Duties of Health & Safety Project Coordinator

This is the person appointed under regulation 7(3)(a) to undertake the functions required within regulation 9. These duties include:-

The Health and Safety Project Coordinator must:-

(a) advise and assist a client with his or her duties;

The health and safety project coordinator is expected to be knowledgeable about construction work and have the relevant skills and expertise to advise the client on associated health and safety matters. Additionally, the health and safety project coordinator should have recent knowledge of the type of work the client wishes to be undertaken (civils, new build, electrical etc.). Along with this the health and safety project coordinator should have full knowledge about the Health and Safety (Management in Construction) (Jersey) Regulations 2016. It is all of this knowledge that enables them to be the ‘expert’ and advise the client accordingly.

(b) in the case of a major construction project, notify the Health and Safety Inspectorate of the project in accordance with Regulation 9;

The definition of ‘major construction work’ is any work that is expected to:-

• last longer than 30 working days; or
• the number of days to complete the project if the work were to be undertaken by one individual would exceed 500;

Therefore only projects meeting this criteria need to have a project notification. However, if you are undertaking a minor construction project and over time it falls under the major criteria, you should then notify the Health and Safety Inspectorate.

(c) co-ordinate the health and safety aspects of design work and co-operate with other persons who are part of the project;

(d) facilitate good communication between client, designers and contractors;

Cooperation, coordination and communication are key within all construction projects. There should be management arrangements in place for good communication for all those involved in the construction work. Details should be agreed at start up with the Client and his team so that everyone knows the process.

As the main advisor on the work the health and safety project coordinator should be included on any questions in regard to the health and safety aspects of the works.

(e) liaise with the principal contractor regarding any ongoing aspects of the design;

It is important that the health and safety project coordinator is involved in technical changes to the design once the work has started on site. This ensure that any decisions are made with full expertise.

(f) identify, collect and pass on to any information gathered at the pre-construction phase of the project that is relevant to the construction phase;

The Pre-construction Information is a key document, it should hold all the relevant information about the project, the management arrangements and all details about the design and decisions. Along with this all health and safety hazards should be identified and the health and safety project coordinator should ensure that all parties have all the information they need to work safely. All parties must understand the content and abide by any decisions made.

(g) prepare and update the health and safety file

The health and safety project coordinator must update the current health and safety file. If none was available at the start of the project then it is their duty to create one. It should then be regularly updated until the project is complete.