Health and safety coordinator

What is the health and safety coordinator?

Construction projects involve significant risks and a wide variety of companies and self-employed workers who work simultaneously. Directive 92/57/EEC addressed this reality by creating a coordination role with clearly defined responsibilities at each stage. In Spain, Royal Decree 1627/1997 incorporated this role and integrated it into the existing structure of construction stakeholders: developer, designer, project management team, contractor, subcontractors, and self-employed workers. The coordinator is part of the project management team and is appointed by the developer, although their function is in the public interest and not merely to represent the developer.

There are two coordinators, who may be the same person. The health and safety coordinator during the project design phase is appointed when several designers are involved and is responsible for ensuring that the project incorporates preventative principles and for preparing, or having prepared, the health and safety study or the basic study. The coordinator during the construction phase is appointed before work begins when several companies or self-employed individuals are involved, and performs the functions outlined in Article 9 of the Royal Decree throughout the entire construction period.

The required qualification to be a coordinator is that of architect, technical architect, engineer, or technical engineer, depending on their competencies and specializations, in accordance with the fourth additional provision of Law 38/1999 on Building Regulations; it is also common and advisable to have specific training in occupational risk prevention in construction. The INSST Technical Guide for the assessment and prevention of risks related to construction works details the application criteria.

Functions of the coordinator during construction (article 9)

• Coordinate the application of prevention principles. This includes making technical and organizational decisions to plan the work and estimating the duration of each phase.
• Coordinate the activities of the work. Ensure that contractors, subcontractors and self-employed workers consistently apply the principles of article 15 of Law 31/1995 and the provisions of the health and safety plan.
• Approve the health and safety plan. Approve the plan prepared by the contractor and any modifications thereto before the start of the work; in public works projects, the approval corresponds to the Administration with a report from the coordinator.
• Organize the coordination of business activities. In accordance with Article 24 of Law 31/1995 and Royal Decree 171/2004, through meetings, information exchange, and coordination mechanisms.
• Coordinate work methods. Ensure the correct application of the planned procedures and work methods.
• Control access. Take the necessary measures to ensure that only authorized persons have access to the construction site; the project management team assumes this function when the appointment of a coordinator is not required.
• Incident logbook. Keep an incident logbook on site, record in it any incidents related to the control and monitoring of the plan, and send the entries to the Labor Inspectorate when they correspond to serious risks or repeated non-compliance.
• Stoppage. Order the stoppage of the work sites or the entire project in the face of serious and imminent risk , communicating this to the Inspection, the contractor and the workers’ representatives.

Relationship with other agents

• Promoter. Appoints the coordinators, commissions the health and safety study and makes the prior notice or communication of opening of the center; the appointment of the coordinator does not exempt him from his responsibilities.
• Project designer. Integrates prevention into the project and prepares the health and safety study or the basic study together with the project coordinator.
• Contractor. Develops the health and safety plan, applies preventive principles, complies with and enforces the plan, informs subcontractors, and designates preventive resources.
• Faculty management. The coordinator is integrated into it; when there is no coordinator, he assumes their functions of plan approval and access control.
• Preventive resource. A contractor figure who monitors compliance with preventive activities on the construction site, distinct from the coordinator.
• Labor Inspectorate. Recipient of the entries in the logbook on serious risks and of the work stoppage notifications.

Organizational application: how to integrate the coordinator into the project

1. Appoint the project coordinator when several designers are involved, and the execution coordinator before the start of the work when several companies or self-employed individuals are involved, formalizing the appointment in writing.
2. Commission the basic health and safety study and provide the coordinator with project and planning information.
3. Require the contractor to provide the health and safety plan well in advance for analysis and approval, and update it in case of changes.
4. Establish the system for coordinating activities: regular meetings, information exchange, means of coordinating and controlling subcontracting.
5. Implement access control to the construction site with identification of authorized persons and companies.
6. Keep the incident logbook available and use it rigorously, following up on the entries until it is closed.
7. Document the coordinator’s visits, checks, and communications as evidence of their actions.

Preventive management software allows the coordinator and the promoter to manage the documentation of the participating companies, the plans and their modifications, the coordination minutes, access control and incidents with complete traceability.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Appoint the coordinator after the start of the work or only when the Inspection appears.
2. Approving the health and safety plan without analyzing it or approving generic plans that do not correspond to the work.
3. Confusing the role of the coordinator with that of the contractor’s preventive resource or with that of a company prevention technician.
4. Limiting coordination to the collection of documentation without on-site presence or real coordination of activities.
5. Not using the incident logbook or not following up on the entries.
6. Consider that the designation of the coordinator exempts the promoter and the contractor from their responsibilities.

The functions and responsibilities are detailed in Royal Decree 1627/1997 and in the INSST technical guide; this sheet is for informational purposes.

Regulatory and reference framework

• Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24. Minimum safety and health provisions in construction works: designation and functions of coordinators.
• Law 31/1995, article 24. Coordination of business activities.
• Royal Decree 171/2004, of January 30. Development of article 24 of Law 31/1995 on the coordination of business activities.
• Law 38/1999, of November 5, on Building Regulations, fourth additional provision . Qualifications required for the health and safety coordinator.
• Technical guide for the assessment and prevention of risks related to construction works (INSST) . Criteria for the application of Royal Decree 1627/1997.

Council Directive 92/57/EEC establishes the minimum health and safety requirements for temporary or mobile construction sites and is the origin of the figure of the coordinator; Law 32/2006 regulates subcontracting in the construction sector.