The role of S309 WHS Plans in promoting OHS on construction sites

The role of S309 WHS Plans in promoting OHS on construction sites

Aim/Purpose

The purpose of the essay is to evaluate the legal requirements for the S309 plan to understand how effective this regulation is in terms of controlling construction Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risks. With the help of relevant literature, the essay highlights the key factors that contribute to good OHS practice in construction and attempt to suggest whether S309 will improve OHS. It will also attempt to indicate other factors that may also be of importance in this regard.

Background

The high-risk operational nature of the building and construction industry results in many deaths annually, and the rates of fatality are much higher than that of national workplace average. Furthermore, injury rates are also higher in this industry than that of other sectors (Cole, 2002). In UK an estimated two million workers form part of the construction sector and thus, a considerable amount of research and investment in campaigns for the safety of workers is seen. Despite this extensive focus on safety there was still at least one person killed daily in this sector and more than 600 people used to get injured on average at a daily basis (HSE, 1998).

In 2003, Paton in an article, evaluating the country's progress with regard to the improvement in OHS standards, found not much of satisfaction since the number of injuries continued to be high. The author acknowledged the initiatives taken by the UK government in this direction and considered the enforcement of them as of particular importance for betterment of the condition.

The new Work Health and Safety legislation was developed after a thorough national review of the work healthy and safety laws and also after a considerable amount of public consultation. The initiative was taken with an aim of protecting the health, safety and welfare of all workers at work and of all the relevant people who might be affected by the work. The regulation helps in setting a standard of health and safety protection, irrespective of the kind of work being carried out or the location of the work.

The plan in this regard requires the demonstration of the integration of WHS requirements combined with the procedures and practices of the project and the management of safety of the project. The S309 suggests the management plan of WHS to include at least the names, designations and the responsibilities of workers who are associated with health and safety matters. It also requires the details of the arrangements undertaken for the management of any health and safety incidents to be a part of the plan and also of any health and safety rules that are particular to the site in which the construction work is being carried out. Furthermore, it is also required that the plan comprises of the details of the steps taken in the direction of assessing, collecting, monitoring, and reviewing safe work methods statements (DCI, ...