Hi, 

I would like some guidance please. I work for a event health and safety consultancy. Some of our clients operate on event sites in other countries (world wide). We are contracted to assist with on site safety and supervision.

Events can include exhibition stand builds, conferences and product launches ect. They are often no longer than 7 - 10 days from project build, live to dismantle. 

As safety advisors/consultants we are sent to these sites to assist with onsite supervision of the workforce whilst the construction and dismantle take place.

Most of the companies we work on behalf of are British,  my understanding is that UK health and safety legislation will apply to a UK workforce abroad but not foreign suppliers? 

We often have to supervise suppliers that have been contracted by the British company but are based in the country where we are working. For example we may be working in Spain under a British company but supervising suppliers who may be from Spain or other European countries. My confusion here is that we are contracted via a British company working abroad looking after foreign suppliers trying to enforce health and safety rules that many foreign workers are either not used too. 

I would assume British health and safety legislation does not apply to the suppliers of other countries and the legislation of that country does? As a safety advisor, where does our jurisdiction end with regards to suppliers that are not British? 

I have taken to reading up the health and safety legislation of the country that i am working in.

Any advice would be helpful.

Regards

Hi Joe

You need to consider:

A. What legal requirements apply to the location.

B. What CONTRACTS might require.

So, as example the Contract let by a UK company might require their foreign sub-contractors to comply with UK standards.

If so that is the standard to check against, but with a big BUT!

If the UK standards are lower than the local legislative standards as might sometimes be the case, then clearly the local standards trump those from UK.

As example, countries in mainland Europe are often ahead of the UK when it comes to occupational health risks and you might be surprised as to what you may learn. 

Hi Joe

AK and Acorns each point to a potential problem but, perhaps, I see that in somewhat different terms to Acorns, though the difference might well be one about how to define "supervision".

If we bring this scenario back to the UK and turn it into a construction site for simplicity, then even before CDM there would be a Client and Contractor, though sometimes with one organisation acting as both.

However, let's suppose that the two are different I would still expect BOTH Client and Contractor to exercise what might be termed "supervision".

In traditional Contracting it would be quite common for the Client to engage a Resident Engineer (or team) or Clerk of Works (ditto) to "supervise" the "Works" (with "Works" as defined in the Contract). The RE or CoW would be expected to consider all aspects of the Contractor's performace, INCLUDING health and safety.

These days in UK construction there is rarely an RE or CoW, but as a norm there WILL be a Contract Administrator (or team) even if the Contract has not been formalised.

At the same time the Contractor would be managing and "supervising" the Works, but with much sharper duties (legislative or Contractual) than the Client.

Not that uncommon for the Contractor's managers and supervisors NOT to take ownership of H&S but rather to try and largely offload this aspect to some inhouse or external H&S bod.

Which leads to the problems that AK alludes to. If the H&S bod is unhappy, but the Contractor's managers and supervisors override the H&S bod's concerns, who is going to be held accountable?

To paraphrase Acorns you need to work out who is responsible for which aspects and to what extent.

.....and it doesn't actually matter that much whether you - if only with the H&S bod hat on - are working for the Client, the Contractor or both, though the problem is arguably more acute when working for the Client.....

.....suppose as H&S bod for the Client you see something wrong and say "STOP" - you might give cause for the Contractor to make a "claim", which usually translates as "We want to paid more" (though sometimes the potential impact could be more painful for the Client).

Somewhat different if you the external consultant are double hatted. May be you are both the supervisor of the Works AND the H&S person as that bit is included within the overal remit to superviise. 

Then you personally have to understand whether YOUR remit is only H&S or the whole supervision.

If you don't adequately understand the scope of your role there are all sorts of risks, none of which change that much just because you are in a foreign country - except to the point that overseas it is much more likely that human beings rather than organisations get hauled in front of the Court (or even be put behind bars).

One final point. Your profile on these Forums says that you are an IOSH Member, hence required to record CPD on Blueprint.

If you absorb everything that has been written on this thread, consider the implications and thence learn and act, then you should have learned and have done some CPD.

CPD is NOT all about attending courses or reading publications! 

Edited by user 22 March 2025 13:41:41(UTC)  | Reason: Minor edits