Health and Safety Coordinator in the Project Phase
The Health and Safety Coordinator during the construction project is the competent technician appointed by the developer to coordinate, during the construction phase, the application of the principles mentioned in Article 8 of Royal Decree 1627/1997 of 24 October , which establishes minimum health and safety requirements for construction works. This Royal Decree does not apply to open-pit, underground or drilling extractive industries, which are regulated by their own specific regulations.
When several designers are involved in the preparation of the construction project, the developer shall appoint a health and safety coordinator.
Health and Safety Coordinator in the Execution Phase
The Health and Safety Coordinator during the execution of the work is the competent technician who is part of the Project Management Team, appointed by the developer, to carry out the tasks mentioned in Article 9 of Royal Decree 1627/1997, which establishes minimum health and safety requirements for construction works. The extractive industries mentioned above do not apply in this case either.
The Project Management (PM) is the competent technician or technicians appointed by the developer, responsible for managing and supervising the execution of the work.
If more than one company, or a company and self-employed workers or various self-employed workers, are involved in the execution of the work, the developer is obliged to appoint a health and safety coordinator during the execution of the work, before the start of the work or as soon as this circumstance is ascertained (whether or not there is a work project).
The appointment of the Health and Safety Coordinator during the project phase and the appointment of the Health and Safety Coordinator during the execution phase of the work may fall to the same person.
This designation does not exempt the developer from their responsibilities.
Duties of the Health and Safety Coordinator
The Health and Safety Coordinator for Health and Safety during the construction project development phase must coordinate the application of general prevention principles in health and safety during the design, study and development phases of the construction project, in accordance with Article 8 of Royal Decree 1627/1997.
Furthermore, it must be taken into consideration when making construction, technical and organisational decisions in order to plan the various tasks or phases of work to be carried out simultaneously or successively, and when estimating the time required to carry out these various tasks or phases of work.
The Health and Safety Coordinator during the execution phase of the work shall perform the following duties:
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- Coordinate the application of general prevention and safety principles when making technical and organisational decisions, in order to plan the various tasks or work phases to be carried out simultaneously or successively, and when estimating the time required to carry out these various tasks or work phases.
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- Coordinate site activities to ensure that contractors, subcontractors (where applicable) and self-employed workers consistently and responsibly apply the principles of preventive action set out in Article 15 of the Occupational Risk Prevention Act during the execution of the work.
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- Approve the health and safety plan drawn up by the contractor and any modifications made to it, if applicable. If it is not necessary to appoint a coordinator, this role will be assumed by the Project Management.
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- Organise the Coordination of Business Activities (CAE) provided for in Article 24 of the Occupational Risk Prevention Act.
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- Coordinate actions and control functions to ensure the correct application of working methods.
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- Take the necessary measures to ensure that only authorised persons have access to the site. If it is not necessary to appoint a coordinator, this role will be assumed by the Project Management.
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- Keep the incident log, which must be kept on site, if it is necessary to appoint a coordinator. If not, it will be kept by the Project Management.
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- When an entry is made in the incident book, the contractor concerned and their workers’ representatives must be notified. In the event that said entry refers to a breach of the warnings or observations previously noted in the book, a copy must be sent to the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate within twenty-four hours.
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- In circumstances of serious and imminent risk to the health and safety of workers, you may order the suspension of work on specific tasks or, where appropriate, on the entire project, notifying the relevant Labour and Social Security Inspectorate, the contractors and, where applicable, the subcontractors affected by the suspension, as well as their workers’ representatives.
Formación que debe tener el Coordinador de Seguridad y Salud
The academic qualifications required to perform the role of Health and Safety Coordinator, whether in the project phase or during the execution of the work, are those of architect, technical architect, engineer, or technical engineer.
The recommended training for competent technicians to perform the duties of health and safety coordinator must comply, as a minimum, the 200-hour training programme approved by the National Commission for Occupational Safety and Health and included in Appendix 2 of the Technical Guide for the assessment and prevention of risks related to construction works, published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (INSST).
Documentation generated during Health and Safety Coordination
The documents that are routinely handled by the Health and Safety Coordination team on site are:
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- Minutes of appointment of the Health and Safety Coordinator on site.
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- Minutes of approval of the Occupational Health and Safety Plan and any amendments, if applicable.
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- Favourable report on the Occupational Health and Safety Plan and any amendments thereto, if applicable (only for government projects).
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- Incident Log.
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- Supervision report on the preventive management document for the construction project, if it is a project without a design.
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- Favourable report on the Preventive Management Document for the works without a project and on subsequent modifications thereto.
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- Records for monitoring preventive management of works without a project.
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- Notification of the opening of the work site by the contractor.
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- Minutes of the initial Health and Safety Coordination meeting on site.
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- Minutes of regular Health and Safety Coordination meetings.
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- Certificate of completion of Health and Safety Coordination on site.
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- Documentary evidence of random checks on the documentation of companies, workers, work equipment, machinery and auxiliary means.
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