What is a health and safety plan?

A health and safety plan are described in the Construction Regulations, 2014 as follows: "H&S Plan" refers to a site-specific, activity-specific, or project-specific documented plan in accordance with the client's H&S specification. In other words, it's a documented plan that outlines how the contractor will manage H&S on a project in accordance with the scope of work, the client's H&S specification, and the risk profile.

What does the OHS Act and Regulations say?

Duties of client (CR5)

1(l) shall discuss and negotiate the details of the principal contractor's H&S Plan with the principal contractor as per regulation 7(1) and must then finally authorize the plan's execution.

Duties of principal contractor and contractor (CR7)

7. (1) A principal contractor must provide and demonstrate to the client a site-specific health and safety plan that is appropriate, adequately documented, and coherent based on the client's documented health and safety specifications, as per regulation 5(1)(b), which plan must be applied beginning on the first day of the construction project and continuing throughout; The health and safety plan is the only document mentioned in the OHS Act under CR 5 (1)(l)  that must be approved – nowhere is there any mentioning that the client or contractor must approve a safety file.

What should you include in a H&S Plan?

Sadly, there is no one size fits all. Each H&S Plan needs to be created by a qualified individual who takes the following factors into account:

• the clients baseline risk assessment

• the clients H&S Specification

• The scope of work

• the risk profile of the project

• the location of the site or project

Determining whether you are a Principal Contractor, or a Contractor is also crucial because each has its own set of rules that must be followed.