Posted By Andrew Shaw Hi, I'm garnering opinion and comment for situation we have at work at present. We are a relatively small construction / fit-out company but our company structure means that we are essentially 4 separate companies and one Holding Group company. We are currently in a situation where company "A" within our group is using labour from company "B" as they are quiet at the moment. These men are directly employed by company "B" for which company "A" is paying an hourly rate. Company "A" has a project manager on site permanently running the job but a project manager from company "B" keeps nipping to site to make sure his guys are OK. I suggested that he shouldn't do this as it would blur the lines of responsibility and we could end up with a 2 bosses scenario and general confusion ruling. Then, a Work at Height issue arose when I visited site (insufficient edge protection) and it was the labour supplied to company "A" by company "B" that were in danger. This got me thinking about who was ultimately responsible for those operatives supplied by Company "B" to Company "A" and that perhaps the project manager from Co. "B" should be nipping down to ensure his guys are OK. The quasi-internal nature of this labour supply situation is possibly clouding the issue. We do use labour supplied from wholly external agency and this seems straightforward enough. Am I reading more in to this than there is ?? The Work at Height issues were sorted they were just what set me thinking.

Posted By Crim Is this a notified CDM project? If so the principal contractor is responsible for the safety of all on site. The PC should be controlling everybody on site? However all employees are responsible for their own safety. I have recent experience of a similar issue re scaffold platform with no guard rails. HSE inspector came onto site issued prohibition notice to the worker on the platform. They have since written to the individual who was working on the platform warning him about his future conduct. WAH Regs and HASWA74 Sec 7 referred to. PC given a severe telling off as well. If not a notified project then the main contractor is responsible.

Posted By Andrew Shaw Thank you for the responses. Always nice to here someone else's opinion. Much appreciated. Andy