Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM) - Update
24 Feb 2015Our early involvement with the new Construction, Design & Management (CDM) regulations started with some promising dialogues, a seat at the table with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), direct input into a public consultation exercise, and the instigation of a business engagement assessment (BEA). It is only in the last 3 months that we learned that the BEA has been paused to allow for direct consultation with the industry.
The CDM regulations will become effective from April this year, and the latest call to action is the creation of industry specific guidance to support the regulations and L series guidance produced by HSE. Why the sudden change and rush? The reason is that the HSE is bound by EU governance to commence enforcement at the earliest opportunity or face penalties itself.
This news was released via the Joint Advisory Committee for Entertainment (JACE), HSE’s own working group, where all three associations are represented. The news was followed by a draft set of regulations released in January. This signalled the need for a swift and coordinated response from the associations, to establish what impact this will have on our members. The cross association CDM working group met earlier this month with the HSE in attendance, as a direct response to the news of the impending application of CDM regulations.
As a group of associations, our desire is to move quickly to a position where we can provide the industry with clear direction on what role each stake holder will play in this new world under CDM enforcement. HSE’s underlying philosophy is not to inject cost burdens to business, so do seek advice from your association if you need any more information or advice before you consider changing business processes.
The key to success with CDM will be understanding the roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder as defined by the regulations. The explanatory documentation for our members and the wider industry is well advanced. It would seem that the world of events will change less than we think, and the associations and the CDM task force will continue to work towards industry specific and proportionate regulations.
The HSE has acknowledged that the CDM final draft must be industry specific in detail and application. In light of this, they have granted our sector its own working group to manage the process with them. Through JACE, we will appoint representatives from the venue, supplier and organiser communities to manage the drafting of this sector specific guidance.
The HSE recognises the steps that the industry has taken on safety and health, and deems our sector to be “very safe”, thanks to our history of best practice and the development of industry documents such as the eGuide. It has indicated that enforcement policy will not change in levels of scrutiny, scale or frequency.
After the November meeting of JACE, the HSE made this position clear in the following statement: “In many production and smaller scale event related construction activities in the entertainment sectors, where risks are generally considered to be lower, CDM management provisions will be of limited relevance beyond what is required by other health and safety legislation. In accordance with HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement and Enforcement Management Model, where interventions do take place, the priority will be to consider the effectiveness of risk management, not compliance with CDM administrative arrangements. The need to consider CDM compliance for such activities by HSE post April 2015 will be rare.”
There are a number of stakeholders from across the entertainments sector who are challenging the process and legal position of these changes, and we will continue to maintain a ‘seat at those tables' and ‘keeping our hands on the pen that writes our future’.
The HSE is compelled by its constitution to work with our associations to maximise the benefit and minimise the negative impact of CDM enforcement. At first CDM appeared to present a real threat to our industry, but in spite of the scheduled enforcement, there is still the opportunity to create a positive outcome. Our cross-association response has been exemplary, and we have demonstrated to the HSE that our commitment to safety at work has always been at the forefront of our activities.
We are seeking ways to ensure this dovetails into the revision of CDM. Our representative on JACE, other groups, and our joint CDM task force will continue their work to bring the CDM and our own stringent industry guidelines onto convergent paths.
If you would like further information with regards to CDM have a look at the HSE website where you will be able to find the draft copy of CDM 2015. Also on the CITB website it has listed industry guidance which we feel may be beneficial to some of you.