These Regulations may be cited as the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006.
(2)
These Regulations come into operation on 6 November 2006, in this Regulation called the “effective date”.
(3)
If, prior to the effective date,
(a)
a design stage has commenced, and
(b)
a project supervisor for the design stage has been appointed in accordance with the Regulations of 2001 and 2003 and holds that position on that date
all duties of the client in relation to the appointment of a project supervisor for the design process and all duties assigned in these Regulations to the project supervisor for the design process apply only from 18 months after that date.
(4)
If the client, under Regulation 3(2) of the Regulations of 2001 and 2003, has been self-appointed as project supervisor for the design stage and holds that position on the effective date the duties specified in Regulation 6 apply only from 18 months after that date.
(5)
If, from 18 months after the effective date, a client wishes to seek exemption from the duty to appoint a project supervisor for the design process the client may do so -
(a)
only on the basis that a project supervisor for the design stage has been appointed for the project prior to that date and holds that position on that date, and
(b)
by an application made in accordance with paragraph (6).
(6)
The application referred to in paragraph (5) must be made to the Authority in an approved form outlining the reasons for the exemption and the length of time for which the exemption is sought.
(7)
The Authority may grant an exemption on the basis of an application made under paragraph (6), but no exemption may be granted to last longer than 30 months after the effective date.
(8)
Nothing in this Regulation prevents the client on and after the effective date from appointing -
(a)
the project supervisor for the design stage as appointed under the Regulations of 2001 and 2003, or
(b)
any other competent person
as project supervisor for the design process.
(9)
In the case of projects under construction prior to the effective date and where -
(a)
a project supervisor for the construction stage has been appointed before that date,
(b)
notification has been given to the Authority, in accordance with the Regulations of 2001 and 2003, and
(c)
the person appointed under subparagraph (a) holds that position on that date
all duties of the client in relation to the appointment of a project supervisor for the construction stage and all duties given in these Regulations to the project supervisor for the construction stage apply only from 18 months after that date.
(10)
Nothing in this Regulation prevents the client on and after the effective date from appointing -
(a)
the project supervisor for the construction stage as appointed under the Regulations of 2001 and 2003, or
(b)
any other competent person
as project supervisor for the construction stage under these Regulations.
(11)
If the client, under Regulation 3(2) of the Regulations of 2001 and 2003, has been self-appointed as project supervisor for the construction stage, and holds that position on the effective date, the duties specified in Regulation 6 apply only from 18 months after that date.
(12)
For projects where the design stage commenced before the effective date, if, having regard to this Regulation, a project supervisor for the design process has not been appointed, the project supervisor for the construction stage shall co-ordinate the design of temporary works to facilitate the construction of the project.
(13)
For the tasks listed in Schedule 4, paragraph 1(1) (c), (e), (n) and (r) to (t), Regulations 19(1)(b), 25(1)(b), 29(1)(g), 74(e) and 97(b) and (c) apply only from 18 months after the effective date.
2-
Interpretation
(1)
In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -
“Act” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005);
“Act of 1875” means the Explosives Act 1875;
“client” means a person for whom a project is carried out, in the course or furtherance of a trade, business or undertaking, or who undertakes a project directly in the course or furtherance of such trade, business or undertaking;
“construction site” means any site at which construction work in relation to a project is carried out;
“construction stage” means the period of time starting when preparation of the construction site begins and ending when construction work on the project is completed;
“construction work” means the carrying out of any building, civil engineering or engineering work, other than drilling and extraction in the extractive industries, and includes but is not limited to each of the following:
(a)
the doing of one or more of the following with respect to a structure:
(i)
construction;
(ii)
alteration;
(iii)
conversion;
(iv)
fitting out;
(v)
commissioning;
(vi)
renovation;
(vii)
repair;
(viii)
upkeep;
(ix)
redecoration or other maintenance (including cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure or the use of substances or preparations classified as corrosive or toxic for the purposes of Regulation 8 of the European Communities (Classification, Packaging, Labelling and Notification of Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2003 and 2006 (S.I. 116 of 2003 and S.I. 25 of 2006) and Regulation 5 of the European Communities (Classification, Packaging, Labelling and Notification of Dangerous Preparations) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 62 of 2004 ));
(x)
de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling;
(b)
the preparation for an intended structure, including but not limited to site clearance, exploration, investigation (but not site survey) and excavation, and the laying or installing of the foundations of an intended structure;
(c)
the assembly of prefabricated elements to form a structure, or the disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure;
(d)
the removal of a structure or part of a structure or of any product or waste resulting from demolition or dismantling of a structure or disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure;
(e)
the installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunication and computer systems, or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure;
“contractor” means -
(a)
a contractor or an employer whose employees undertake, carry out or manage construction work, or
(b)
a person who -
(i)
carries out or manages construction work for a fixed or other sum, and
(ii)
supplies materials, labour or both, whether the contractor's own labour or that of another, to carry out the work;
“contractor responsible for a construction site” includes a contractor responsible for a part of the site over which the contractor has control;
“design” means the preparation of drawings, particulars, specifications, calculations and bills of quantities in so far as they contain specifications or other expressions of purpose, according to which a project, or any part or component of a project, is to be executed;
“designer” means a person engaged in work related to the design of a project;
“design process” means the process for preparing and designing a project, including alterations to the design and the design of temporary works to facilitate construction of the project;
“detonator” means an initiator for explosives that contains a charge of high explosive fired by means of a flame, spark, electric current or shock tube;
“exploder” means a device designed for firing detonators;
“explosives” means explosive articles or explosive substances;
“explosive article” means an article containing one or more explosive substances;
“explosives store” means a -
(a)
magazine licensed under sections 6 to 8 of the Act of 1875,
(b)
store licensed under section 15 of the Act of 1875, or
(c)
premises registered in accordance with section 21 of the Act of 1875;
“explosive substances” means a solid or liquid substance (or a mixture of substances) which is in itself capable by chemical reaction of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as to cause damage to the surroundings;
“FÁS” means An Foras Áiseanna Saothair;
“FETAC” means the Further Education and Training Awards Council;
“footpath” means a road over which there is a public right of way for pedestrians only, not being a footway;
“general principles of prevention” means the general principles of prevention specified in Schedule 3 to the Act;
“locomotive” means any self-propelled wheeled vehicle used on a line of rails for the movement of trucks or wagons;
“man-lock” means any air lock or decompression chamber used for the compression or decompression of persons, but does not include an air lock which is only so used in emergency or a medical lock used solely for treatment purposes;
“misfire” means an occurrence in relation to the firing of shots where -
(a)
testing before firing reveals broken continuity which cannot be rectified, or
(b)
a shot or any part of a shot fails to explode when an attempt is made to fire it;
“mobile crane” means a crane capable of travelling under its own power, but does not include such a crane which travels on a line of rails;
“plant or equipment” means any gear, machine, rig, apparatus or appliance, or any part of any plant or equipment;
“project” means an activity which includes or is intended to include construction work;
“project supervisor” means an individual or a body corporate appointed under Regulation 6(1) and responsible for carrying out -
(a)
the appropriate duties specified in these Regulations, and
(b)
other duties that are -
(i)
assigned to the person by the client at the time of appointment, and
(ii)
necessary to allow the client to comply with section 17(1) of the Act;
“Regulations of 2001 and 2003” means the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, 2001 ( S.I. No. 481 of 2001 ) as amended by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 277 of 2003 );
“road” means a road over which a public right of way exists;
“rolling stock” means a train or any other vehicle with flanged wheels which is designed to operate on rails or a railway;
“safety and health plan” means a plan in writing prepared and developed in accordance with Regulation 12 and 16;
“safety file” means a safety file prepared and completed in accordance with Regulations 13 and 21;
“safety fuse” means a flexible cord that contains an internal burning medium by which fire is conveyed at a continuous and uniform rate for the purpose of firing plain detonators or blackpowder, without initiating burning in a similar fuse that may be in lateral contact alongside;
“shot” means a single shot or a series of shots fired as part of one blast;
“shotfirer” means a person appointed pursuant to Regulation 74 to be responsible for shotfiring operations;
“shotfiring operations” includes -
(a)
checking to ensure that the blasting specification is still appropriate for the site conditions at the time the blasting is to take place,
(b)
mixing explosives,
(c)
priming a cartridge,
(d)
charging and stemming a shothole,
(e)
linking or connecting a round of shots,
(f)
withdrawal and sheltering of persons,
(g)
inspecting and testing a shotfiring circuit,
(h)
firing a shot,
(i)
checking for misfires, and
(j)
destroying surplus explosives;
“structure” means -
(a)
any building, railway line or siding, tramway line, dock, harbour, inland navigation systems, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, waterworks, reservoir, pipe-line (whatever it contains or is intended to contain), underground or overground cables, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works, gasholder, road, airfield, sea defence works, river works, drainage works, earthworks, lagoon, dam, wall, caisson, mast, tower, pylon, underground tank, earth retaining element or assembly of elements, or element or assembly of elements designed to preserve or alter any natural feature, and any other structure similar to the foregoing,
(b)
any formwork, falsework, scaffold or other element or assembly of elements designed or used to provide support or means of access during construction work, or
(c)
any fixed plant in respect of work which is installation, commissioning, de-commissioning or dismantling.
(2)
Without limiting the application of the definition of “reasonably practicable” in section 2 of the Act in relation to the duties of employers, that definition also applies, for the purposes of these Regulations, in relation to the duties under these Regulations of other persons.
(3)
Where, under these Regulations, a person is required to give directions or make rules, such directions and such rules shall be reasonable in the context of the duty with which the person is required to comply.
(4)
Taking account of the European Communities (Recognition of Qualifications and Experience) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 372 of 2003 ) and in compliance with Directive 2005/36/EC1 , FÁS is responsible for the issue of valid construction skills registration cards, with photographic identification, under Schedule 4 and for the maintenance of a register of the cards issued.
3-
Keeping records
(1)
Subject to paragraph (2), the relevant contractor shall ensure that the records, reports, certificates and other documents required by these Regulations -
(a)
are kept on the site to which they are relevant, or
(b)
when no relevant works are being carried out on the site, are kept at an appropriate office of -
(i)
the contractor for whom the report was made or the certificate or document was obtained, or
(ii)
the owner of the plant or equipment to which the certificate relates.
(2)
In the case of a construction site where a contractor has reasonable grounds for believing that the work will be completed in a period of less than 30 working days, the records, reports, certificates and other documents referred to in paragraph (1) may be kept, in lieu of being kept at that site, at an appropriate office of the contractor.
(3)
The person having custody of the records required by these Regulations -
(a)
shall ensure that the records are open to inspection by an inspector at all reasonable times, and
(b)
forthwith shall send to any such inspector such extracts from them or copies of them as the inspector may from time to time require for the purpose of the execution of the inspector duties under the Act.
(4)
Subject to paragraph (5), where under these Regulations records, reports, certificates or other documents are required to be made and kept, it is sufficient compliance with the requirement if the person concerned -
(a)
enters the record, report, certificate or other document in an approved form in a computer, and
(b)
duly authenticates it as soon as is practicable afterwards.
(5)
Where under these Regulations records are required to be made and kept by designers, it is sufficient compliance with the requirement if the records are kept in a computer.
4-
Application
(1)
Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to and in relation to construction work.
(2)
Subject to paragraph (3), Schedule 3 applies to -
(a)
craft and general construction workers,
(b)
persons undertaking on-site security work, and
(c)
persons or classes of persons as may be prescribed by the Minister.
(3)
Schedule 3 does not apply to a person involved in the installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunication and computer systems, or similar services, where -
(a)
the person is normally domiciled outside the State,
(b)
the person's normal place of employment is outside the State, and
(c)
the person has not been working on the project for a period in excess of 20 working days in any 12 month period.
(4)
A person mentioned in paragraph (3) shall be in possession of a letter in the English or Irish language from the relevant employer, which letter -
(a)
describes the work to be undertaken,
(b)
states the competence of the person to undertake that work, and
(c)
specifies the commencement date and the anticipated completion date of that work.
(5)
Regulation 87(1)(e) applies to -
(a)
all vehicles that are in use immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations and are listed in Schedule 6, from 18 months after the coming into operation of these Regulations, and
(b)
for all vehicles that are first used after the coming into operation of these Regulations and are listed in Schedule 6 from 6 months after the coming into operation of these Regulations.
5-
Revocations and savings
The Regulations of 2001 and 2003, other than -
(a)
Regulations 80 to 123, and
(b)
subject to Regulation 1(3) to (5), (7), (9) and (11) of these Regulations, Regulations 4 and 6 of the Regulations of 2001 and 2003 insofar as Regulations 4 and 6 apply to a project supervisor for the design stage and a project supervisor for the construction stage respectively, appointed in accordance with the Regulations of 2001 and 2003,
