SSSTS Supervisory Responsibilities under CDM 2015 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What action must a site supervisor take when workers report a health and safety concern?
- Take the concern seriously, investigate it and take appropriate action or escalate if beyond their authority (Correct answer)
- Tell the worker to raise it at the next toolbox talk
- Log it in the site diary and review it in a week
- Dismiss the concern if no accident has yet occurred
Correct answer: Take the concern seriously, investigate it and take appropriate action or escalate if beyond their authority
Workers must feel their health and safety concerns will be acted upon. Supervisors must investigate reported concerns promptly, take action where possible and escalate to management if the issue is beyond their authority. A culture of openness reduces serious accidents.
Question 2: Under CDM 2015, what does the Principal Contractor's duty to 'coordinate' health and safety mean in practice?
- Ensuring the activities of different contractors on site do not conflict and create hazards for each other (Correct answer)
- Only monitoring one contractor at a time
- Completing the health and safety file
- Replacing the Principal Designer's role during construction
Correct answer: Ensuring the activities of different contractors on site do not conflict and create hazards for each other
Coordination means ensuring that when multiple contractors work on the same site, their activities are planned and managed so they do not create risks for each other. For example, preventing simultaneous overhead and below-ground work in the same area.
Question 3: What is a supervisor's responsibility when a method statement needs to be changed because site conditions have altered?
- Notify management, stop the work if necessary and ensure a revised method statement is agreed before work resumes (Correct answer)
- Continue work using the original method statement
- Issue a verbal instruction to workers to adapt to conditions
- Note the change and update the method statement at the end of the day
Correct answer: Notify management, stop the work if necessary and ensure a revised method statement is agreed before work resumes
Method statements are live documents. If site conditions change (e.g., ground conditions, weather, adjacent activities), the supervisor must notify management, halt work if there is immediate risk and ensure the method statement is formally revised and re-briefed before work resumes.
Question 4: What is the supervisor's duty when new hazards are identified during the construction phase that were not in the original Construction Phase Plan?
- Report the new hazard to the Principal Contractor so the CPP can be updated (Correct answer)
- Continue work as the CPP cannot be changed
- Inform only the workers directly affected
- Wait until the weekly safety meeting to raise the issue
Correct answer: Report the new hazard to the Principal Contractor so the CPP can be updated
The CPP is a live document that must be updated when new hazards are identified. The supervisor must report new hazards to the Principal Contractor promptly so the CPP can be revised and communicated to all relevant workers.
Question 5: What does 'stop and report' mean in the context of site supervisory practice?
- Stopping work when a worker is uncertain about safe procedures and reporting to their supervisor before continuing (Correct answer)
- Stopping all site operations at the end of the shift
- A method for reporting accidents to the HSE
- A technique for measuring productivity against programme
Correct answer: Stopping work when a worker is uncertain about safe procedures and reporting to their supervisor before continuing
Stop and report is a safety culture principle where workers are empowered and expected to stop work if they encounter conditions or uncertainties they are not sure how to handle safely, and to report to their supervisor. This prevents accidents from occurring in uncertain situations.
Question 6: Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, what is a supervisor's personal liability for health and safety?
- A supervisor can be prosecuted personally if their negligence or breach of duty contributes to an accident or unsafe conditions (Correct answer)
- Only the company can be prosecuted — individuals are never personally liable
- Supervisors are only liable for accidents directly caused by their physical actions
- Personal liability only arises if a supervisor is also a company director
Correct answer: A supervisor can be prosecuted personally if their negligence or breach of duty contributes to an accident or unsafe conditions
Under HASAWA Section 7, employees (including supervisors) must take reasonable care for themselves and others affected by their work. Under Section 36/37, managers and supervisors can be prosecuted personally where their negligence, consent or connivance contributed to an offence by their employer.
SSSTS Supervisory Responsibilities under CDM 2015 4
What action must a site supervisor take when workers report a health and safety concern?