Design experts launch joint strategy to cut number of workplace fatalities

The construction industry’s design institutions have launched a joint strategy to address workplace deaths, amid a growing emphasis on their responsibility for safety in design.

The design institutions’ joint health and safety strategy has been agreed by the Institution of Civil engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, RIBA, CIBSE, the CIC, and consultancies Atkins, Mott MacDonald and Halcrow.

The initiative is the first time these industry design experts have shared their expertise in detail to produce an action plan focusing on reducing deaths.

The strategy, which is backed by the Health and Safety Executive, involves:

  • The production of designer guidance to accompany the CDM 2007 Regulations
  • The promotion of lifelong learning and a competency framework
  • The promotion of a health and safety register for demonstration of competence
  • Providing better education about workplace risk to designers
  • Providing better access to health and safety information for designers
  • Continued promotion of appropriate skills cards
  • Sharing ‘lessons-learned’ experience among construction professionals
Gordon Masterton of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who chairs the strategy group, said: “One death in the construction industry is one too many. The strategy has been devised by all groups involved in construction as a response to the tragic fatalities which sadly happen in our pressured industry.”

The strategy will be monitored and evaluated over the course of the next five years.

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