When Are You Responsible For Subcontractors Health And Safety?

If you work in construction, it's important to be aware that you have legal health and safety responsibilities for subcontractors. Failing to make sure their work is carried out safely can land you in trouble with the law.

What is a subcontractor?

In construction, subcontractors are used on most projects. It's quite rare to have a single contractor handle everything - especially on bigger projects.

From scaffolding, groundworks and service connections, to electrical and mechanical work, glazing and asbestos removal. Specialist subcontractors are used in construction to carry out specific packages of work.

Contractually the main contractor may be taking on the responsibility for delivering the project. In terms of the quality of the finish, and the deadline. The client might not even know the details of every subcontractor used.

There are different types of subcontractors:

• Domestic subcontractors
• Nominated subcontractors
• Named subcontractors

Domestic subcontractors (often just referred to as subcontractors) are usually appointed and paid directly by the main contractor. The client doesn't have much or any involvement and the selection, contract and communication are all handled by the main contractor. Nominated subcontractors are appointed by the client, and named contractors will be selected and named by the client.

The type of subcontractor will affect who's responsible for selecting, appointing, and paying them. But what about health and safety? Who's responsible for that?

Subcontractor health and safety

You might think that each contractor is responsible for their own health and safety.

And they are.

• Every employer has health and safety responsibilities
• Every self-employed person has health and safety responsibilities
• Every contractor has duties under CDM

So whether your subcontractor is a self-employed electrician or another business with employees, they have health and safety responsibilities.

But they are not the only ones!

If you use subcontractors, you have some responsibility for their health and safety too.

Subcontractor health and safety responsibilities

If you appoint other subcontractors to work on your projects, you also become responsible for their health and safety, even if you are not directly involved in their work. And that might come as a bit of a shock.

It's not rare for main contractors to find themselves in trouble with the law due to the health and safety of subcontractors.

For example, in 2023 three companies were fined in a case involving a fatal fall from height of an employee of a subcontractor. The subcontractor was fined £120,000, but the main contractor was fined over four times as much (£600,000).

Principal contractors and contractors should be aware that appointing subcontractors with specific specialisms does not remove the duty that they have to ensure the work has been properly planned and can be undertaken safely.

Employers have legal health and safety responsibilities to their employees. But why was the principal contractor prosecuted when it wasn't their employee?

What about employees of other contractors, that happen to be working on the same site?

Are main contractors liable for their subcontractors?

And is a contractor responsible for another contractor's health and safety?

If we look at the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (also known as the CDM regulations), we can find the answers.

The law

CDM applies to every construction project and all construction work. So, no matter the size, duration, who your client is, or how many contractors you use - CDM applies to your work as a contractor.

It is an important piece of legislation if you work in construction, and failing to comply with CDM can lead to prosecution, fines and even prison time.

Under CDM, there must be a principal contractor on any project with more than one contractor. So, if you're using subcontractors, at any stage in the project, there must be a principal contractor. In practice, this is usually the main contractor.

5.—(1) Where there is more than one contractor, or if it is reasonably foreseeable that more than one contractor will be working on a project at any time, the client must appoint in writing... (b) a contractor as principal contractor.

This [role of the principal contractor]/blog/cdm/cdm-2015-principal-contractor-duties-explained) is important because the principal contractor is the contractor who has the overall responsibility for health and safety on site.

That means that they are responsible for the health and safety of their own workers, but also the health and safety of other contractors (and their workers) on site.

Appointed by the client (or sometimes automatically in the case of domestic clients), the principal contractor has additional duties under CDM.

Including responsibilities for subcontractor health and safety.

Every contractor has duties under CDM, but the principal contractor has a few extra ones. This includes health and safety responsibilities, not just to subcontractors they have appointed, but to any other contractors working on the project.

That includes subcontractors appointed by the client. And subcontractors appointed by subcontractors.

The principal contractor has several legal duties under CDM relating to other contractors. This means that they almost become jointly liable for the safety of subcontractors. Should an accident happen, both the subcontractor and the principal contractor can be looked at for failings in health and safety.

13.—(1) The principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety during the construction phase to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety.

The principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase of the project. They must coordinate matters relating to health and safety. And they must make sure the work is done safely. Again, not just in their work, and their employees, but all construction work carried out on the project.

It doesn't matter who is doing the construction work. If a contractor is working on your project, and you are the principal contractor, you have responsibilities.

Not only does the principal contractor have the general responsibility for making sure that construction work is carried out without risk to health or safety, but they also have more specific responsibilities when it comes to the health and safety of other contractors.

(4) The principal contractor must ensure that—

1. a suitable site induction is provided;

It's the principal contractor's site. They are in control of it. And they must make sure that site inductions are provided.

Anyone who works on the site should be inducted and have the site health and safety hazards, risks and controls explained to them.

That includes inducting subcontractors.

The principal contractor must also make sure that other contractors:

• Cooperate with each other and with the principal contractor
• Comply with health and safety laws
• Apply the principles of prevention
• Follow the construction phase plan

(3) The principal contractor must—

1. organise cooperation between contractors (including successive contractors on the same construction site);
2. coordinate implementation by the contractors of applicable legal requirements for health and safety; and
3. ensure that employers and, if necessary for the protection of workers, self-employed persons—
   • (i)apply the general principles of prevention in a consistent manner, and in particular when complying with the provisions of Part 4; and
   • (ii)where required, follow the construction phase plan.

So if a subcontractor doesn't comply with health and safety laws, both the subcontractor and the principal contractor could be in trouble. The subcontractor for breaking the law. And, the principal contractor for not ensuring the subcontractor didn't break the law, and for allowing unsafe work to happen on their site.

In practice, this means having procedures in place to manage subcontractors. These rules can be set out in the construction phase plan, and form part of a vetting procedure when appointing subcontractors to work on your projects.

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Need to know more about your duties under CDM? Use our free CDM duty holder guides to get up to speed, and the free CDM checklist to check your project complies.