Construction health and safety coordination

Construction health and safety coordination focuses on health and safety matters arising from the interaction of the parties during the works. This role includes checking the coordination of activities by companies and self-employed workers on site. The service is framed around the particular project, its organisation and the conditions known at the time of the enquiry.

Preparing the service identifies the stages to be followed, the contacts and the information needed to organise the work. Meetings, site visits and communication arrangements are structured around those circumstances and the role’s responsibilities, without assuming a universal visit frequency.

The scope identifies coordination activities and the corresponding records. It is distinguished from carrying out the works and from commercial management of the construction programme and budget.

To frame the enquiry, the client, construction contractor, expected companies and self-employed workers are identified, together with design, supervision and construction direction or management contacts. The stage of the works and organisation of the interventions provide the starting point for confirming the context and arrangements for coordination.

Appointing a coordinator does not remove the responsibilities of the other parties. Preparing the service clarifies who communicates each piece of information, to whom questions are addressed and how responses are recorded. Document exchanges should follow that allocation of roles.

Statutory restrictions apply to combining construction health and safety coordination with roles in carrying out the works. Identifying who takes on the role and their relationship with the other parties forms part of defining the service. Combining several services commercially does not remove the need for this review.

The initial review identifies the health and safety documentation applicable to the project, the information already available and the versions in use. The health and safety plan, where applicable, is considered alongside amendments and information relevant to the stage of the works. Documents received are associated with the parties involved and the matters requiring attention.

Follow-up arrangements establish how documents will be consulted, observations communicated and coordination records brought together. Each matter should have context, a recipient and a record of its follow-up, distinguishing what has been communicated, answered or remains outstanding.

The proposal identifies the resources and arrangements planned to fulfil the duties applicable to the role. It also defines how records will be presented and shared with the client.

The known programme, new parties joining the project and planned changes to the works inform follow-up arrangements. The enquiry should explain how this information is shared and who represents each organisation, so that coordination matters have defined contacts.

The work combines document review with the contacts and visits planned for the project. Identified matters are communicated to the relevant parties and their follow-up is recorded. Where information is incomplete or a response is still required, that status remains visible.

A significant change to the programme or organisation of the works should be submitted so that the necessary follow-up can be reassessed. The status record brings together matters communicated, the follow-up received and outstanding issues requiring further coordination.

Construction supervision, construction direction or management and health and safety coordination have distinct purposes. The enquiry should clarify whether you require this role alone or a proposal coordinating several services, with the deliverables and contacts for each identified. The presence of one service does not automatically include the others.

This arrangement can organise meetings, shared information and decision points while preserving the responsibilities of each role. The follow-up plan identifies how safety matters relate to the work of the other parties, without treating all roles as a single undifferentiated responsibility.

A proposal can bring different scopes together. Identifying the functions and reviewing the arrangements for each remain necessary to organise the work.

Send the location, a description of the intervention, the stage of the works and the available programme. Identify the client, construction contractor and other known parties, indicating planned changes of companies or distinct work stages. Include existing health and safety documentation and coordination contacts.

Explain whether the project is being prepared or is already under way and the follow-up arrangements you want to establish. Where meetings, records or outstanding matters already exist, those elements help explain the starting point.

Reviewing the enquiry enables a proposal to be prepared with identified arrangements, contacts and methods of follow-up. Missing information and conditions to confirm are highlighted before the service is defined.

• Construction supervision

  A distinct supervision role, to be coordinated with health and safety coordination where included in the enquiry.

• Technical direction, construction management and coordination

  Direction and organisation of the works, with roles distinct from health and safety coordination.

We welcome enquiries in Lisboa, Oeiras, Cascais, Sintra, Amadora, Odivelas and Loures. Availability and the feasibility of the work are assessed for each enquiry.