Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Pre-COSH (Models of Practice in the Management of Occupational Safety and Health Risks During the Pre-Construction Phases of Construction Projects) Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-10-01 al 2021-09-30 Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto The poor record of fatalities and life-changing accidents in the construction industry is a matter of the greatest societal importance economically and morally. It is considered that most accidents are preventable with better management of design and health and safety (H&S) risk at the pre-construction stage of projects. The Construction (Design and Management) 2015 Regulations (CDM 2015), a transposition of European Council Directive 1992/57/EEC into UK law, imposes duties on specified dutyholders in relation to management of H&S on construction projects. The Regulations require dutyholders to possess appropriate skills, knowledge and experience (SKE) or organisational capability (OC). A literature review exposed a gap in knowledge of the practical implementation of the Regulations to achieve the desired outcomes.The aim of this study was to investigate and capture best H&S risk management practice and to develop a flexible simulator for CDM 2015 compliance at the pre-construction stage. The objectives were:• investigation of H&S risk management during the pre-construction stage to synthesise knowledge of the practices and procedures through which CDM 2015 are implemented;• analysis of contractual provisions on CDM duties;• definition of organisational structures adopted for performance of CDM duties and the associated interfaces and information flows within project supply chains;• development of categories and measures of SKE/OC for selection of project participants;• development of recommendations towards practice improvement and policy review; and• development of a prototype of an advanced pre-construction H&S risk management simulator (PRECOSIM).Project conclusions are as follows. (i) The H&S management capabilities of many clients, who have the greatest influence on H&S outcomes, are often lacking. (ii) The flexibility in the regulations concerning timing of appointment of the Principal Designer (PD), the coordinator at the pre-construction stage, has led to their late appointment. (iii) The introduction of the Safety Schemes In Procurement (SSIP) certification system, an industry-wide SKE/OC accreditation scheme, has produced some improvements but there are still flaws to be addressed.(iv) The quality of documents and information mandated by the Regulations to be produced is often poor. (v) The current insurance system on projects leads to fragmentation of teams, which undermines collaborative risk management. (vi) UK standard contracts provide for H&S duties in general terms with the expectation that users will draft the details as part of the contract documents for the particular project. However, this leaves too much to the competence of the drafter of the contract documents, which cannot always be guaranteed.The recommendations are as follows. (i) To empower clients there is need for criteria for assessing their capability and a gateway regime that ensures such capability very early in the project cycle. The gateway regime should impose a duty on clients/PDs to submit certain documents evidencing client capability, timely appointment of PDs and SKE/OC of dutyholders well in advance of commencement of work on site.(ii) Research is needed to define baselines against which documents produced are assessed for quality. The underwriting procedures of the insurance sector could provide incentives for improving H&S document quality through a link between such quality and premiums. (iii) The contract drafting committees for the industry’s standard contracts need to revisit the adequacy of CDM related provisions in their contracts.(iv) The integrated project insurance system, which requires the client to take out a single policy covering key supply chain members, offers the potential of removing impediments to collaborative H&S risk management. Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti The work done was as follows.(i) Desktop studies were undertaken. This involved an extensive literature review and critical review of the CDM 2015, standard contracts and prosecutions data. The research also followed debates on construction H&S and policy reviews consequent on the Grenfell fire disaster which led to loss of 72 lives.(ii) Regular meetings were held with a Research Steering Committee (RSC) comprising senior construction industry practitioners (Exhibit 1). (iii) Fourteen focus group workshops were held to elicit lived experiences of CDM dutyholders.(iv) Case studies of five projects were carried out to capture the practical implementation of the Regulations. This involved document analysis and interviews.(v) Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis whilst statistical methods was used for the quantitative data.(vi) A prototype of an advanced pre-construction simulator (PRECOSIM) for H&S risk management training was developed using soft systems methodology.(vii) Scientific articles were prepared for dissemination.The main results were as follows.• A framework for dutyholders to comply with the CDM 2015 at the pre-construction stages of projects has been developed (Exhibit 2).• Models for assessing SKE/OC of CDM dutyholders have been produced. This has been shared with SSIP which is responsible for the industry-wide SKE/OC certification system. An international multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy has already expressed an interest to use it as the basis of their staff development.• Five case studies detailing H&S risk management practices at pre-construction stages for different project types have been produced. These highlight the challenges of CDM 2015 compliance in particular project contexts.• PRECOSIM, the prototype H&S risk management simulator for training has been constructed from the research outcomes. A consortium is being put together from the research participants to apply to the UK research and development funding organisations to develop this into a commercial product.• Six peer-reviewed scientific articles have been published.• An industry report capturing all aspects of the research has been prepared. The executive summary of the report has been disseminated to the HSE, workshop participants and RSC members. The full report will be published as a research monograph. Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora) A survey of the state of the art showed an absence of answers to these questions concerning implementation of the Regulations: what are the categories of SKE/OC and how are they appropriately assessed? What are the different arrangements and professional backgrounds for exercising the PD role and their relative effectiveness? What is best practice in relation to the preparation of the mandatory CDM documents? How are CDM duties translated into obligations under the relevant contracts?The project has contributed new knowledge in the form of models of practice in answer to the above questions. The new knowledge has been built into a prototype simulator to be used for education and training on the practical implementation of the CDM 2015 Regulations at the pre-construction stage. It is expected that the findings will also inform post-Grenfell policy making to avoid the identified bad practices from being carried forward into the new H&S regime for high-rise buildings. The workshops also offered opportunities for self-reflection and debate among the participants on their practices at the pre-construction stages of projects.Downloads and citations of publications show that it is receiving significant engagement within the academic community (Exhibit 3). Exhibit 2: A framework for pre-construction health and safety management Exhibit 1: A meeting of the Research Steering Committee Exhibit 3: Evidence of engagement of academic community with research outputs
