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28th Mar 2024
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Construction regulation delay welcomed

by The Editor at 13:04 22/12/06 (News)
A small business pressure group has welcomed the delay in proposed Health and Safety regulations that would have put extra responsibility on the shoulders of businesses having building work carried out.
The revised Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulations have been approved by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), whose role it is to submit proposals to Government.

However, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has welcomed the news that since their approval at a meeting in October, the HSC has not officially conveyed the new regulations to the Department for Work and Pensions. (See: Commission approves safety regulations - Hardhatter, Oct 2006)

Victoria Carson, FPB’s Campaigns Manager, said: “We support any review of CDM that listens to, and acts upon, the concerns of businesses. In co-operation with businesses, health and safety standards can be improved. In this instance, however, the HSC has approved regulations on the basis that they ‘do not impose new duties on clients’, something we believe to be simply wrong.”

Misleading
The FPB believes that the messages from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to the HSC, that no new duties will be imposed by the regulations, are misleading.

Miss Carson said: “HSE worked on the premise that all UK businesses should already be complying with the new regulations, under the Health and Safety at Work Act and other existing legislation. This is nothing more than regulation by stealth. It is out of touch with the real world, particularly small businesses or one-off customers.”

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The HSE argues that small businesses already have ‘arrangements’ in place to manage health and safety in construction. Miss Carson believes that is extremely unlikely. She said: “The majority will never have been involved with construction work before. This argument only relates to businesses that are likely to have repeat construction work, not the bulk of UK firms.”

The FPB wants the proposed regulations to be reviewed in conjunction with the planning and building control regimes. which, it claims would be a simpler, more effective system. She said: “Planning and building regulations could deliver safety better in this area, particularly in design. They would reassure businesses having building work carried out, because they would have to seek approval. That, in turn, would help risk management. A co-ordinated approach has been adopted for the disabled through DDA, so why not for all?”

“Has the HSC carried out its duties in terms of consultation with appropriate government departments? Aspects of design fall within planning and building regulations, the responsibility of the Department for Communities and local government. Have they been fully consulted?”

The FPB wants the Government to use the delay to hold an external review of the regulatory approval process, to make sure due process has been followed and that the mixed messages from the regulator are resolved.

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Susie Hughes
The Editor © Hardhatter 2006

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