By Leo Gasteen
The European Court of Justice has ruled that a safety coordinator must be present at all times on construction sites, whether undertaken by public services or private firms.
The ruling comes after a law suit was filed against a construction firm in Italy. Italy’s interpretation and implementation of Directive 92/57/EEC, which requires the appointment of such a coordinator, does not apply to private works for which planning permission is not required.
The Directive requires that a safety coordinator be appointed and that a safety plan be drawn up where there are particular risks.
It also provides that, for any construction site where more than one contractor is present, the client or project supervisor must appoint a coordinator for safety and health matters, who is responsible for the implementation of the general principles of prevention and safety for the protection of workers.
It further provides that the client supervisor or the project supervisor must see that a safety plan is drawn up where works involve particular risks for the safety or health of workers. Those works are listed non-exhaustively in the Directive.
Background
In 2008, inspectors of the Office for Safety in the Workplace of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano carried out an inspection on a construction site for the replacement of the roof of a dwelling house measuring approximately 6 to 8 metres in height. The protective railing, the crane and the workforce were provided by three different contractors all present on the site at the same time. Under the Italian legislation, no building permit was required for the works. The owner of the building, who was also the client supervisor, was charged with failing to have regard to the safety duties imposed by the Directive.
The Tribunale di Bolzano was in doubt about the derogations provided for under Italian law to the requirement to appoint a safety coordinator. That court considered that, acting on the assumption that a construction site on which private works are carried out entails work that is modest in scale and devoid of risks, the national legislature failed to recognise that works which are not subject to planning permission may also be complex and hazardous and therefore require a coordinator to be appointed for the project.
That court asked the Court of Justice, essentially, whether the Directive precludes national legislation under which, first, for private works not subject to planning permission on a construction site on which more than one contractor is to be present, it is possible to derogate from the requirement to appoint a safety coordinator for both the project preparation stage and the execution of the works and, second, the coordinator is required to draw up a safety and health plan only where, in the case of private works not subject to planning permission, more than one contractor is engaged.
European Court of Justice – Justice and Application – Case 224/09 Full Text
