Chapter 9: Case studies of health and safety management in refurbishment projects

Understanding the regulations on health and safety and construction design and management can sometimes be difficult, as the legislation is often ‘subjective’, meaning that it is open to interpretation because there is no absolute procedure to follow but just a set of guidelines. It can be helpful to explore case studies to see how others have interpreted the law and to assess the position of enforcement officers.

The case studies presented in this chapter are based on actual incidents, and demonstrate how to interpret best practice and guidelines in order to comply with the law. Readers should be able to understand the concepts of health and safety and construction and design management and apply them to their own projects. The top tips derived from each case study are intended to provide readers with a quick reference guide to the key learnings from the case studies.