Health and safety coordinator

Information board about safety, accident and occupational safety on a construction site in Austria, which is to be created by a coordinator

The safety and health protection coordinator (SiGeKo) is appointed by the client for construction sites , provided that employees from several companies (trades) are active on the construction site.

According to Section 3 of the BaustellV (regulation on safety and health protection on construction sites), the safety and health coordinator takes on tasks during the planning and execution of construction projects. He has to define and coordinate the necessary occupational safety and health protection measures and to check compliance with them. By appointing a suitable coordinator, the client is not released from his responsibility to fulfill his obligations under the BaustellV (Section 3 (1a) BaustellV).

Order

Since 1999, as initiators of a building project , building owners have been (co) obliged to take care of the health protection of the people working on the construction site. In order to meet this requirement, many building owners need support - this is provided by the health and safety coordinator.

The client assigns the SiGeKo the tasks according to § 3 Paragraphs 2 and 3 for the planning and execution phase of the building project. The tasks of the SiGeKo can e.g. B. by architects , engineers and state certified technicians who have the qualifications according to numbers 4 and 5 of RAB 30. Construction-related vocational training is not enough. The most important duty of the client according to the construction site ordinance, however, is to influence the implementation of the "General Principles of Occupational Safety" according to Section 4 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act . If the client has appointed a health and safety coordinator for his construction project, the implementation of Section 4 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act forms the basis of the coordinator's advisory activities. In principle, the safety and health coordinator has no right to give instructions to the construction company according to BaustellV, "Danger in arrears" has a special role.

The services of a coordinator are usually described in terms of occupational safety on construction sites (RAB) No. 30. On the one hand, the FAOA reflect the state of the art in terms of safety and health protection on construction sites. They are drawn up by the Committee for Safety and Health Protection on Construction Sites (ASGB) and adapted by it to the development. On the other hand, the effectiveness is discussed in professional circles, since the RAB 30 is viewed as inadequate and superficial. However, since the state of the art is to be taken into account in Section 4 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the implementation of the FAOA is usually required.

Legal basis

The ordinance on safety and health protection on construction sites has been in force since July 1, 1999 ( Construction Site Ordinance - BaustellV). According to Section 4 of the Construction Site Ordinance , building owners, as the initiator of a construction project, have to ensure a significant improvement in the safety and health protection of employees on construction sites and to initiate the measures according to Section 2 and Section 3 (1) of the Construction Site Ordinance . This obligation also includes the appointment of suitable coordinators if the client - due to a lack of their own specialist knowledge - cannot perform the tasks of the coordinator himself (see rules on occupational safety on construction sites (RAB 30) - "Suitable coordinator" - number 3). However, no conditions for suitability emerge from the construction site ordinance, nor any reference to other leaflets or regulations, such as B. the RAB - whereby in practice the RAB is probably always used to assess suitability.

education

A suitable coordinator within the meaning of the RAB is someone who has sufficient and relevant

has construction knowledge,
occupational safety knowledge and
Coordinator skills as well
at least two years of professional experience

as listed in RAB 30 (see also the classification of planning and construction measures in Annex A to RAB 30).

The training content for acquiring occupational safety and special coordinator knowledge is described in Annexes B and C to RAB 30 and can be obtained from qualified course providers. The courses consist of at least 32 teaching units; if the exam is passed, a certificate is issued.

However, experience over the past few years shows that training according to RAB 30 is generally not sufficient. A good safety coordinator requires extensive occupational safety knowledge and social skills. However, this content is only conveyed to a very limited extent or not at all in training according to RAB 30. Therefore it makes sense to use e.g. B. to acquire the qualification as an occupational safety specialist.

Organizationally

prior notice

The building owner must give advance notice of a construction project to the responsible occupational safety authority (e.g. trade supervisory authority or occupational safety office) at least two weeks before the start of construction. The advance notice must be issued if either the total scope of the work exceeds 500 man-days or, alternatively, the scope of the work exceeds 30 days and more than 20 employees work at least one shift at the same time ("large construction site" in the sense of the BaustellV). The "normal" single-family home cannot be announced in advance. The coordinator can take over the preparation of an advance notice if necessary; the client (or the responsible third party) as the norm addressee of the BaustellV should sign it. There is no regulation for the signature - analogous to a building application or a notice of the start of construction - in the BaustellV and there is no uniform (mostly not at all) regulated within the authorities or administrations.

Health and safety plan

A safety and health protection plan (SiGePlan) must be drawn up if employees from several employers are working on a construction site and particularly dangerous work is carried out in accordance with Annex II BaustellV or, alternatively, if employees from several employers are active and advance notice has to be made. The creation of the health and safety plan must be worked out during the planning of the construction work.

The SiGePlan is to be drawn up in accordance with RAB 31 ("Safety and Health Protection Plan") and must be applicable to the construction site concerned

Measures to protect against hazards when several employers work together and
Measures for the joint use of safety equipment
spatial and temporal workflows
trade-related hazards

and contain special measures for particularly dangerous work (according to Annex II of the BaustellV).

Document for subsequent work on the structure

With the document , the client / coordinator creates a prerequisite for the safety and health-related design of the later work and thus also for a long-term economic use and maintenance of the structural system. The document is to be created if more than one employer is involved in the execution of the construction project.

The document enables safe and healthy work on the structure (e.g. maintenance, inspection and repair work).

A document in accordance with Section 3 (2) BaustellV must be created in accordance with RAB 32 ("Document for subsequent work"), which defines the requirements for the content and form of the document.

Required Information

Part of the structure
type of work
hazards
Information on safety and health protection

More information

The document can also contain further information, for example to achieve increased planning security, to give the client further information on the later work and to make it easier for the contractors who are commissioned with the later work to carry out this work.

Further information can be, for example:

Frequency of recurring work
Storage location of safety equipment
Attachment points for attaching the safety harness