ABSTRACT
Introduction 115
The principal contractor’s duties explained 117 Appointment of contractors and designers 118 The construction phase health and safety plan 120 Ensuring cooperation between contractors 145 Controlling site access 146 Displaying the project notification 147 Enforcement of the site rules 148 Provision of relevant information to contractors 150 Listening to the workforce and their representatives 150 Health and safety training and information 151 The health and safety file 151
Managing problems 152
Up until the appointment of the principal contractor and start of work on site, all efforts in the proactive management and design of health and safety issues should have focused, with the exception of maintenance work, on the environment and the construction activities the contractors are charged with managing. In respect of this, for complex projects many procurement advisers to clients recommend a more integrated route to take advantage of the contractor’s knowledge. These two-stage and design-and-build contracts engage the contractor at the design stage and if properly coordinated provide the potential for all in the project team to consider buildability, materials selection and the sequence and construction programme from a health and safety perspective with the benefit of experience from the construction site.
