Health, Safety and Welfare

legislation image

The introduction of the Construction (Design and Management) regulations (CDM) in 1995 was not as effective as hoped for by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) because many post-holders used paperwork as an end in itself rather than an aid to project/risk management.

Consequently, many accidents and instances of occupational ill-health continued to occur as a result of poor on-site management, or decisions made during the design and planning stages.

In response, the HSE redrafted the CDM regulations, with the help of the construction industry, through a CONIAC working party. The revised Regulations, which came into force in April 2007, are supported by:

  • an Approved Code of Practice (Managing Health and Safety in Construction) which is available from HSE Books
  • guidance notes for each duty-holder, written by representatives of the industry, which can be found at www.cskills.org/cdm

The revised CDM Regulations, often referred to as ’CDM 2007’ incorporated what remained of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996, which were revoked in their entirety at the same time.