Hi Steve
In the 25+ years since CDM 1994 came into force there are have been very few prosecutions of clients and their design teams (inclusive of designers, planning supervisors [CDM 1994], CDM co-ordinators [CDM 2007] and principal designers).
This is illustrated on the HSE prosecutions database where you can do an "advanced search" for BREACHES (rather than the default CASES) then by CDM and the relevant regulation numbers. You need to look both at the current database that takes you back one year and the historic database that goes back 10 years.
What is more difficult to identify is the number of cases taken against clients and their design teams under other legislation including in particular the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 as it is difficult to extract sufficient information from the database - in most cases the narrative of WHY a case was taken is missing.
Here's a summary of the figures for CDM 2015 downloaded early March 2020 (noting that it takes HSE about 9 weeks for convictions to be entered on the HSE database)
CDM 2015 – 120 convictions (latest record 4/12/2019)
Reg No
Description
Number of charges
Reg 4
Client duties
9 charges
Reg 5
Client appointment of PD and/or PC
Nil
Reg 6
Notification (client duty)
2 charges
Reg 7
Domestic clients
Nil
Total number of client convictions under CDM 2015
11
Reg 8
General duties
Nil
Reg 9
Designer duties
Nil
Reg 10
Design done outside GB
Nil
Reg 11
Principal Designer in the Pre Construction Phase
1 charge
Total number of Designer or PD convictions under CDM 2015
1
Reg 12
PC duty in relation to Construction Phase Plan
1
Reg 13
PC duties during the Construction Phase
40 charges
Reg 14
PC duty to consult and engage with workers
Nil
Reg 15
Duties of Contractors
34 charges
Total number of cases against PCs and Contractors under general duties
75
Regs 16-35 inclusive
Contractor duties under Part 4 of CDM 2015
33 charges
Total number of PC and Contractor convictions under CDM 2015
108
Total number of charges
120
Total number of defendants
105
Percentage of CDM 2015 charges against clients, designers and PDs
10.0%
At the time of my research there were still cases dealing with CDM 2007 (and even 1994). Once I had dealt with some clear data entry errors I concluded that 300 convictions had been obtained against 133 defendants, with a somewhat higher proportion of the charges (18.7%) involving clients and their design teams (though skewed 3:1 against clients rather than design teams).
...but in terms of PMs and QS who would be mostly likely to be prosecuted under CDM as designer or as planning supervisor/CDM co-ordinator just 14 in total, so about 3 a year.
Reg 11
Designer duties
4 charges
Reg 20
Duties of CDM Co-ordinator (or Planning Supervisor -1 charge)
4 charges
Reg 21
Notification of project by CDMC
6 charges
Total number of Designer or CDMC convictions under CDM 2007
14
Moral of the story - don't try to persuade your audience via threat of CDM prosecution!!
Difficult enough to persuade PMs and QSs that they might be covered by CDM whatsoever, extremely unlikely that they might find themselves in Court for alleged breach of anything in CDM.
EDIT!! Table looks fine in draft but doesn't show once posted, so you have to read the headings and then work out what I typed! SECOND EDIT - tried to make understanding the two tables easier.
Edited by user 18 November 2021 15:51:26(UTC)
| Reason: Major problem with formatting that I cannot easily resolve.