Posted By Seamus O Sullivan Anyone have experience of " Construction Safety Code of Practice , for Contractors with three employees or less" I have a copy here, and it states it sufficies with the legal duty of having a safety statement where the relevant SSWP is used. I have a client who had one and it was not accepted by the safety officer, on the site, he required my client to have a safety statement. I am aware the legislation allows their use , but are they being accepted on Irish sites by safety people? any views? Thanks

Posted By Seamus O Sullivan Thanks for the reply Martin. The publication which is issued by the H.S.A. contains a leaflet, which states the following “ Please note where a sub-contractor employing three or less confirms their commitment to this code , then they are complying with the requirement to have a Safety Statement” I understand this as meaning where the sub contractor signs, dates, and communicates Appendix E, titled 'Your commitment to safety', that this suffices. I accept I may be wrong, but still think I am not. The publication is useful because everyone with a recent safe pass should have a basic understanding of the SSWP. Views??

Posted By Seamus O Sullivan It also satisfies the requirement of having a safety statement under the 2005 act. I really can not see how a person who has started a job, be informed that he now needs a safety statement, when he has what is accepted by the authorities as the equivalent. Is this an attempt to ensure smaller sub contractors do not do the work?

Posted By D. Hilton This still does not prevent any particular client making a requirement to provide a safety statement rather than accepting the Construction work COP. The issue is not helped when Regulation 24 of the Construction Regs makes no reference to the derogation and matters can be further clouded by the following information from the HSA. Safe System of Work Plan - An Introduction The Safe System of Work Plan (SSWP) complements the Safety Statement required under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, although it does not replace the requirement for such a Safety Statement. Specific Guidelines on Safety Statements are available from the Health and Safety Authority Not sure I agree with the HSA reasoning behind the €50.00 charge for the COP either.