What is the Health and Safety File?

Simply put, the Health and Safety File is a repository of health and safety information and serves as a legal record that will be of use to both clients and end users. This file contains the documentation that demonstrates the level of safety built into the system and identifies limitations for the system's use and operation. In essence, it is a "proof of safety" that the system and its operation meet the appropriate level of safety for the intended application. It starts from the beginning of the design, is maintained during the full life cycle of the system and provides administrative support for the safety program of the full system.

Why is a Health and Safety File required?

Safety file exist to ensure that information about risks and hazards are collected, a response developed to manage these appropriately, and this response is then communicated to all who need to know as detailed in the Construction regulation 2014.

Who is responsible for the Health and Safety File?

Principal Contractor should be in receipt of, and take responsibility for, the Health and Safety File. The file is, ultimately, passed to the client who must ensure it is readily available to all who need it. If a building is sold, then the client must ensure that the file is made available to the new owner. When areas of the building are leased then leaseholders must have access to the file. If a leaseholder becomes client on a future construction project, then the file must be made available to the Principal Designer for the newly commissioned project.

When should the Health and Safety File be produced?

Health and safety should be really considered throughout the project lifecycle - the earlier the information is compiled and shared, the better decisions that can be made by the disciplines that come together to work on the project, avoiding duplication and the need for reworking down the line.

Considering health and safety requirements in the context of your digital information model from the start is time well spent. Appropriately tagged information can be input once and then used throughout a project. Indeed, it's feasible that, if designed correctly from the start, the Health and Safety File can be just an output of the model, generated by a user requesting a particular 'view' of the information contained within.

What is the health and safety file for?

The purpose of the health and safety file is very clear. It is a file of information complied to protect people on construction projects which are undertaken in the future. As such, the health and safety file is a vital source of information which should form part of any health and safety management system in place for the construction project. The clear purpose of the file is a distinct clue as to what should be included in the health and safety file. It must only contain information which is relevant to the protection of people on construction projects. All too often, the file is crammed (either physically or electronically) with superfluous information which does not contribute to the defined brief for the health and safety file.

Why Contractors are Failing to Comply?

Most contractors are failing to have safety file on site due to lack of access to the health and safety file templates. For the safety file to be comply, the contractor must have access to safety technical information. If you do not have access to this technical information, you will be exposed to exploitation and high cost services. This safety technical information is mostly treated as intellectual property, emerging contractors do not liberty to this information.

What should Emerging Contractors do?

ConstaTech is their solution, the online platform which provide safety technical information at affordable fee. All emerging contractors can now comply and compete. This is one of the ways we are ensuring Construction Made Easy

.