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Two documents launched last month will change the way designers tackle health and safety risks. Under the Health and Safety Executive鈥檚 proposed changes to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, designers are set to take on more responsibility for safety on construction projects. Meanwhile, the minimum standards of knowledge and competence set out in the Safety in Design initiative will enable designers to prove they can design with safety in mind.

The HSE鈥檚 consultation document on the CDM Regulations recognises that designers have considerable potential to reduce the risks associated with the construction and use of buildings. It states: 鈥淚t is a truth, almost universally acknowledged, that designers have considerable potential to eliminate hazards and reduce risks associated with construction work, as well as those associated with building use, maintenance, cleaning and demolition.鈥�

As a result, the HSE is proposing a raft of measures to encourage designers to take greater responsibility for safety, including:

• replacing planning supervisors with project coordinators to advise the client, contractors and designers on producing safer sites
• strengthening the requirements for coordination and cooperation between designers and contractors to encourage integration
• extending designers鈥� duties to cover safe use of their installations in offices, shops, schools, hospitals and factories
• ensuring designers check, before starting work, that a coordinator has been appointed, the HSE notified, and that they have provided information for the health and safety file.

Several recent reports have criticised designers for their lack of awareness and action in addressing their safety responsibilities. For example, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work recently reported that 60% of accidents on Europe鈥檚 construction sites and 25% of fatalities could have been avoided by more careful design, planning and procurement before construction begins. However, for those designers who already have a high level of health and safety awareness, there has never been an accepted way of proving this competence to potential employers.

This is a gap that Safety in Design, a tool launched by the Construction Industry Council鈥檚 ConstructionSkills on 19 April, has been designed to fill. Developed with the industry, including CIBSE, Safety in Design enables designers to benchmark their health and safety knowledge and performance.

The SiD document consists of two parts. The first part is a set of learning aims which provide a benchmark level of generic knowledge that all involved in construction should have to design for safety. The second part establishes a standard against which designers can measure their competence by identifying and assessing safety hazards and risks, then choosing how to reduce that risk.

Some clients are already considering only employing SiD-qualified designers. Mark Poole, a construction safety specialist in the BBC鈥檚 property department, said: 鈥淭he BBC and BAA are already in talks with the Construction Clients Group about engaging with SiD鈥�.

Christopher Morley, director of the CCG, said: 鈥淲e are working with SiD to produce basic guidance which could be used by lay clients.鈥� The CCG has also initiated a tripartite safety forum between itself, the Construction Confederation and RIBA to increase communication between the three organisations.

However, the day when all clients will demand their designers are SiD competent may still be some time coming. At the moment there are no proposals to monitor a designer鈥檚 knowledge and SiD鈥檚 management has made clear that it has no plans to put forward any monitoring proposals. This means that designers will effectively self assess their competence, something that could undermine the value of the initiative.

In the long term monitoring will be less of an issue if, as is hoped, the SiD initiative becomes part of all construction courses. That, however, will only happen if professional institutions insist on it becoming part of the syllabus.

The industry has until 29 July to respond to the HSE鈥檚 proposals 鈥� visit www.hse.gov.uk. To contribute to CIBSE鈥檚 response contact Samantha McDonough at smcdonough@cibse.org. For information on the Safety in Design Initiative visit www.safetyindesign.org.