The CIC and Safety in Design launch initiative to improve health and safety in the building design.
New standards have been launched by the Construction Industry Council to help designers comply with health and safety regulations.
Learning Aims developed in partership with Safety in Design are intended to help designers identify risks and hazards while Standards of Competence are occupational standards that can be used as the basis of measuring the competency of designers.
Design safety group SiD said that Learning Aims could be used to help designers comply with Regulation 13 in the Construction Design and Management regulations, which requires that designers design out hazards in buildings.
Under CDM industry clients must also make sure that it uses competent designers. SiD said that Standards of Competency would enable clients to measure the competency of designers.
SiD director Tim Gould said: “Unless designers have an idea of where they stand in relationship to Regulation 13 how do they know they are competent? SiD provides a benchmark to measure competency”
Discussions are currently taking place as to how the initiatives might be adopted by industry. The inclusion of Learning Aims in undergraduate design courses and the involvement of CSCS are currently being considered.
Learning aims and standards of competence have been funded by ConstructionSkills.
