There Is Also An Obligation That There Is Co-operation, And Duty Is Imposed

There is also an obligation that there is co-operation, and duty is imposed upon everyone covered by the CDM Regulations 2006 to co-operate with each other and to seek the co-operation of others involved in any project involving construction work to enable each party to meet their obligations under the Regulations.

Criticisms of the attempt of the HSC to adapt the original Regulations include the argument that the industry's record in focusing upon the safety rules as opposed to the paper trail has been poor, and that therefore as demonstrated by the ten year record in adopting the CDM Regulations 1994, the record of the industry in reaping the benefits from such changes are not good 16. It has been argued that despite the fact that implementation of such rules should be simple, as it merely relates to managing projects from concept to completion, ensuring that there are adequate resources and sufficient time, and that health and safety standards are integrated into all levels of project management and the benefits demonstrated to be ensured as a result, the industry has always chosen to focus upon the costs and the unnecessary paperwork, with a view to ignoring these benefits.
Other criticisms include the argument that the CDM Regulations 2006 do not go far enough in addressing the underlying causes of the industry's health and safety record, argued by some sectors as being unacceptable 17. It has been argued that merely replacing a paper trail system with a system that focuses upon co-operation and management is not going to change much in the statistics regarding health and safety, as in many cases the designers argue that the contractors do not understand their design solutions, and contractors argue that designers do not understand how buildings are built. It is argued that although it is hoped that the planning supervisor can override these problems by bridging the gap, often they cannot because of inadequate fees, lack of authority or a lack of skill. Therefore, the system of 'co-operation' would not work because the more duties are imposed, the more unclear each individual duty appears to be.
It has been acknowledged that the CDM Regulations 2006 could improve matters to some degree in relation to the need for training and debate to increase health and safety awareness, but an alternative solution has been suggested in which the clients procuring the projects should be made ultimately responsible for health and safety issues, as the client is in the ideal position to do so. In this instance, it has been considered that the duties delegated to the client under the CDM Regulations 2006 are vague and relate to matters such as the provision of information.