In this article we will provide Clients with a summary of the obligations imposed by the legislation on site safety, responsibilities and strategic tools to protect themselves.

In order not to make the treatment of the issues in question too complex, some regulatory steps have been simplified as they are aimed at a novice public. Please refer to in-depth articles on the discussion of specific topics.

Safety of construction sites: regulatory framework

The text of the law of reference is always the Legislative Decree 81/08, c.d. TUS (Consolidated Safety Act), and specifically the Title IV – TEMPORARY OR MOBILE CONSTRUCTION SITES.

Originally the text of the reference law was Legislative Decree 494/96 (now repealed) also called “Construction Sites Directive“, legislation transposing a Community Directive on safety on temporary and mobile construction sites released in the 90s.

In particular, the reference articles of the TUS are those from 88 to 104 inclusive, as well as Annexes from X to XIX inclusive.

What is a temporary or mobile construction site?

With reference to Article 89 and Annex X of Legislative Decree 81/08, a temporary or mobile construction site, hereinafter referred to as “construction site” is any place where construction or civil engineering works are carried out, i.e. “construction, maintenance, repair, demolition, conservation, rehabilitation, renovation or equipping work, transformation, renewal or dismantling of fixed, permanent or temporary works,  masonry, reinforced concrete, metal, wood or other materials“.

In practice, any intervention of ordinary, extraordinary maintenance and renovation of a property.

What are the obligations of the Client on construction sites or temporary or mobile construction sites?

With reference to Article 90, the Client or the Works Manager (RdL – we will see who he is later) has the following obligations:

• in construction sites where the presence of several executing companies is expected (even if not simultaneously), appoints the Coordinator for Safety in the Design Phase (CSP) and the Coordinator for Safety in the Execution Phase (CSE)
• verifies the Technical-Professional Suitability (ITP) of contractors, executing companies and self-employed workers in relation to the functions or works to be entrusted, in the manner set out in Annex XVII
• asks the executing companies for a Declaration of the Average Annual Headcount (DOMA), distinguished by qualification, accompanied by the details of the workers’ complaints made to the National Institute of Social Security (INPS), the National Institute for Accidents at Work (INAIL) and the construction funds, as well as a declaration relating to the National Collective Labour Agreement (CCNL) stipulated by the comparatively most representative trade unions, applied to employees.
• transmits to the granting administration, before the start of the works covered by the building permit or the declaration of commencement of activity, a copy of the preliminary notification, the DURC (Single Document of Contributory Regularity) of the companies and self-employed workers, and a declaration certifying the verification of the further documentation referred to in the previous points.

Who is the Construction Site Safety Coordinator?

Leaving aside the regulatory definitions, we can define the Safety Coordinator on construction sites as the technical consultant appointed by the Customer to design the safety of the construction site (CSP) and to verify compliance with the safety standards during construction (CSE). This role, formally defined by Articles. 91 and 92 of the TUS, in smaller construction sites is usually covered by a single professional.

Specifically, the CSP (Safety Coordinator in the Design phase) is the one who prepares:

• the Safety and Coordination Plan (PSC), the document that specifically defines the coordination and safety measures for the construction site in question
• the Technical File or Work File (FT), the document that must be kept by the Customer for future maintenance or adaptation.

On the contrary, the CSE (Safety Coordinator in the execution phase) is the one who supervises the compliance, by the executing companies, with the safety standards on site and the suitability of the documents produced by them, through:

• inspections recorded on the construction site (VIS)
• Security Coordination Meetings (RCS)
• checks on the documentation produced by the executing companies (POS and construction site safety documents specific to each company) and on the suitability of the workers operating on site.

In order to cover the role of CSP and CSE, a technical qualification (surveyor, engineer or architect) and a 120-hour specialization course (with subsequent refresher courses) are required.

Who is the Project Manager?

The RDL or Works Manager is instead the subject to whom the Customer can delegate the tasks indicated in the previous paragraph.

Unlike the construction site safety coordinator, to carry out the function of RdL no special skills or qualifications are needed, even if it is widely desirable to identify a subject with requirements similar to those of the CSP or CSE in order not to make the institution of delegation ineffective (translated: it is not very protective for a Client to transfer control and supervision tasks to a subject that does not have adequate skills).

Does the appointment of the RDL exempt the Customer from liability?

With reference to Article 93, the Client is exempt from the responsibilities related to the fulfillment of the obligations limited to the task conferred on the Project Manager. Furthermore, the designation of the CSP and the CSE does not exempt the client or the RdL from the responsibilities related to the verification of the fulfillment of the obligations referred to in articles 91, paragraph 1, and 92, paragraph 1, letters a), b), c) d) and e) ie the main obligations imposed by the legislator on the CSP and the CSE

It is important to underline that the Legislator and the judgments of the Supreme Court have identified the Client as the “economic engine” of the work, effectively imposing on them the task of carrying out assessments on the safety and health of workers operating on the site. In fact, it is the Client who almost always chooses the companies on the basis of technical-professional requirements or economic evaluations, who agrees with the designer the tender specifications and who often enters into the merits of the technical-operational solutions.

In all these cases, which can be defined by the judge as interference by the Customer on the choices of the companies and on the methods of execution of the works, there is a profile of civil and criminal co-responsibility of the Customer in the event of an accident at work.

Strategies to reduce civil and criminal liability in the event of an accident on site

From the above and on the basis of the principle of “culpa in eligendo” and “culpa in vigilando” it is clear that the Customer must take specific actions to avoid civil or criminal co-liability profiles. Specifically, the priority strategies are:

• Appoint CSPs and CSEs that have previous skills and experience in the field of construction site safety (through the analysis of CVs and training certificates)
• Verify that the technical offer specifies the methods of service provision (e.g. number of inspections planned during the construction site, methods of recording inspections and coordination meetings, etc.)
• Be wary of “allologists”; the technician who plays the role of designer, construction manager, who presents the practice in the land registry, who processes the energy certification and also deals with the Restructuring Bonus, very rarely has experience in the field of construction site safety, a theme that with the evolution of the legislation requires technical-legal skills that cannot be acquired with a construction site safety course (even if lasting 120 hours)
• Check which IT tools the technician uses to effectively perform the role of RdL or CSE. And in this case we are not referring to the availability of a construction site safety software for the processing of PSC or FT but of computerized management tools (such as management platforms) able to simplify the verification processes of all the documentation concerning safety (priority and somewhat protective aspect for the Customer).

Conclusions

Based on the above, it can be said that safety on construction sites has evolved enormously in the last decade, presupposing increasingly specialized and targeted skills on the part of technicians operating in the sector. By analogy, the legislator has defined a central role of the Client as safety supervisor, it is in fact inevitable the interference of the same in the decision-making processes and in the choices of suppliers and making these tasks and responsibilities fall on the field of site safety.

Do you need to appoint the CSP, CSE or RdL for your construction site?

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The preparation of the PSC is governed by Title IV of Legislative Decree 81/08 (TUS) in the context of a temporary and mobile construction site hereinafter referred to as “construction site”, i.e. any place where construction or civil engineering works are carried out.

Specifically, ANNEX X defines as construction sites:

Construction, maintenance, repair, demolition, conservation, rehabilitation, renovation or equipping, conversion, renewal or dismantling of fixed, permanent or temporary works of masonry, reinforced concrete, metal, wood or other materials, including structural parts of power lines and structural parts of electrical installations, road or railway works,  hydraulic, maritime, hydroelectric and, only for the part involving construction or civil engineering work, reclamation, forestry and earthworks works. As well as building construction or civil engineering works, excavations, and assembly and dismantling of prefabricated elements used for the realization of construction or civil engineering works.

As can be seen, many activities fall within the scope of Title IV, from the renovation of an apartment, to the plant adaptation of a plant to a forestry arrangement.

Who prepares the Safety and Coordination Plan for a construction site?

Within a construction site, the subject who has the obligation and skills to prepare the PSC, is the Coordinator for safety in the design phase (CSP).

The tasks and responsibilities of these are defined by Article 91 of Legislative Decree 81/08.

The CSP during the design of the work and in any case before the request for submission of offers provides for the preparation of the Safety and Coordination Plan (PSC) and the preparation of the Technical File of the work (FT).

When is the Safety and Coordination Plan mandatory?

In construction sites where there is the presence of several executing companies, even if not at the same time, the client, together with the assignment of the design assignment, designates the design coordinator (CSP) who, as already indicated, has the obligation to prepare the PSC.

What responsibilities does the Client have for the contents of the PSC?

Article 93 of the TUS – Responsibilities of clients and project managers – paragraph 2 establishes that “the designation of the coordinator for the design and the coordinator for the execution of the works, does not exempt the client or the person in charge of the works from the responsibilities related to the verification of the fulfillment of the obligations referred to in Article 91, paragraph 1” or from the verification of the correct preparation of the PSC.

It is clear that in most cases the Client (especially if private) does not have the technical skills to verify the suitability of this document, but this does not exclude a profile of co-responsibility especially in the context of complex building interventions or in relation to the choice of the CSP based only on economic criteria.

But how do you avoid civil and criminal liability on the adequacy of the SGP?

The aspects that the Customer (especially if a company) must evaluate are:

• CSP requirements by requesting the specific CSP/CSE attestation and related updates (valid for five years)
• Skills of the CSP through the analysis of previous experiences on similar jobs (through the CV)
• Compliance with the minimum contents of the PSC.

On this last issue (more complex to analyze) our suggestion is to check if it respects in a macroscopic way the specifications indicated in the following paragraph and in particular if:

• is specific and detailed of the construction site in question
• contains photos and graphics
• contains a work schedule
• assesses the risks (including interference) related to the individual work phases

What are the minimum PSC contents? Analysis of Annex XV of Legislative Decree 81/08

According to Annex XV of the SUP, the PSC must contain:

• the identification and description of the work, explained with the particulars of the construction site, the description of the context in which the intervention area is located and a summary description of the work, with particular reference to the design, architectural, structural and technological specifications of the same;
• the identification of subjects with security tasks, showing the names and references of the subjects already identified such as: RdL, CSP and CSE and of the main functions with top roles in security matters
• a specific section (to be completed by the CSE) with the list of executing companies and their references (registered offices and names of employers);
• a report concerning the identification, analysis and assessment of concrete risks, with reference to the area and organization of the construction site, the works and their interferences;
• the indication of the design and organizational choices, as well as the preventive and protective measures, with reference to the site area, the organization of the construction site and the works
• the indication of the operating requirements and of the preventive and protective measures and the personal protective equipment to be used in relation to interferences between the processes
• coordination measures relating to the common use by several companies and self-employed workers, as a choice of work planning aimed at safety, of collective protection equipment, equipment, infrastructure, means and services;
• organisational arrangements for cooperation, coordination and mutual information between employers;
• the planned organisation of the first aid, fire-fighting and evacuation of workers,
• the analysis of the expected duration of the work phases and the work sub-phases taken from the work schedule provided by the Client
• the calculation of the presumed size of the construction site expressed in man-days;
• estimating the costs of security

In relation to point 2.1.3 of Annex XV, the complementary and detailed procedures to the SGP related to the autonomous choices of the executing companies, to be explained in the SOPs, must also be indicated.

With reference to the construction site, the PSC must also contain the analysis of the elements related to the state of the places that may determine interference criticalities such as:

• presence of airlines and subservices
• external factors that pose risks to the construction site, with particular attention to the surrounding vehicular traffic
• any risks that construction work may entail for the surrounding area (such as noise, dust, material fall from above).

The PSC must also analyze the phases and sub-phases of work by assessing the risks potentially present, with reference to the area and organization of the construction site, to the processes and their interference, with particular attention to the risk of:

• investment from vehicles circulating in the construction site area
• Burial in excavations
• fall from above
• resulting from the demolition and maintenance of preserved parts
• fire and explosion for hazardous processes and materials used on site
• electrocution
• noise
• related to the use of chemicals.

The PSC, moreover, for each element referred to in the previous points must report:

• the design and organizational choices aimed at defining the preventive and protective measures required to eliminate or minimize the risks of each individual phase of work as well as the related coordination measures

With reference to the interference between the processes and their coordination, the PSC will also report:

• a detailed analysis of work interferences with the help of the work schedule
• the operational requirements for the spatial or temporal phase shift of interfering processes and the procedures for verifying compliance with these requirements
• where risks of interference remain, preventive and protective measures and personal protective equipment to minimise such risks.
• coordination measures relating to the common use of collective protection facilities, equipment, infrastructure, assets and services.

The PSC must also be accompanied by drawings, relating to safety aspects, including the timing of  the processing and explanatory tables of the preparations (including scaffolding and provisional works) and the most critical operational phases.

PSC: why turn to construction site safety experts?

Too often, in the context of a temporary and mobile construction site, technicians (architects, engineers and surveyors) are forced to deal with multiple issues, from design to construction supervision, from energy efficiency to structural ones, from building practices to cadastral ones.

It is clear that only professionals specialized in safety and hygiene at work are able to better manage all issues related to site safety, preparing PSCs that comply with legal requirements and protect customers

Need to set up a PSC and appoint a CSP?

SV Srl, thanks to its twenty years of experience in the sector, is able to provide you with a fast, economical and professional service.

CONTACT US NOW TO REQUEST INFORMATION

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