DUTIES AS A DESIGNER

As a designer you must ensure that the project is capable of being constructed to
be safe, can be maintained safely and complies with all relevant safety and health
legislation.

You must:

Identify any hazards that my design may present during construction and
subsequent maintenance
Where possible, eliminate the hazards or reduce risk

Diagram of a pyramid showing how you should identify the risk, evaluate it, and
control it by the principle of prevention and protectionWhere there are residual
risks, you must

Communicate necessary control measures

Design assumptions or remaining risks to the Project Supervisor Design Process
(PSDP) so that they can be dealt with in the Safety and Health Plan
Co-operate with other designers and the Project Supervisor Design Process
(PSDP) or Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS)
Take account of any existing safety and health plan or safety file
Comply with directions issued by the PSDP or PSCS
Where no PSDP has been appointed, inform the client that a PSDP must be
appointe

GOOD DESIGN PRACTICE

There are many examples of good design practice, including:

Example of minimising working adjacent to high-speed traffic:

A steel footbridge was erected over a busy roadway. A single span was practicable
and was chosen so as to reduce dangers to road vehicles. A lightweight design was
utilised, enabling the bridge to be lifted into place during a single road closure held
on a weekend night. There was minimal need for temporary works. The connections
and lifting points were designed to allow speedy pre-assembly.

Examples of designing out the need to perform work at height:

A designer had specified timber cladding on a building faade, including the gables.
All the cladding, would be accessible for periodic maintenance by mobile elevating
work platform, except for one gable adjacent to a narrow passageway. The cladding
on the gables was replaced by a low maintenance anodised aluminium cladding.

image representing good design practice

A designer had specified that air-conditioning units be mounted 2.5m high on an

external wall. This would have required periodic access for maintenance and ladders

would likely by used. Working on ladders is a high risk activity and the designer
changed the mounting height to 0.6m. to avoid the need for work at a height.

A designer considered the use of a water-based paint for the exterior of a metal
spire on a tall building to reduce exposure to solvents. She determined that the
level of exposure to solvents from a solvent based paint would be low and that the
metalwork would require more frequent repainting with a water-based paint. She,
therefore, concluded that it was better to specify the solvent-based paint because of
the high risk of frequent working at height.

Example of making arrangements to permit safer means of work at a height:

In preparing the drainage layout for a fast-track project, the drainage lines were
arranged so that the drains could be laid without preventing access for the use of
mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) that had been chosen to provide safe
access for the erection of the structural steelwork.

Example of designing features to reduce risks from fall from height:

In the design of a roof, the designer increased the height of the parapet from 450
mm to 1,100 mm prior to application for planning permission to facilitate safety in
both the construction of the roof and future maintenance on the finished roof and
associated drains.

Example of minimising disturbance to contaminated ground:

A development was built on a former industrial site that contained some

contaminated ground. Records giving information on the history of the site were
supplied by the client and these outlined the extent of the contamination. Contact
with the contaminants was minimised by using driven piles to reduce ground
disturbance; the designer having judged it better to accept the noise, etc of driven
piles. Relevant information was passed to the Project Supervisor Design Process for
inclusion in the Safety File. Services were placed in ducts to minimise contact with
contaminants for future maintenance work.

RISK ASSESSMENT

As a designer you must:

Identify hazards arising from your design

Assess how serious the risk is, and
Decide what you need to do to eliminate or reduce these risks

You should have a system in place to document how you have eliminated or
reduced risk during the design process and how you have communicated necessary
information on any remaining risks to the Project Supervisor Design Process.
Competency for the work

Clients and others hiring designers must satisfy themselves that each designer
appointed has adequate training, knowledge, experience, and resources for the
work to be performed.

Ask yourself: "Am I competent in relation to the health and safety issues on this
project?"

If you are unsure about the answer, you should take further steps to become
competent.

Clients will make reasonable enquires to check that you are able to fulfil your
responsibilities as a designer and you should be prepared to supply this information.
These enquiries may include the following:

Membership of a relevant professional body

Knowledge of design and construction, particularly in relation to the nature of the
project
Safety and health qualifications and training
Safety and health experience on similar projects
Experience of working with other designers
Experience of preparing information for Safety and Health Plans
Knowledge of preparing information for a Safety File
Sufficient staff with qualifications, training, experience
Regulatory compliance; convictions, enforcement notices - in particular repeat
notices

Evidence of a functioning Safety Management System, including:

a) is there an up to date Safety Statement?

b)are individuals identified with responsibility for safety and health for each
project?
c) is there evidence of monitoring and corrective actions, learning from past
experience?