RISK and the DESIGNER

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RISK and the DESIGNER

IDENTIFICATION and EVALUATION of RISK


GEORGE COULTER

Gilligan and Partners Ltd

RISK and the DESIGNER

THE LAW OF THE LAND



STATUTORY RULE 2007 No 291

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007


Came into effect on 9
th

July 2007


Note the word “Design” in the title of the legislation. The regulations apply to
those who design and those manage construction projects.

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RISK and the DESIGNER

What is a design in the e
y
es of the Law?

“design” includes drawings, design details, specification and bill of quantities (including
specification of articles or substances) relating to a structure, and calculations
prepared for the purpose of a design;

What is a structure?

“Structure” means
–

(a)
any building,
timber, masonry, metal or reinforced

concrete structure, railway line or siding,
tramway line, dock, harbour, inland navigation, tunnel, shaft, bridge, viaduct, waterworks,
reservoir, pipe or pipe
-
line, cable, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works, gasholder, road, airfield, sea
defence works, river works, drainage works, earthworks, lagoon, dam, wall, caisson, mast,
tower, pylon, underground tank, earth retaining structure, or structure designed to preserve or
alter any natural feature, fixed plant and any structure similar to the foregoing; or


(b)
any formwork, falsework, scaffold or other structure designed or used to provide support or
means of access during construction work,


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Who is the designer?


"designer" means any person (including a client, contractor or other person
referred to in these Regulations) who in the course or furtherance of a
business
—


(f) prepares or modifies a design; or


(g) arranges for or instructs any person under his control to do so,


The word ‘modifies’ in (f) is interesting. A contractor who changes a detail on a
job without consultation would appear to have classified himself as a designer

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DUTIES OF THE DESIGNER
–

CLAUSE 11

(1)
No designer shall commence work in relation to a project unless any client for the
project is aware of his duties under these Regulations.



(3) Every designer shall, in preparing or modifying a design which may be used in
construction work,
avoid foreseeable risks

to the health and safety of any person


(4) In discharging the duty in paragraph (3), the designer shall
—



(a)
eliminate hazards

which may give rise to risks; and


(b)
reduce risks

from any remaining hazards,



and in so doing shall give collective measures priority over individual measures.


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The duty of the designer
–

to eliminate risk or reduce it


What is risk?

The Regulations do not define it


The revised edition of Chambers 21
st

Century Dictionary defines risk as
–


“The
chance or possibility

of suffering loss, injury, damage, danger

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RISK and the DESIGNER

Almost every human activity carries some element of risk.

There is a quantifiable risk in flying in an aeroplane.

There is a risk in driving a car.

There is a quantifiable risk of being struck by lightning when out walking.

A surprising number of people are killed in the home each year.

There are people who die during lovemaking!!

How do you eliminate or reduce those risks?

Do you need to deal with
all

risks?

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A Risk has been identified and quantified
–

what next?

The risk must be
evaluated.

This is where many Health and Safety Practioners bring Health
and Safety into disrepute.


It is a well known fact that before he can work for a Local
Council a Health and Safety Officer must produce a certificate
to show that he has had his common sense surgically removed!!

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BARNSLEY COUNCIL

Last year Health and Safety Officers working for the Council noticed
that there were a row of rather magnificent Horse Chestnut trees
growing in a Council Park. They did a Risk Assessment and identified a
risk from children climbing the trees to get conkers and falling and
suffering serious injury.

They eliminated the risk by felling all the trees in the park!!

Was this a proper
evaluation

and proportionate response to risk?

Perhaps they should have known that Health and Safety Officers have
banned children from playing conkers as there is a risk of eye injury!!

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RISK and the DESIGNER

How should Designers identify and evaluate risk?


In the first instance they must stick to key competencies.

Use your professional skills to identify risks in your sector.

Particularly look for risks which your skills can recognise but which may
not be so apparent to others

Having identified a risk then it has to be
evaluated.

This requires common
sense and courage. It takes courage to identify a minor risk and then
ignore it. A vital gem of information must not be lost amongst endless
pages of inconsequential bumf.

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AN EXAMPLE

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Some temporary
bracing might help
stabilise the sections
as they are being lifted

This looks a bit rough
and ready but it should
not be dismissed out of
hand as it could well
have some beneficial
stabilising effect.

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RISK and the DESIGNER

If one section did not
have across wall was it
stable? Would the 4x2
keep it in shape during
lifting? The answer
was yes
–

it would.
Would it remain in
shape when the 4x2
was knocked out?

A man lost his life in
there.

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RISK and the DESIGNER

We have all seen these

When you have a scaffolder like this
on a site you might be better off
working without a scaffold.

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RISK and the DESIGNER

The previous case study is a good example to all professionals.

Had we been involved in this minor piece of work, what information would
we have given the Safety Co
-
ordinator?

Would it have been the same old worthless guff or would it have been enough
to save a man’s life?

There is no such thing as a minor job when it comes to Health and Safety.

Statistics now show that there are more accidents in the private house building
sector than in major engineering and construction works


The moral obligation on designers is enormous but there is now more than just
a moral obligation.

There is now a legal obligation.


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1 The offence

(1) An organisation to which this section applies is guilty of an offence if the way

in which any of its activities are managed or organised by its senior managers
—

(a) causes a person’s death, and

(b) amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation
to the deceased.

2 Meaning of “senior manager”

A person is a “senior manager” of an organisation if he plays a significant role in
—

(a) the making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its

activities are to be managed or organised, or

(b) the actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of

those activities.

Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Bill

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Get it Wrong