Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1996 No. 1592
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996
Made 14th June 1996
Laid before Parliament 27th June 1996
Coming into force 2nd September 1996
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 15(1), (2),(3)(a) and (c), (5)(b) and 82(3)(a) of, and paragraphs 1(1)(a) and (c), 1(2), 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 18(a) of Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 19741(“the 1974 Act”) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf and for the purpose of giving effect without modifications to proposals submitted to him by the Health and Safety Commission under section 11(2)(d) of the 1974 Act after the carrying out by the said Commission of consultations in accordance with section 50(3) of that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:—
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 2nd September 1996.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“construction site” means any place where the principal work activity being carried out is construction work;
“construction work” means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering construction work and includes any of the following—
(a) the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance (including cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure or the use of substances classified as corrosive or toxic for the purposes of regulation 5 of the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road and Rail (Classification, Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 19942), de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure,
(b) the preparation for an intended structure, including site clearance, exploration, investigation (but not site survey) and excavation, and laying or installing the foundations of the structure,
(c) the assembly of prefabricated elements to form a structure or the disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure,
(d) the removal of a structure or part of a structure or of any product or waste resulting from demolition or dismantling of a structure or from disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure, and
(e) the installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunications, computer or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure,
but does not include the exploration for or extraction of mineral resources or activities preparatory thereto carried out at a place where such exploration or extraction is carried out;
“excavation” includes any earthwork, trench, well, shaft, tunnel or underground working;
“fragile material” means any material which would be liable to fail if the weight of any person likely to pass across or work on that material (including the weight of anything for the time being supported or carried by that person) were to be applied to it;
“loading bay” means any facility for loading or unloading equipment or materials for use in construction work;
“personal suspension equipment” means suspended access equipment (other than a working platform) for use by an individual and includes a boatswain’s chair and abseiling equipment but it does not include a suspended scaffold or cradle;
“place of work” means any place which is used by any person at work for the purposes of construction work or for the purposes of any activity arising out of or in connection with construction work;
“plant and equipment” includes any machinery, apparatus, appliance or other similar device, or any part thereof, used for the purposes of construction work and any vehicle being used for such purpose;
“structure” means—
(a) any building, steel or reinforced concrete structure (not being a building), railway line or siding, tramway line, dock, harbour, inland navigation, tunnel, shaft, bridge, viaduct, waterworks, reservoir, pipe or pipe-line (whatever, in either case, it contains or is intended to contain), cable, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works, gasholder, road, airfield, sea defence works, river works, drainage works, earthworks, lagoon, dam, wall, caisson, mast, tower, pylon, underground tank, earth retaining structure, or structure designed to preserve or alter any natural feature, and any other structure similar to the foregoing, or
(b) any formwork, falsework, scaffold or other structure designed or used to provide support or means of access during construction work, or
(c) any fixed plant in respect of work which is installation, commissioning, de-commissioning or dismantling and where any such work involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres.
“traffic route” means any route the purpose of which is to permit the access to or egress from any part of a construction site for any pedestrians or vehicles, or both, and includes any doorway, gateway, loading bay or ramp;
“vehicle” includes any mobile plant and locomotive and any vehicle towed by another vehicle;
“working platform” means any platform used as a place of work or as a means of access to or egress from that place and includes any scaffold, suspended scaffold, cradle, mobile platform, trestle, gangway, run, gantry, stairway and crawling ladder.
(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; and
(b)
(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.
Application
3.—(1) Subject to the following paragraphs of this regulation, these Regulations apply to and in relation to construction work carried out by a person at work.
(2) These Regulations shall not apply to any workplace on a construction site which is set aside for purposes other than construction work.
(3) Regulations 15, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 26(1) and (2) apply only to and in relation to construction work carried out by a person at work at a construction site.
Persons upon whom duties are imposed by these Regulations
4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (5), it shall be the duty of every employer whose employees are carrying out construction work and every self-employed person carrying out construction work to comply with the provisions of these Regulations insofar as they affect him or any person at work under his control or relate to matters which are within his control.
(2) It shall be the duty of every person (other than a person having a duty under paragraph (1) or (3)) who controls the way in which any construction work is carried out by a person at work to comply with the provisions of these Regulations insofar as they relate to matters which are within his control.
(3) Subject to paragraph (5), it shall be the duty of every employee carrying out construction work to comply with the requirements of these Regulations insofar as they relate to the performance of or the refraining from an act by him.
(4) It shall be the duty of every person at work—
(a)
(a) as regards any duty or requirement imposed on any other person under these Regulations, to co-operate with that person so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with; and
(b)
(b) where working under the control of another person, to report to that person any defect which he is aware may endanger the health or safety of himself or another person.
(5) This regulation shall not apply to regulations 22 and 29(2), which expressly say on whom the duties are imposed.
Safe places of work
5.—(1) There shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be suitable and sufficient safe access to and egress from every place of work and to any other place provided for the use of any person while at work, which access and egress shall be without risks to health and properly maintained.
(2) Every place of work shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be made and kept safe for, and without risks to health to, any person at work there.
(3) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no person gains access to any place which does not comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) or (2).
(4) Paragraphs (1) to (3) shall not apply in relation to a person engaged in work for the purpose of making any place safe, provided all practicable steps are taken to ensure the safety of that person whilst engaged in that work.
(5) Every place of work shall, so far as is reasonably practicable and having regard to the nature of the work being carried out there, have sufficient working space and be so arranged that it is suitable for any person who is working or who is likely to work there.
Falls
6.—(1) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling.
(2) In any case where the steps referred to in paragraph (1) include the provision of—
(a)
(a) any guard-rail, toe-board, barrier or other similar means of protection; or
(b)
(b) any working platform,
it shall comply with the provisions of Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 respectively.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) and subject to paragraph (6), where any person is to carry out work at a place from which he is liable to fall a distance of 2 metres or more or where any person is to use a means of access to or egress from a place of work from which access or egress he is liable to fall a distance of 2 metres or more—
(a)
(a) there shall, subject to...
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