Health and Safety on Construction Sites

Health and safety coordinator from design to completion of the works

The client must appoint a health and safety coordinator for the design stage and for the construction stage where the works are or will be carried out by two or more contractors, and must ensure that a health and safety plan is in place before the site is set up (Occupational Health and Safety Act, Zakon o zaštiti na radu, Article 73).

As coordinator I, we work with the designers to coordinate the application of the general principles and rules of health and safety in the design, and we prepare the health and safety plan, with specific measures for hazardous work.

As coordinator II, we coordinate the application of health and safety principles when decisions are taken on the timing and sequence of works carried out simultaneously or in succession, monitor whether contractors apply the health and safety plan and adjust it to changes on site, ensure that contractors cooperate and are kept informed, and check that work procedures are carried out safely. Findings from site visits are recorded in written reports.

The coordinator does not take over the obligations of other parties to construction: each designer and contractor remains responsible for applying health and safety rules, and where several contractors work on a site, the notification of the construction site to the labour inspectorate is submitted by the client (Occupational Health and Safety Act, Articles 73, 75 and 77).