything he could think of in the hope it would be useful to somebody;
• lack of understanding of the needs of the contractor during construction and maintenance - one particularly complicated roof design required the principal contractor to erect, dismantle and re-erect the scaffold in order to complete the roof; and
• the use of running lines as the main control for work at height - one designer specified a roof-mounted running line to protect those maintaining the roof; when the roof was supposed to be maintenance free. The running line required more maintenance and inspection than the roof!

It is hoped that the current consultation on the revision of CDM and the 'less is more' message will help designers move from the false comfort of producing vast quantities of untargeted and generic paperwork where key messages are hidden and even missing.

The initiative has been widely welcomed. Design practices that had previous contact with HSE through audits, initiatives, designer awareness days (DADs) and site visits etc., reported it to be of positive benefit.

The report 'Designer Initiative 2005, HSE (Construction Division) Scotland, North West and Newcastle upon Tyne Offices' can be viewed on HSE's website at:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers/report05.pdf [155kb]

Notes to editors

1. E044 "HSE TAKING DESIGNERS TO SITE" can be viewed at http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2005/e05044.htm
2. In 2003/04, 36 construction workers died (out of a total of 70), and many thousands more suffered serious injury, as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees. Provisional data shows that 31 fatalities were as result of a fall from height during 2004/5.
3. During a previous initiative in 2004, 122 projects were visited. Results of this initiative were previously reported in HSE press release E073-04 (2 nd June 2004) http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2004/e04073.htm
4. More information for designers can be found on the HSE web pages: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers/index.htm
5. HSC is currently consulting on the revised CDM Regulations and guidance. An electronic reply form and the full text of the draft Regulations and guidance can be viewed or downloaded from the HSE website at http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/inovem/consult.ti/conregs/consultationHome
6. In 2001 the construction industry set itself the following targets for improvement:
   • Reduce the incidence rate of fatalities and major injuries by 40% by 2004/5 and 66% by 2009/10;
   • Reduce the incidence rate of cases of work-related ill health by 20% by 2004/5 and 50% by 2009/10:
   • Reduce the number of working days lost per 100,000 workers from work-related injury and ill health by 20% by 2004/5 and by 50% by 2009/10.
7. The industry's achievements to date are:
   • 2003/04 had the lowest incidence rates ever for all injuries: fatals, major and over 3 day.
   • The fatal injury rate has fallen 25% since the baseline of 1999/2000 and 40% since the 2001 Summit.
   • The employee major injury rate has fallen 15% since 1999/2000 and 12% since the Summit.
   • The employee over-3-day accident rate has fallen 25% since 1999/2000 and 18% since the Summit.

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