Newsletter March 2008

CDM 2007 One Year On

April 1st means different things to different people. To the CDM community, it marks the end of the 12 month introductory period for the (now not so) new CDM Regulations. The 2007 Regulations introduced two major issues;

• Emphasis on the Client's responsibilities
• Management of competency of everyone involved in the construction process, from designers & planners, to subcontractors on site

So how prepared are you? Is all that 'required CPD' complete? Are your management processes in place? Can you provide up-to-the-moment exception reporting to give you the running order of where health & safety issues need to be addressed?

Talking of 'management', we have been busy researching two White Papers for ToolKit CS™ users and resource providers. One concerns the control of costs associated with CDM Management - a hot issue in an environment where CDM-C resource costs are skyrocketing. The other addresses key performance indicators and how they can be managed within the health & safety environment. Many issues have been highlighted by these documents and we are proposing to discuss them at our Annual Conference.

Interestingly, many organisations now see the management processes surrounding the CDM Regulations as so good that they want to use them 'across the board' in construction management, irrespective of the need to notify or anything else. Several of our customers have always seen the regulations in this light. This is a really strong linking with the inbuilt processes in both our products and the supporting network we supply our customers with.

Naturally, we have been preparing the ground for our Annual Conference for some months now. The agenda below outlines the main issues. Readers may like to note that we have the HSE's top resource in CDM policy making for our keynote speech. This is backed by supporting presentations on a wide number of issues concerned with CDM Management. We would like all our customers to attend because the event will deliver significant benefits for all levels of health & safety management.

Annual Conference 22 April 2008

Our Annual Conference offers an even wider brief than usual with the keynote presentation by Andrew East, the HSE's CDM chief policy maker. Andrew has become a very popular presenter as well as a senior member of the HSE team. We are particularly grateful, therefore, that he has found time to spend his morning with us for the second year running to add gravitas to our ever popular event.

The Annual Conference is held primarily for the benefit of our users with a supporting agenda targeted at their needs. This year it is wider than ever, representing a great opportunity to catch up on the affairs of the CDM neighbourhood at a very reasonable price. We would like all our users to send a representative to the event this year. So please visit our web site and sign up now.

Held at the prestigious Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly London, the agenda includes presentations on:

• CDM One Year On
• Corporate Manslaughter
• Managing Compliance - CHAS
• Managing CDM within Budget
• CDM 2007 - Making a Difference

There appears to be more and more activity in the CDM environment as everyone from the Client to the Contractor strive to keep within the new 2007 CDM rules. We have themed the conference to embody those rules as the 4C's for Compliance:

  - Communication
  - Co-operation

  - Co-ordination
  - Competence Management

So please come and take part, do some networking with some likeminded professionals, or simply relax and take in the content of what promises to be another very worthwhile event.

The conference starts at 10:00, includes a buffet lunch and an optional tour of the Club. There is as small charge for the event which qualifies for CPD certificates if required.

Please register using our online form.

March Release & Free Workshop

If you are a ToolKit CS™ user, please enrol now for one of our free pre-release workshops. The workshops are provided to allow users to review the latest enhancements to ToolKit CS™ products our headquarters. This is your chance to meet with the software design and support team to see the outcome of the previous 6 months work to help you comply with the HSE's regulations. The March Release is scheduled for the end of the month as planned.

ToolKit User Events for 2008

Our ToolKit™ Users may like advance warning of the following scheduled events for 2008. The events are all free

• Major Account Review Meetings
• User Workshops

We would like all our customers to come to one of the review meetings so that we can continue to work together to enhance ToolKit CS™ to meet the changing needs of organisations with the 2007 CDM regulations.

Our User Workshops provide an excellent opportunity to see the pre-release version of our 6 monthly product updates, with some instruction, so that users can be well prepared for the installed product shortly after the events.

More Information

We regularly receive updates from our customers and contacts about changes to legislation, the latest rumours and so on. We try to be selective with what we pass on and acknowledge our sources as appropriate. If you have information of general interest in the Health & Safety, and particularly, CDM and Asbestos Management arena, then please let us know by e-mail if possible.