The HSE Definition of competence; To be competent an organisation or individual must have: • sufficient knowledge of the tasks to be undertaken and the risks involved • the experience and ability to carry out their duties in relation to the project, to recognise their limitations and take appropriate action to prevent harm to those carrying out construction work, or those affected by the work Competence develops over time. Individuals develop their competence through a mix of initial training, on-the-job learning, instruction, assessment and formal qualification......... With CDM2007 applicability for construction projects offshore on the UK continental shelf, and the development of offshore renewables (wind farms) gathering pace, competent CDM and H&S practitioners are in very short supply. Not that there aren’t plenty of CDMc‘s and H&S professionals out there, it’s just that the availability of CDM Coordinators and health and safety professionals with offshore construction or installation, and offshore renewable energy experience “Relevant” to these projects are few and far between. Many clients have little understanding of the need to appoint CDM coordinators with experience “relevant” to their project, often basing their selection simply on the CDM Coordinator being a member of a construction related professional institution or listed within a register of CDM Coordinators and misinterpreting the requirement or ignoring that key word in the HSE recommendation for assessing competence “Relevant” The situation is being exacerbated by the ridiculous fact that All of the available professional bodies and CDMc registers ignore the fact that qualifications and experience relevant to the field of offshore construction are also relevant to membership of their "construction related professional institutions" with these organisations or institutions awarding points for experience and qualifications and stating that a minimum number of points is a condition of membership, and ignoring or dismissing those with qualification and experience in commercial diving, offshore drilling, offshore cable and pipe laying, vessel operations, marine and maritime engineering. All relevant to the largest construction projects ongoing in the UK today. A background in maritime industries such as, offshore oil & gas,, commercial diving or marine civil engineering for example will give a CDM Coordinator and H&S practitioner a far better insight into the risks presented by projects in the offshore environment, where construction, supply and transport is carried out by vessels constrained by environmental conditions, time and distance from shore and weather windows, In a nutshell, someone with a project relevant background is far more likely to spot the risks and the gaps in both design and safety management systems, than someone with H&S/CDM background solely in onshore civil engineering/construction and with no marine/maritime experience. After all, you wouldn’t take a health and safety manager whose only experience was Health and safety management in a Hospital and expect him to effectively manage health and safety on a bridge construction project, or vise versa.

There is a need for CDM and for CDM Coordinators. particularly in the huge muliple structure multi-disciplined projects that are being developed in the quest for sustainable and renewable energy sources offshore. What we don't need is the current stinted and narrow minded view of who has the capability of holding the responsible position as CDMc. Those at the hub need to stop looking at accademia for a solution and start looking in the workplace. I am sick and tired of encountering health & safety managers and supervisors who are totally out of their depth in the workplace, incapable of recognizing the risks or hazards because they don't know the equipment or methodology in use, as they were employed because they met the qualification requirement. the current mindset within the industry and focus on diplomas and degrees is a dangerous one. Many of the most capable H&S guys and gals I meet on site have been in the industry or a related industry for years and recognise the risks. most of them have as little as IOSH managing safely or NEBOSH General and are far more competent than most of the paper wavers. We need to recognise that those with paper qualifications may need to be placed within the teams and basically apprenticed to those with the skills and experience to ensure the job gets done safely and we need to recognize the worth of those with the hands-on experience and broad knowledge base required to oversee the health and safety of those working on the projects. Like myself, many of those with the necesary experience are far too busy doing the job to take time off to do diplomas etc that are required for them to gain acceptance within existing organisations and onto registers. With CDM2007 being revised for reissue in 2014, maybe we will see some changes, but I have little hope of seeing the drastic changes made real that the industry needs so desperately.

If I wished to go to the trouble of quoting the entire appendix yes, but my focus was on stage 1&2 and columns 1&2 and the fact that those that meet the requirements for Relevant knowledge & experience there are often overlooked or shunned because they they don't measure up to the "examples" of academic qualification as laid out in examples in column 3 of the appendix, and dont get me wrong, there is a desperate need to encourage these valuable assets to develop their skills & Knowledge through attendance on suitable courses in order to gain the academic qualifications that define that thay are "capable" in the eyes of those that base their decisions solely on the "Examples of attainment" which should indicate competence" at the expense of "Experience relevant to the task". Remember that the heading in Column 3 is "Examples of attainment which should indicate competence" >Should not Will<. if this is the criteria then all three columns should be taken into account not only by the HSE but by each and every organisation involved in the field. Note that column 3 is the ony column that does not clearly define, but gives a selection of examples Not requirements.

For example, on a large offshore wind farm project, Why would the lead designer be deemed competent enough to be the CDMc on the project? And what part of the project, the port O&M base buildings, the onshore substations, the offshore substations, the offshore foundations, the wind turbines? they all have different designers, usually different companies and even based in different countries. The project lead designer may be from Denmark or Germany, would you expect him to take on the role of CDMc on a UK project? Would he have the necessary health and safety knowledge and relevant (offshore) experience Would he have the necessary experience with regard to the various construction/installation methods available such as Jack-ups and heavy lift vessels, semi submersibles and DP vessels and their requirements and presented risks Would he have sufficient knowledge of the various constraints involved with using those methods Would he have sufficient knowledge to factor in existing and future logistical problems that could be mitigated by design changes Would he have the knowledge and experience necessary to recognise a flaw in his design that would present a hazard or problem during installation or in future maintenance as limited by access/weather windows/environment and floating plant It's not as simple as pointing the finger at someone and saying "You'll do", mistakes don't only cost lives, they cost money and the cost to the project such as a missed weather window on a construction project of this scale can quickly run into millions of pounds in less than a week of delay. You need a competent experienced and knowledgeable coordinators with background experiences relevant to the projects they are to be engaged on, and this burgeoning industry for instance definately needs more of them.

CDJ: you've got me baffled. You seem to suggest that the Designer isn't competent to be a Designer either!

OK, turn that round - do you honestly believe someone who has worked as a diver is the most competent choice to be CDMC for multi-storey buildings on land? It seems to me that you are doing exactly what you criticise - concluding that your particular set of experience is the most important and most relevant, and should get overall control of the systems. As to your early questions - yes, I would expect that someone who had extensive experience of managing a large muti-disciplinary environment like a hospital could turn that experience to managing a large multi-disciplinary environment like a big bridge build. Management of H&S processes does not require you to be able to do everything that your workforce can do - the hospital manager probably cannot work an MRI machine, the bridge manager probably cannot drive a 360 excavator. Both can manage departments that handle H&S for workforces that do, however. Further, management of H&S is not a CDM-C role anyway. You seem to be conflating CDM-C and contractor H&S personnel.

Ah well, we tried. Perhaps things will be clearer in 2014 (?) when CDM reads in the same context as the parent Directive. http://eur-lex.europa.eu...992L0057:20070627:EN:PDF The point I was trying to make (poorly) was that the lead designer can undertake the CDM-C role at the design stage (he has to be competent to the extent he understands the risks arising from has own design, and has to be sure there is at least one safe way to build and maintain it). At the Construction Stage, the CDM-C role can be transferred to the competent contractor. All perfectly acceptable within the context of CDM compliance, and no additional third pary appointment required.

I still think this 'domestic' angle is a red herring. I know the specific Directive reads as all embracing, but I always understood the Parent Directive (89/391/EEC) as being specifically concerned with the same 'at work' employer/employee relationships & principles as our own HASAWA.

CDJ, What is the objective of your original posting? If it is the purpose of your posting is to seek an idea of what a competent CDM-C should be on an offshore wind farm project, the advice I would give a Client on competence and resources would be to acquire the services of a practice (not a sole practitioner) with the necessary competence for the risk involved, resources which includes continuity (i.e.. An organisation that is able to continue to act if a key person leaves), high level of PI insurance required and the technical and professional expertise to draw upon. Within an offshore wind project there must be some organisation who co-ordinates all of the design, act as the project managers or act as the principal contractor, surely any of these parties have the necessary competence and resources to undertake the role as CDM-C? If you wish to discuss the potential drafting of the 2014 CDM Regulations, as a CDM-C practitioner, I am initially expecting the role of this role to change significantly with less emphasis on the design phase of the project.