Safety is not an option

It is good to see the new CDM proposals portrayed in a positive light (Souped-up safety, CM, June). The early appointment of the proposed project co-ordinator, replacing the planning supervisor role, vindicates my own research for the HSE last year. At the time I was slated for placing the appointment of a health and safety advisor so early in the project. Clients are always blamed for poor health and safety. Well, under the new proposals, if the project co-ordinator wants a CDM issue taken seriously, the client will have to either sanction a course of action or ignore it at his or her own risk. We should grasp this opportunity to finally “manage the client”. We are constantly being compared to the car manufacturing industry so I would like to use this analogy: If I want to buy a new car, am I permitted to request the exclusion of the seatbelts, because I don’t like them? Then ask for a discount because I am no longer paying for them? No. And construction is no different.