Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
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17.8.7 Health and safety fi le
Under the CDM94 a separate health and safety fi le is 
required for each project. The HSC believe that it would 
be more useful to have one fi le for each site, structure or, 
occasionally, group of structures – for example, bridges 
along a road. The fi le can then be developed over time 
as information is added from different projects. The CDM 
Coordinator therefore has the responsibility to prepare a 
suitable health and safety fi le or update it if one already 
exists.
There are also opportunities to link the health and 
safety fi le with other documents such as the Buildings 
Regulations Log Book. The potential practical value of the 
information contained in the fi le is also likely to increase 
as more clients make use of the Internet to share this 
information with designers and contractors (for example, 
maintenance contractors could check what access 
equipment and parts they are likely to need to repair 
a fault before leaving for the site, saving them and their 
clients inconvenience, time and money).
The contents of the Health and Safety File are given 
in the ACoP as follows:
➤
a brief description of the work carried out
➤
any residual hazards which remain and how they 
have been dealt with (e.g. surveys or other informa-
tion concerning asbestos; contaminated land; water 
bearing strata; buried services)
➤
key structural principles (e.g. bracing, sources of 
substantial stored energy – including pre or post-
tensioned members)and safe working loads for 
fl oors and roofs, particularly where these may pre-
clude placing scaffolding or heavy machinery there
➤
hazardous material used (e.g. lead paint, pesticides, 
special coatings which should not be burnt off)
➤
information regarding the removal or dismantling 
of installed plant and equipment (e.g. any spe-
cial arrangements for lifting, order or other special 
instructions for dismantling)
➤
health and safety information about equipment pro-
vided for cleaning or maintaining the structure
➤
The nature, location and markings of signifi cant 
services, including underground cables; gas supply 
equipment; fi re-fi ghting services
➤
information and as built drawings of the structure, 
its plant and equipment (eg, the means of safe 
access to and from service voids, fi re doors and 
compartmentalization).