Coordination Between Designers and Contractors: The PSDP's Role in Managing Design Risk

Many construction site hazards originate in design decisions made long before work starts on site.

Why Design Decisions Affect Construction Safety

The connection between design and construction safety is not always obvious, but it is fundamental. A structural engineer who specifies precast concrete floor planks without considering how they will be installed may inadvertently create a situation where workers must work at height on unstable temporary structures during installation. A different design choice, or a design that includes details for temporary propping, could eliminate or significantly reduce that risk.

An architect who designs a building with a complex roof geometry may create a situation where maintenance workers will need to access difficult areas at height for the life of the building. Incorporating permanent access systems into the design at the outset costs a fraction of what it would cost to retrofit them later, and eliminates the risk of workers improvising unsafe access arrangements.

These examples illustrate a principle that is central to the Construction Regulations 2013: hazards that are eliminated or reduced at the design stage are far less costly and far more effective than controls applied during construction.

The PSDP's Coordination Role

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 assign the PSDP the responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the general principles of prevention during the design process. This coordination role has several practical dimensions.

Coordinating Between Multiple Designers

On most construction projects, multiple designers are involved, including architects, structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, and specialist designers. Each designer may make decisions that affect the safety of other designers' work or of the construction process. Without coordination, these decisions may conflict or create hazards that no individual designer has considered.

The PSDP's role is to ensure that designers communicate with each other about safety-relevant aspects of their designs, that conflicts are identified and resolved, and that the cumulative effect of design decisions on construction safety is assessed.

Ensuring Designers Fulfil Their Duties

The Construction Regulations 2013 impose duties on designers to avoid foreseeable risks to health and safety during construction, maintenance, and demolition, so far as is reasonably practicable. Where risks cannot be avoided, designers must reduce them and provide information about residual risks.

The PSDP must ensure that designers are aware of their duties and are fulfilling them. This does not mean that the PSDP checks every detail of every design, but it does mean that the PSDP must have systems in place to ensure that safety is considered at each stage of the design process.

Preparing the Preliminary Health and Safety Plan

The PSDP is responsible for preparing the Preliminary Health and Safety Plan (PHSP), which communicates information about the project's hazards and risks to the PSCS and to contractors tendering for the work. The PHSP must include a description of the project and the site, information about existing hazards, information about design decisions that affect construction safety, the programme for the project, and the arrangements for coordination during the construction phase.

Communicating With the PSCS

The handover from the PSDP to the PSCS is a critical moment in the project. The PSDP must ensure that the PSCS receives all the information needed to manage safety during the construction phase, including the completed PHSP, the design risk assessments, and any information about residual risks. During the construction phase, design changes may occur that affect safety, and the PSDP must communicate those changes to the PSCS promptly.

The Preliminary Health and Safety Plan in Practice

A PHSP that identifies, for example, that the site is adjacent to a live railway line, that the ground conditions include contaminated fill, and that the structural design requires a specific sequence of steel erection allows contractors to plan and price for the controls needed to manage those risks. A PHSP that simply lists generic construction hazards provides no useful information and fails to serve its purpose.

Conclusion

The PSDP's coordination role is not a bureaucratic function. It is a substantive safety role that can make a real difference to the safety of workers on site. Effective coordination between designers, and effective communication between the PSDP and the PSCS, reduces the number of hazards that workers face and improves the quality of the safety planning that protects them.