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![between the combs are unavoidably contracted; but in winter well-
stored magazines are essential, while from their state of comparative
inactivity spacious communications are less necessary. On the return
of spring, however, when the cells are wanted for the reception of
eggs, the bees contract the elongated cells to their former
dimensions, and thus re-establish the just distances between the
combs which the care of their brood requires[775]. But this is not all.
Not only do they elongate the cells of the old combs when there is
an extraordinary harvest of honey, but they actually give to the new
cells which they construct on this emergency a much greater
diameter as well as a greater depth[776].
The queen-bee in ordinary circumstances places each egg in the
centre of the pyramidal bottom of the cell, where it remains fixed by
its natural gluten: but in an experiment of Huber, one whose
fecundation had been retarded, had the first segments of her
abdomen so swelled that she was unable to reach the bottom of the
cells. She therefore attached her eggs (which were those of males)
to their lower side, two lines from the mouth. As the larvæ always
pass that state in the place where they are deposited, those hatched
from the eggs in question remained in the situation assigned them.
But the working-bees, as if aware that in these circumstances the
cells would be too short to contain the larvæ when fully grown,
added to their length, even before the eggs were hatched[777].
Bees close up the cells of the grubs, previously to their
transformation, with a cover or lid of wax: and in hanging its abode
with a silken tapestry before it assumes the pupa state, the grub
requires that the cell should not be too short for its movements.
Bonnet having placed a swarm in a very flat glass hive, the bees
constructed one of the combs parallel to one of the principal sides,
where it was so straight that they could not give to the cells their
ordinary depth. The queen, however, laid eggs in them, and the
workers daily nourished the grubs, and closed the cells at the period
of transformation. A few days afterwards he was surprised to
perceive in the lids, holes more or less large, out of which the grubs](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-56-320.jpg)
![partly projected, the cells having been too short to admit of their
usual movements. He was curious to know how the bees would
proceed. He expected that they would pull all the grubs out of the
cells, as they commonly do when great disorders in the combs take
place. But he did not sufficiently give credit to the resources of their
instinct. They did not displace a single grub—they left them in their
cells: but as they saw that these cells were not deep enough, they
closed them afresh with lids much more convex them ordinary, so as
to give to them a sufficient depth; and from that time no more holes
were made in the lids.
The working bees, in closing up the cells containing larvæ, invariably
give a convex lid to the large cells of drones, and one nearly flat to
the smaller cells of workers: but in an experiment instituted by
Huber to ascertain the influence of the size of the cells on that of the
included larvæ, he transferred the larvæ of workers to the cells of
drones. What was the result? Did the bees still continue blindly to
exercise their ordinary instinct? On the contrary, they now placed a
nearly flat lid upon these large cells, as if well aware of their being
occupied by a different race of inhabitants[778].
On some occasions bees, in consequence of Huber's arrangements
in the interior of their habitations, have begun to build a comb
nearer to the adjoining one than the usual interval; but they soon
appeared to perceive their error, and corrected it by giving to the
comb a gradual curvature, so as to resume the ordinary
distance[779].
In another instance, in which various irregularities had taken place in
the form of the combs, the bees, in prolonging one of them, had,
contrary to their usual custom, begun two separate and distant
continuations, which in approaching instead of joining would have
interfered with each other, had not the bees, apparently foreseeing
the difficulty, gradually bent their edges so as to make them join
with such exactness that they could afterwards continue them
conjointly[780].](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-57-320.jpg)
![each other and to the walls of their habitation.—What was still more
extraordinary, all this happened in the middle of January, at a period
when the bees ordinarily cluster at the top of the hive, and do not
engage in labours of this kind[781].
You will admit, I think, that these proofs of the resources of the
architectural instinct of bees are truly admirable. If, in the case of
the substitution of mitys for the first range of waxen cells, this
procedure invariably took place in every bee-hive at a fixed period—
when, for example, the combs are two-thirds filled with honey—it
would be less surprising: but there is nothing of this invariable
character about it. It does not, as Huber expressly informs us[782],
occur at any marked and regular period, but appears to depend on
several circumstances not always combined. Sometimes the bees
content themselves with bordering the sides of the upper cells with
propolis alone, without altering their form or giving them greater
thickness. And it is not less remarkable that, from the instances last
cited, it appears that they are not confined to one kind of cement for
strengthening and supporting their combs, but avail themselves of
propolis, wax, or a mixture of both, as circumstances direct.
Not to weary you with examples of the modifications of instinct we
are considering, I shall introduce but three more:—the first, of the
mode in which bees extend the dimensions of an old comb; the
second, of that which they adopt in constructing the male cells and
connecting them with the smaller cells of workers; and the last, of
the plan pursued by them when it becomes necessary to bend their
combs.
You must have observed that a comb newly made becomes
gradually thinner at its edges, the cells there, on each side,
progressively decreasing in length: but in time these marginal cells,
as they are wanted for the purposes of the hive, are elongated to
the depth of the rest. Now suppose bees, from an augmentation of
the size of their hive, to have occasion to extend their combs either
in length or breadth, the process which they adopt is this: They](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-60-320.jpg)
![gnaw away the tops of the marginal cells until the combs have
resumed their original lenticular form, and then construct upon their
edges the pyramidal lozenge-shaped bottoms of cells, upon which
the hexagonal sides are subsequently raised, as in their operation of
cell-building. This course of proceeding is invariable: they never
extend a comb in any direction whatever, without having first made
its edges thinner, diminishing its thickness in a portion sufficiently
large to leave no angular projection.—Huber observes, and with
reason, in relating this surprising law which obliges bees partially to
demolish the cells situated upon the edges of the combs, that it
deserves a more close examination than he found himself competent
to give it: for, if we may to a certain point form a conception of the
instinct which leads these animals to employ their art of building
cells, yet how can we conceive of that which in particular
circumstances forces them to act in an opposite direction, and
determines them to demolish what they have so laboriously
constructed[783]?
Drones, or male bees, are more bulky than the workers; and you
have been told, in speaking of the habitations of insects, that the
cells which bees construct for rearing the larvæ of the former, are
larger than those destined for the education of the larvæ of the
latter. The diameter of the cells of drones is always 3-1/3 lines (or
twelfths of an inch); that of those of workers 2-2/5 lines: and these
dimensions are so constant in their ordinary cells, that some authors
have thought they might be adopted as an universal and invariable
scale of measure, which would have the great recommendation of
being every where at hand, and at all events would be preferable to
our barley-corns. Several ranges of male cells, sometimes from thirty
to forty, are usually found in each comb, generally situated about the
middle. Now as these cells are not isolated, but form a part of the
entire comb, corresponding on its two faces—by what art is it that
the bees unite hexagonal cells of a small, with others of a larger
diameter, without leaving any void spaces, and without destroying
the uniformity and regularity of the comb? This problem would](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-61-320.jpg)
![are calculated; that there exists as it were a moveable harmony in
the mechanism by which the cells are composed! If, in consequence
of the imperfection of their organs or of their instruments, bees
occasionally constructed some of their cells unequal, or of parts
badly put together, it would still manifest some talent to be able to
repair these defects, and to compensate one irregularity by another:
but it is far more astonishing that they know how to quit their
ordinary routine when circumstances require that they should build
male cells; that they should be instructed to vary the dimensions and
the shape of each piece so as to return to a regular order; and that,
after having constructed thirty or forty ranges of male cells, they
again leave the regular order on which these were formed, and
arrive by successive diminutions at the point from which they set
out. How should these insects be able to extricate themselves from
such a difficulty—from such a complicated structure? how pass from
the little to the great, from a regular plan to an irregular one, and
again resume the former? These are questions which no known
system can explain[784].
Here again, as observed in a former instance, the wonder would be
less, if every comb contained a certain number of transition and of
male cells, constantly situated in one and the same part of it: but
this is far from being the case. The event which alone, at whatever
period it may happen, seems to determine the bees to construct
male cells, is the oviposition of the queen. So long as she continues
to lay the eggs of workers not a male cell is founded; but as soon as
she is about to lay male eggs, the workers seem aware of it, and
you then see them form their cells irregularly, impart to them by
degrees a greater diameter, and at length prepare suitable ranges of
cradles for all the male race[785].—You must perceive how absurd it
would be to refer this astonishing variation of instinct to any mere
change in the sensations of the bees; and to what far-fetched and
gratuitous suppositions we must be reduced, if we adopt any such
explanation. We can but refer it to an instinct of which we know
nothing; and so referring it, can we help exclaiming with Huber,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-64-320.jpg)
!["Such is the grandeur of the views and of the means of ordaining
wisdom, that it is not by a minute exactness that she marches to her
end, but proceeds from irregularity to irregularity, compensating one
by another: the admeasurements are made on high, the apparent
errors appreciated by a divine geometry; and order often results
from partial diversity. This is not the first instance which science has
presented to us of preordained irregularities which astonish our
ignorance, and are the admiration of the most enlightened minds:
So true it is, that the more we investigate the general as well as
particular laws of this vast system, the more perfection does it
present[786]."
It is observed by M. P. Huber, in his appendix to the account of his
father's discoveries relative to the architecture of bees, that in
general the form of the prisms or tubes of the cells is more essential
than that of their bottoms, since the tetrahedral-bottomed transition
cells, and even those cells which being built immediately upon wood
or glass, were entirely without bottoms, still preserved their usual
shape of hexagonal prisms. But a remarkable experiment of the
elder Huber shows that bees can alter even the form of their cells
when circumstances require it, and that in a way which one would
not have expected.
Having placed in front of a comb which the bees were constructing,
a slip of glass, they seemed immediately aware that it would be very
difficult to attach it to so slippery a surface: and instead of
continuing the comb in a straight line, they bent it at a right angle,
so as to extend beyond the slip of glass, and ultimately fixed it to an
adjoining part of the wood-work of the hive which the glass did not
cover. This deviation, if the comb had been a mere simple and
uniform mass of wax, would have evinced no small ingenuity; but
you will bear in mind that a comb consists on each side, or face, of
cells having between them bottoms in common: and if you take a
comb, and having softened the wax by heat, endeavour to bend it in
any part at a right angle, you will then comprehend the difficulties
which our little architects had to encounter. The resources of their](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-65-320.jpg)
![instinct, however, were adequate to the emergency. They made the
cells on the convex side of the bent part of the comb much larger,
and those on the concave side much smaller than usual; the former
having three or four times the diameter of the latter. But this was
not all. As the bottoms of the small and large cells were as usual
common to both, the cells were not regular prisms, but the small
ones considerably wider at the bottom than at the top, and
conversely in the large ones!—What conception can we form of so
wonderful a flexibility of instinct? How, as Huber asks, can we
comprehend the mode in which such a crowd of labourers, occupied
at the same time on the edge of the comb, could agree to give to it
the same curvature from one extremity to the other; or how they
could arrange together to construct on one face cells so small, while
on the other they imparted to them such enlarged dimensions?—And
how can we feel adequate astonishment that they should have the
art of making cells of such different sizes correspond[787]?
After this long but I flatter myself not wholly uninteresting
enumeration, you will scarcely hesitate to admit that insects, and of
these the bee pre-eminently, are endowed with a much more
exquisite and flexible instinct than the larger animals. But you may
be here led to ask, Can all this be referred to instinct? Is not this
pliability to circumstances—this surprising adaptation of means for
accomplishing an end—rather the result of reason?
You will not doubt my allowing the appositeness of this question,
when I frankly tell you, that so strikingly do many of the preceding
facts seem at first view the effect of reason, that in my original
sketch of the letter you are now reading, I had arranged them as
instances of this faculty. But mature consideration has convinced me
(though I confess the subject has great difficulties) that this view
was fallacious; and that though some circumstances connected with](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-66-320.jpg)
![these facts may, as I shall hereafter show, be referable to reason,
the facts themselves can only be consistently explained by regarding
them as I have here done, as examples of variations of particular
instincts:—and this on two accounts.
In the first place, these variations, however singular, are limited in
their extent: all bees are, and have always been, able to avail
themselves of a certain number, but not to increase that number.
Bees cemented their combs when becoming heavy, to the top of the
hive, with mitys, in the time of Aristotle and Pliny as they do now;
and there is every reason to believe that then, as now, they
occasionally varied their procedures, by securing them with wax or
with propolis only, either added to the upper range of cells, or
disposed in braces and ties to the adjoining combs. But if in thus
proceeding they were guided by reason, why not under certain
circumstances adopt other modes of strengthening their combs?
Why not, when wax and propolis are scarce, employ mud, which
they might see the martin avail herself of so successfully? Or why
should it not come into the head of some hoary denizen of the hive,
that a little of the mortar with which his careful master plasters the
crevices between his habitation and its stand, might answer the end
of mitys? "Si seulement ils élevoient une fois des câbanes quarrées,"
(says Bonnet when, speaking as to what faculty the works of the
beaver are to be referred,) "mais ce sont éternellement des câbanes
rondes ou ovales[788]:"—and so we might say of the phenomena in
question:—Show us but one instance of bees having substituted mud
or mortar for mitys, pissoceros, or propolis, or wooden props for
waxen ties, and there could be no doubt of their being here guided
by reason. But since no such instance is on record; since they are
still confined to the same limits—however surprising the range of
these limits—as they were two thousand years ago; and since the
bees emerged from their pupæ but a few hours before, will set
themselves as adroitly to work and pursue their operations as
scientifically as their brethren, who can boast the experience of a
long life of twelve months duration;—we must still regard these
actions as variations of instinct.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-67-320.jpg)
![the enumeration, or to adduce many species of the superior classes
of animals, endowed with a greater number.
But how vastly more manifold are the instincts of the majority of
insects! It is not necessary to insist upon those differences which
take place in the same insect in its different states, leading it to
select one kind of food in the larva, and another in the perfect state;
to defend itself in one mode in the former, and in another in the
latter, &c.—because, however remarkable these variations, they may
be referred with great plausibility to those striking changes in the
organic structure of the animal, which occur at the two periods of its
existence. It is to the number of instincts observable in the same
individual of many insects in their perfect state that I now confine
myself; and as the most striking example of the whole I shall select
the hive-bee,—begging you to bear in mind that I do not mean to
include those exhibited by the queen, the drones, or even those of
the workers, termed by Huber cirières (wax makers); but only to
enumerate those presented by that portion of the workers, termed
by Huber nourrices or petites abeilles (nurses), upon whom, as you
have been before told[789], with the exception of making wax, laying
the foundation of the cells, and collecting honey for being stored,
the principal labours of the hive devolve. It will be these individuals
alone that I shall understand by the term bees, under the present
head: and though the other inhabitants of the hive may occasionally
concur in some of their actions and labours, yet it is obvious that so
many as are those in which they distinctly take part, so many
instincts must we regard them as endowed with.
To begin, then, with the formation of the colony:—By one instinct
bees are directed to send out scouts previously to their swarming, in
search of a suitable abode[790]; and by another, to rush out of the
hive after the queen that leads forth the swarm, and follow wherever
she bends her course. Having taken possession of their new abode,
whether of their own selection or prepared for them by the hand of
man, a third instinct teaches them to cleanse it from all
impurities[791]; a fourth to collect propolis, and with it to stop up](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-69-320.jpg)
![every crevice except the entrance; a fifth to ventilate the hive for
preserving the purity of the air; and a sixth to keep a constant guard
at the door[792].
In constructing the houses and streets of their new city, or the cells
and combs, there are probably several distinct instincts exercised;
but not to leave room for objection, I shall regard them as the result
of one only: yet the operations of polishing the interior of the cells,
and soldering their angles and orifices with propolis, which are
sometimes not undertaken for weeks after the cells are built[793];
and the obscure but still more curious one of varnishing them with
the yellow tinge observable in old combs;—seem clearly referable to
at least two distinct instincts. The varnishing process is so little
connected with that of building, that, though it takes place in some
combs in three or four days, it does not in others for several months,
though both are equally employed for the same uses[794]. Huber
ascertained by accurate experiment that this tinge is not owing to
the heat of the hives; to any vapours in the air which they include;
to any emanations from the wax or honey; nor to the deposition of
this last in the cells; but he inclines to think it is occasioned by a
yellow matter which the bees seem to detach from their mandibles,
and to apply to the surface which they are varnishing, by repeated
strokes of these organs and of the fore feet[795].
In their out-of-door operations several distinct instincts are
concerned. By one they are led to extract honey from the nectaries
of flowers; by another to collect pollen after a process involving very
complicated manipulations, and requiring a singular apparatus of
brushes and baskets; and that must surely be considered a third,
which so remarkably and beneficially restricts each gathering to the
same plant[796]. It is clearly a distinct instinct which inspires bees
with such dread of rain, that even if a cloud pass before the sun,
they return to the hive in the greatest haste[797]; and that seems to
me not less so, which teaches them to find their way back to their
home after the most distant and intricate wanderings. When bees](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-70-320.jpg)
![have found the direction in which their hive lies, Huber says they fly
to it with an extreme rapidity, and as straight as a ball from a
musket[798]: and if their hives were always in open situations, one
might suppose, as Huber seems inclined to think, that it is by their
sight they are conducted to them. But hives are frequently found in
small gardens embowered in wood; and in the midst of villages
surrounded and interspersed with trees and buildings, so as to make
it impossible that they can be seen from a distance. If you had been
with me in 1815, in the famous Pays de Waes in Flanders—where
the country is a perfect flat, and the inhabitants so enamoured
either of the beauty or profit of trees, that their fields, which are
rarely above three acres in extent, are constantly surrounded with a
double row, making the whole district one vast wood—you would
have pitied the poor bees if reduced to depend on their own eye-
sight for retracing the road homeward. In vain during my stay at St.
Nicholas I sallied out at every outlet to try to gain some idea of the
extent and form of the town. Trees—trees—trees—still met me, and
intercepted the view in every direction; and I defy any inhabitant
bee of this rural metropolis, after once quitting its hive, ever to gain
a glimpse of it again until nearly perpendicularly over it. The bees,
therefore, of the Pays de Waes, and consequently all other bees,
must be led to their abodes by instinct, as certainly as it is instinct
that directs the migrations of birds or of fishes, or domestic
quadrupeds to find out their homes from inconceivable
distances[799].—When they have reached the hive, another instinct
leads them to regurgitate into the extended proboscis of their
hungry companions who have been occupied at home, a portion of
the honey collected in the fields; and another directs them to unload
their legs of the masses of pollen, and to store it in the cells for
future use.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-71-320.jpg)
![say that one insect has a greater or less share of instinct than
another, but more or fewer instincts.—That it is not always easy to
determine what actions are to be referred to a distinct instinct and
what to a modification of an instinct, I am very ready to admit; but
this is no solid ground for regarding all instincts as modifications of
some one principle. It is often equally difficult to fix the limits
between instinct and reason; but we are not on this account justified
in deeming them the same.
This multitude of instincts in the same individual, becomes more
wonderful when considered in another point of view. Were they
constantly to follow each other in regular sequence, so that each
bee necessarily first began to build cells, then to collect honey, next
pollen, and so on, we might plausibly enough refer them to some
change in the sensations of the animal, caused by alterations in the
structure and gradual development of its organs, in the same way as
on similar principles we explain the sexual instincts of the superior
tribes. But it is certain that no such consecutive series prevails. The
different instincts of the bee are called into action in an order
regulated solely by the needs of the society. If combs be wanted, no
bee collects honey for storing until they are provided[800]: and if,
when constructed, any accident injure or destroy them, every labour
is suspended until the mischief is repaired or new ones
substituted[801]. When the crevices round the hive are effectually
secured with propolis, the instinct directing the collection of this
substance lies dormant: but transfer the bees to a new hive which
shall require a new luting, and it is instantly re-excited. But these
instances are superfluous. Every one knows that at the same
moment of time the citizens of a hive are employed in the most
varied and opposite operations. Some are collecting pollen; others
are in search of honey; some busied at home in the first
construction of the cells; others in giving them their last polish;
others in ventilating the hive; others again in feeding the young
brood and the like.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-74-320.jpg)
![Several of the facts occurring in the history of bees might be
referred to this head; but I shall here advert only to the treatment of
the drones by the workers under different circumstances, and to the
operations of the latter consequent upon the irretrievable loss of the
queen—facts which have been before stated to you, but to the
principal features of which my present argument makes it necessary
that I should again direct your attention.
If a hive of bees be this year in possession of a queen duly fertilized,
and consequently sure the next season of a succession of males, all
the drones, as I have before stated[802], towards the approach of
winter are massacred by the workers with the most unrelenting
ferocity. To this seemingly cruel course they are doubtless impelled
by an imperious instinct; and as it is regularly followed in every hive
thus circumstanced, it would seem at the first view to be an impulse
as intimately connected with the organization and very existence of
the workers, and as incapable of change, as that which leads them
to build cells or to store up honey. But this is far from being the
case. However certain the doom of the drones this autumn, if the
hive be furnished with a duly-fertilized queen, their undisturbed
existence over the winter is equally sure if the hive have lost its
sovereign, or her impregnation have been so retarded as to make a
succession of males in the spring doubtful. In such a hive the
workers do not destroy a single drone, though the hottest
persecution rages in all the hives around them.
Now, how are we to explain this difference of conduct? Are we to
suppose that the bees know and reason upon this alteration in the
circumstances of their community—that they infer the possibility of
their entire extinction if the whole male stock were destroyed when
without a queen—and that thus influenced by a wise policy they
restrain the fury they would otherwise have exercised? This would
be at once to make them not only gifted with reason, but endowed
with a power of looking before and after, and a command over the
strongest natural propensities, superior to what could be expected in
a similar case even from a society of men; and is obviously](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2344078-250525190456-a092dfd0/85/Understanding-The-Cdm-Regulations-Owen-V-Griffiths-77-320.jpg)
Understanding The Cdm Regulations Owen V Griffiths
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- 7. Also available fromTaylor & Francis Understanding the Building Regulations 3rd ed S.Polley Pb: ISBN 0–415–34917–6 OSH in Construction Project Management H.Lingard et al. Hb: ISBN 0–419–26210–5 Construction Project Management P.Fewings Hb: ISBN 0–415–35905–8 Pb: ISBN 0–415–35906–6 Practical Construction Management 2nd ed R.Ranns et al. Pb: ISBN 0–415–36257–1 Risk Management in Projects 2nd ed. M.Loosemore et al. Hb: ISBN 0–415–26055–8 Pb: ISBN 0–415–26056–6
- 8.
- 9. First published 2007 byTaylor & Francis 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Taylor & Francis 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © Owen Griffiths 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any efforts or omissions that may be made. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN10: 0–419–22420–3 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–96518–3 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–419–22420–4 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–96518–4 (ebk) This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” ISBN 0-203-96518-3 Master e-book ISBN
- 10. Contents List of figuresvii List of tables viii Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Overview of the CDM Regulations 5 What are the CDM Regulations? 6 Health and safety legislation in the UK 8 Enforcement of the CDM Regulations 11 CDM duty holders and their responsibilities 12 Application of the CDM Regulations 16 Project hazard management 21 The health and safety plan 26 The health and safety file 29 2 CDM clients and the client’s agent 31 Introduction 32 Who is the client? 33 Client’s CDM duties explained 35 The client’s agent 43 Some frequently asked client questions 44 3 CDM designers 50 Introduction 51 Who are CDM designers? 52 Designers’ duties explained 54 Good practice 75 Lead designer and lead consultant 77
- 11. The Approved Codeof Practice (ACoP) 78 Hazard and information management 81 Developing competence as a designer 82 Some frequently asked designer questions 82 4 The planning supervisor 94 Introduction 95 The planning supervisor’s duties explained 97 Summary 113 5 The principal contractor 114 Introduction 115 The principal contractor’s duties explained 117 Managing problems 152 6 The contractor 154 Introduction 155 The contractor’s duties explained 156 Some frequently asked questions 161 7 CDM management toolkit 163 Appendix 1 The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 204 Appendix 2 The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 222 Appendix 3 Proposed changes to the CDM Regulations 253 Appendix 4 Glossary of terms 257 Appendix 5 References and further reading 262 Index 264 vi Contents
- 12. Figures 1.1 CDM legalframework 8 1.2 The application of the CDM Regulations 19 1.3 Project notification 20 1.4 The holistic CDM flow of hazard management information 22 1.5 The health and safety plan 27 2.1 The life cycle of a structure 43 3.1 Design hazard management 57 3.2 Hazard identification pro forma 61 3.3 Strategy and mindsets from the perspective of the activities 62 3.4 Strategy and mindsets from the perspective of the hazards 63 3.5 Activity and hazard relationship 64 3.6 Risk assessment outputs 64 3.7 The control hierarchy 66 3.8 Five steps to risk assessment 70 3.9 A typical risk assessment form 70 3.10 Project risk register 82
- 13. Tables 3.1 Using therisk factor 67 3.2 Examples of unusual or difficult-to-manage hazards that support the provision of information 71 6.1 Examples of legislation and associated health and safety tools 156
- 14. Acknowledgements I would liketo acknowledge the tireless work undertaken by Alun Griffiths without whose valued research and dedication this project would not have been possible. His passion for raising the standard of health, safety and welfare in our industry serves as a continual reminder as to why the principles of CDM must be embraced. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
- 16. Introduction This book hasbeen written to provide students, CDM duty holders, health and safety consultants and construction professionals with practical advice on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) and their intended objectives. It appreciates that organisations and project duty holders need clear arrangements and tools for application, and the book also aims to provide guidance on designing appropriate and succinct management systems to facilitate compliance. The theme of the book is that if CDM is to work it must be an integrated, indeed embedded, element of all the planning, design, management and con- struction functions. It is understood that professionals in the construction industry have many elements to manage at various stages throughout a project. CDM provides additional impetus for one more manageable element, namely the ‘hazard’. The benefits of an effective CDM strategy at a project level will also be covered, and the added value of such a policy will be illustrated with case studies throughout. The book consists of seven chapters plus appendices. Chapter 1 consists of an overview of health and safety in the construction industry, legislation and the fundamental principles of the CDM Regulations themselves. As we develop this holistic picture of health and safety in the construction industry to date we shall hopefully prove the case for the necessity for appropriate project hazard management arrangements, and this will also allow us to move on to more detail in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 covers the role of the CDM client and client’s CDM agent. One could argue that without their commitment to risk management and without the client establishing clearly defined CDM project arrangements the effective management of health and safety is significantly weakened. We will also attempt to establish how the regulations cater for the diversity of client types and the wide disparity of client knowledge and how CDM caters for the respective procurement routes. Chapter 3 covers the role of designers. They have the potential to initially impact on the health and safety of a project by virtue of their duty to inform the
- 17. client of theirCDM duties. Also, arguably, their greatest contribution is by their duty to design with adequate regard to health and safety. Early and ongoing intervention by a designer in designing to avoid or reduce the impact of environmental and social issues and hazards associated with certain materials and construction activities has significant benefits on the health and safety risk profile of a project. Recent surveys, however, commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive for example, have indicated that this potential is not being fully realised and that the design fraternity is failing to make a demonstrable contribution to the risk management process. The CDM Regulations also define a designer as more than the traditional architect or engineer, and this far-reaching definition will be explored. Chapter 4 looks at the role and issues pertaining to the planning supervisor. The role was created by the UK lawmakers primarily to ensure design health and safety coordination and management. This requires skills of design, design management, construction processes and knowledge of occupational health and safety legislation. As well as addressing their statutory responsibilities we will debate their respective effectiveness since the introduction of the regula- tions and indeed look at the industry that has grown up around the planning supervisor. Chapter 5 explores the duties of the principal contractor and the responsibil- ity they have to manage all aspects of health and safety on site. The principal contractor is not always the main contractor on a construction project; we shall explore their statutory responsibilities and by means of case studies look at examples of good practice that exist to communicate and coordinate health and safety where it matters most – on site. Chapter 6 looks at the role of the contractor and their working relationship with the principal contractor as a part of the site team. Contractors were facilitating health and safety legislation long before the introduction of CDM, and it is interesting to see how they have incorporated their CDM duties into their existing procedures. Chapter 7 provides a complete CDM management system of all duty holders, including a useful project checklist. This will make the book more practically useful and set you on your way in terms of being able to actively apply the learning outcomes from the text. As you read through the book the author implores you to develop your own thoughts on the CDM Regulations and their potential effectiveness to reduce fatalities, injuries and incidents of ill health. It is only through such individual opinions and debate that improvements are made in legislation as we wrestle with our social responsibilities knowing that, in the last 25 years, according to the Health and Safety Commission, over 2,800 people have died from injuries they received as a result of construction work and many more have been seriously injured or made ill. 2 Introduction
- 18. I passionately believein the importance of tackling the industry’s health and safety problems. Pre-planned, well designed projects, where inherently safe processes have been chosen, which are carried out by companies known to be competent, with trained work forces, will be safe: they will also be good, predictable projects. If we are to succeed in creating a modern, world-class industry, the culture of the industry must change. It must value and respect its people, learn to work in integrated teams and deliver value for clients’ money. Sir John Egan, Accelerating Change, 2002
- 20. Overview of the CDMRegulations What are the CDM Regulations? 6 History of the CDM Regulations 6 Health and safety in the construction industry 7 Health and safety legislation in the UK 8 The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) 8 Regulations 9 Approved Codes of Practice 10 Guidance notes 11 Enforcement of the CDM Regulations 11 CDM duty holders and their responsibilities 12 The client 12 The designer 13 The planning supervisor 14 The principal contractor 15 The contractor 16 Application of the CDM Regulations 16 Interpretation 16 When the CDM Regulations apply 18 When notification is required 18 Project hazard management 21 Hazard management concepts 21 Risk assessment 24 The health and safety plan 26 Pre-tender health and safety plan 27 Construction phase health and safety plan 28 The health and safety file 29 Chapter 1
- 21. What are theCDM Regulations? History of the CDM Regulations As a member state of the European Union the UK is subject to legal directives, which it must interpret and implement. Directives impose a duty on each member state to: • make regulations to conform with any directive; and • enforce those regulations. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 are, therefore, the UK’s response to EU Directive 92/57/EEC, ‘The Management of Health and Safety Requirements at Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites’. Although, arguably, existing health and safety legislation was in place to cover many of the areas it was hoped CDM would address, such as the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (now 1999), it was deemed necessary to provide additional impetus for construction safety. The regulations became effective on 31 March 1995 and marked a new era in construction health and safety management. An initial Approved Code of Practice was published which attempted to offer practical advice and guidance on implementation of the regulations. The Health and Safety Executive also produced a series of Information Sheets on specific areas of CDM to assist the new legislation. However, it is probably true to say that initial CDM responses were wide of their intended mark. Instead of the new legislation being seen as an attempt to further integrate health and safety management into the holistic project management plan, CDM was largely implemented as an overly bureaucratic ‘bolt-on’ that ran in parallel to the rest of the project. Whether the CDM Regulations being largely misunderstood was down to a lack of clarity or guidance, a general lack of competence or a lack of desire by the respective industry bodies to embrace change remains a topic for debate. Significantly, the Health and Safety Executive considered a review of the Approved Code of Practice and the industry was asked to contribute to the process. Consequently, on 1 February 2002 a new Approved Code of Practice complete with additional guidance became effective. Many believe this was a major breakthrough in terms of providing information to assist with practical implementation. The emphasis on the production of relevant and succinct information also helped to promote the principles of appropriateness. More recently, with many feeling that the regulations are still too far removed from their objective of adding value to the health and safety management pro- cess, a complete review of the regulations was initiated. The industry was consulted during 2005, with a re-branding of the regulations being proposed, including additional responsibilities for project clients, a more demonstrable 6 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 22. contribution from thedesign fraternity and a general increase in levels of competence. These proposals will be further examined in Appendix 3. It is no easy task to measure the effectiveness of the CDM Regulations since their introduction in the spring of 1995. If they are ultimately to be measured by the number of fatalities, injuries and incidents of ill health that have occurred in and as a result of construction work since their inception then there is a case to suggest that they have not proved as dynamic as was originally hoped. One could ask, however, what would have been the result on health and safety statistics if this additional legislation, namely the CDM Regulations, had not been introduced at all. Health and safety in the construction industry The construction industry is quite simply the largest industry in the UK and constitutes approximately 9 per cent of the United Kingdom’s gross domestic product. It has been estimated that over 2 million people work in the construction industry. It is also generally regarded as a relatively high-risk industry to work in. For example, Health and Safety Commission statistics remind us that: • In the last 25 years over 2,800 people have died from injuries received as a result of construction work. • In 2004/05, 33 per cent of all worker fatalities occurred in the construction industry. • The number of major injuries to employees in construction was 4,098 in 2002/03. • There were 1,874 deaths from mesothelioma in 2003 – similar to the number in the previous two years (there were 1,862 and 1,866 deaths in 2001 and 2002 respectively). Many of these deaths will be a result of past occupational exposures to asbestos. There has been a major move by the industry itself to improve the appalling levels of fatalities, major injuries and incidents of ill health over the last few years. The first construction summit was held in February 2001 where the indus- try decided to set targets for reducing the rate of fatal and major injury to workers by 66 per cent by 2009/10. The summit was seen as an opportunity to raise the profile of construction health and safety and the bold targets set there showed an impressive intent. Other important initiatives include Revitalising Health and Safety, Rethinking Construction (the Egan Report) and Achieving Excellence in Construction. The introduction of the CDM Regulations themselves must also be viewed as a major opportunity for the project team to focus further on the specific health and safety issues. The quotation below from John Egan is very much in line with the ideology that CDM is striving to achieve: Overview of the CDM Regulations 7
- 23. I passionately believein the importance of tackling the industry’s health and safety problems. Pre-planned, well designed projects, where inherently safe processes have been chosen, which are carried out by companies known to be competent, with trained work forces, will be safe: they will also be good, predictable projects. If we are to succeed in creating a modern, world-class industry, the culture of the industry must change. It must value and respect its people, learn to work in integrated teams and deliver value for clients’ money. Sir John Egan, Accelerating Change, 2002 Health and safety legislation in the UK In order to appreciate the significance of the CDM Regulations in legal terms we will now, albeit briefly, look at the legal framework in the United Kingdom as well as our obligations as a member state of the European Union. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) This is the primary source of health and safety legislation in the United Kingdom. It was introduced to unify existing legislation and raise awareness of occupational health and safety. It aimed to move the focus on to ‘people at Figure 1.1 CDM legal framework. 8 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 24. work’ in anattempt to reduce the general apathy that surrounded the subject of health and safety at the time. The Act provided bold general duties for employers, the self-employed and even employees. For example: It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees. HSWA section 2(1) The Act also makes it necessary for employers to conduct their undertakings in such a way as to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment who may be affected thereby are not exposed to risk to their health and safety. The general public, for example, is a good example of a cohort whose health and safety an employer must consider. Significantly, the Act also established both the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. The former was established primarily to make arrangements to ensure the health and safety of people and work and those affected by that work. This is achieved through the proposal of new legislation and standards, instigating and conducting research and providing information and advice. The latter has a role to advise the Commission but is more commonly involved in, and legally responsible for, the enforcement of health and safety legislation. The Act also has the ability to make specific health and safety regulations, which serve to strengthen and support the principles of the primary legislation. Regulations The Health and Safety Commission will, from time to time, propose additional legislation to facilitate its work. This is generally achieved through a regulation that is brought into force under the Act. The Commission’s proposal is made to, and introduced by, the appropriate government minister. Regulations are seen as an appropriate means of setting new health and safety standards in a relatively quick timescale. A proposed regulation will auto- matically become law 21 days after submission to Parliament if no objections are made. However, before the Commission proposes any new legislation it will consult with all interested parties, such as relevant industry bodies and trade unions, for example. Regulations are also used as a tool to implement the requirements of EU directives, as indeed was the case with the CDM Regulations. There are numerous other health and safety regulations that are potentially relevant to the construction industry over and above CDM. Effectively, it could be argued that CDM sits above many of these other regulations as a Overview of the CDM Regulations 9
- 25. management platform fortheir successful implementation and consequent risk reduction. It would be of value for a construction professional to have a general grounding in the most relevant regulations. Examples of health and safety regulations (that can be relevant to construction work) include: • the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; • the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996; • the Work at Height Regulations 2005; • the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH); • the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; • the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER); • the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER); • the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; • the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005; • the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005; • the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981; • the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992; • the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). Approved Codes of Practice If it is felt that further clarity and practical guidance are necessary to facilitate compliance with a regulation then it may be necessary to introduce an Approved Code of Practice (ACoP). It is important to understand the legal status of an ACoP. It is not a legal requirement to follow the information provided by any ACoP. However, failure to adopt the recommendations of the document in practice may be taken by a court in any criminal proceedings as evidence of failure to comply with the regulation to which it relates. Only if the defendant has demonstrated compliance with an alternative equally effective measure will this not count against them. In terms of the CDM Regulations, an ACoP was introduced immediately to assist with initial compliance. Unfortunately, the publication, Managing Construction for Health and Safety (L54), was poorly received and did not really succeed in providing the practical guidance that the respective CDM duty holders were looking for. Eventually, the original ACoP was replaced and, in February 2002, a new publication was introduced titled Managing Health and Safety in Construction (HSG224). This new ACoP was well received by those in the industry who appreciated the significance of an Approved Code of Practice. HSG224 has done much to explain how those involved in construction health and safety can interpret the CDM Regulations. 10 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 26. Guidance notes One ofthe main reasons for the relative success of the revised Approved Code of Practice was the fact that the publication also contained a wealth of guid- ance and good practice for CDM duty holders to consider as they strove for compliance with the regulations. The Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive issue guidance notes either alongside an ACoP or independently. They are aimed at providing further practical advice and suggestions and can be more informative. Guidance notes carry no legal standing, but examples of case law do exist where the lack of adoption of guidance notes has been successfully used as evidence for the prosecution. Over and above the CDM Regulations, the construction industry has been provided with a great deal of valuable guidance by the Commission and the Executive, much of which is available at little or no cost. Enforcement of the CDM Regulations The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a specific statutory responsibility of its own for the enforcement of health and safety law, including therefore the CDM Regulations. It has a number of inspectors whose primary objective is to encourage compliance with health and safety legislation. To this end the inspectors are awarded substantial powers to facilitate this aim and achieve improvements. These powers include: 1 Entering premises, at any reasonable time, if the inspector believes it is necessary to carry out any statutory provision, taking a police constable with them if deemed appropriate. 2 Providing advice or warnings. 3 Issuing an improvement notice. This will require any contravention to be remedied in a time that will be specified. Anyone who receives an improve- ment notice will be entered on to the notices database on the Health and Safety Executive website, which is for public consumption. 4 Issuing a prohibition notice. If an inspector believes there is, or is likely to be, a risk of serious personal injury they may issue a prohibition notice to cease an activity at any time unless or until the issue is resolved. Anyone who receives a prohibition notice will also be entered on to the notices database on the Health and Safety Executive website, which is for public consumption. 5 Prosecution in the criminal law courts. 6 Investigations of accidents or incidents. This includes being able to direct that any premises or area be left undisturbed, and taking photographs and measurements, and samples of any articles or substances including atmospheric samples. Overview of the CDM Regulations 11
- 27. 7 Asking anyperson (the inspector has reasonable cause to believe to be able to provide information) to answer such questions as the inspector may consider appropriate. Any breach of the CDM Regulations is deemed a criminal offence under statute law and can bring about judicial proceedings through the criminal courts. This is generally at a magistrates’ court or crown court depending on the nature and severity of the alleged breach. CDM duty holders and their responsibilities The principles of the CDM Regulations are simple in that they define responsi- bility and respective duties throughout all phases that make up a construction project. They have been designed to promote a proactive and integrated hazard management process that is addressed and communicated via defined means of communication and information flow. There are five CDM duty holders, namely: • the client (or client’s CDM agent); • the designer; • the planning supervisor; • the principal contractor; • the contractor. The client Without doubt the client holds the key to a project’s success in terms of health and safety. They firstly have the opportunity to appoint the project team and, if all appointees are competent, cultured and resourced to address the issues likely to be involved, then health and safety management will truly become an integrated process of project management. Secondly, the client has a major role to play in terms of providing relevant information to assist the team when making important design and planning decisions. Without information on the extent of existing services, ground con- tamination, asbestos and structural loadings for example, it becomes unfair to expect designers and contractors effectively to fulfil their respective roles. There are obviously varying degrees of client knowledge about construction health and safety legislation and management. Less experienced clients will depend on the designer to inform them on their duties as far as the CDM Regulations are concerned. These clients will also require the planning super- visor to be proactive and helpful. If the client remains uncomfortable or not entirely competent with their CDM duties they may appoint a client’s agent who will assume the statutory responsibilities for the regulations. The more experienced, professional construction clients are looking to 12 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 28. establish good healthand safety management procedures and protocols from the earliest opportunity. So-called ‘smart clients’ appreciate the valuable contri- bution they can make by setting high standards through appointments and through the provision of relevant information at the time it is needed. There also exists a further opportunity for the client to contribute to the health and safety management process. They are charged with ensuring that no work starts on site until a suitably developed construction phase health and safety plan has been produced. This effectively acts as a procedural gateway to ensure that appropriate health and safety management arrangements exist on site. The main responsibilities of the client include the following: 1 Appoint a planning supervisor who is competent and adequately resourced to address the health and safety issues likely to be involved in the project. 2 Appoint a principal contractor who is competent and adequately resourced to address the health and safety issues likely to be involved in the project. 3 Ensure, when engaging any designers or contractors, that they are com- petent and adequately resourced to address the health and safety issues likely to be involved in the project. 4 Provide the project team, via the planning supervisor, with relevant health and safety information about the site and its surrounding environment. 5 Ensure that no work begins on site until a suitably developed construction phase health and safety plan has been prepared. 6 Keep the health and safety file available for inspection. 7 So far as health and safety is concerned, ensure appropriate arrangements are made to manage the project. The designer Anyone designing a structure or contributing towards the design of a structure has a duty to consider the health and safety implications of their choices in terms of avoiding risks to anyone carrying out construction work or cleaning work as well as anyone affected by this work. Designers have immense power when it comes to avoiding or reducing the risks that arise day to day in construction and are legally bound to wield that power. Having said this, designers obviously have other influences to consider such as cost, aesthetics, building regulations, planning, environmental impact, party walls, etc. Inevitably, designers assess the macro health and safety issues of structural form, loadings and materials, for example, but it has been suggested that they are not looking sufficiently at a systematic risk avoidance or reduction strategy for the people expected to construct and maintain their designs. The term ‘designer’ in the CDM Regulations is far-reaching, and the scope of the designer goes beyond that of the traditional architect or engineer. The full extent of who could be perceived as having designer duties will be clarified in Overview of the CDM Regulations 13
- 29. Chapter 3. Sufficeto say, when looking at who has designer duties under the regulations, that we need to consider the ‘function’ over the ‘title’. The main responsibilities of the designer include the following: 1 Take responsible steps to inform the client of their duties under the CDM Regulations. 2 Give adequate regard to the hierarchy of risk control when carrying out design work. 3 Ensure design includes adequate information about health and safety. 4 Cooperate with the planning supervisor and other designers associated with the project. 5 Ensure, when arranging for any designer(s) to prepare a design, that they are competent and adequately resourced for health and safety. The planning supervisor The EU directive on which CDM was based called for ‘a co-ordinator of health and safety matters’. This duty holder was, therefore, created specifically as a result of the regulations themselves and indeed is often referred to as a ‘creature of the regulations’. It was clearly intended that the planning supervisor be an integral part of the design team, focusing primarily on the health and safety implications of the design. The revised Approved Code of Practice clearly spelt out the main responsibility when stating that: Planning supervisors have to be satisfied that designs address the need to eliminate and control risks. . . . CDM Approved Code of Practice HSG224 The planning supervisor will also take any significant residual risk information provided by the designers and along with relevant information provided by the client prepare the health and safety plan. Traditionally, the planning supervisor has suffered, unfairly in many cases, from a particularly bad press. A competent planning supervisor who is ade- quately resourced and appointed prior to any significant design having being undertaken can make a most valuable contribution to health and safety. However, a general lack of understanding of the role of the planning supervisor has led to ambiguity and consequently scepticism. The main responsibilities of the planning supervisor include the following: 1 Ensure notification is submitted to the Health and Safety Executive. 2 If required, be in a position to give adequate advice to clients on the designer’s competence and provision for health and safety. 3 Ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that designs comply with regulation 13. 14 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 30. 4 Take reasonablesteps to ensure cooperation between designers. 5 Be able to give adequate advice to clients on the contractor’s competence and provision for health and safety. 6 Be able to give adequate advice to contractors on the designer’s competence and provision for health and safety. 7 Ensure that a pre-tender health and safety plan is prepared in good time. 8 Be able to advise the client on the suitability of the initial construction phase health and safety plan. 9 Ensure that a health and safety file is prepared for each structure. 10 Ensure that the health and safety file is delivered to the client. The principal contractor With the responsibility to manage health and safety throughout the construction phase, the principal contractor has numerous responsibilities under the CDM Regulations. The principal contractor has emerged as a result of the CDM Regulations and it is important not to confuse the principal contractor with the main con- tractor or any other contractor. This duty holder is solely involved with the effective implementation of their responsibilities under the CDM Regulations. Much of the work of the principal contractor relates to ensuring that the standards and rules set in the construction phase health and safety plan are adhered to on site. Their relationship with the contractors is pivotal to successful health and safety management during the construction period. The main responsibilities of the principal contractor are as follows: 1 Ensure a health and safety plan is prepared for construction work, and is implemented, monitored and kept up to date. 2 Take responsible steps to ensure cooperation between the contractors. 3 Ensure compliance with the rules (if these are made). 4 Take reasonable steps to ensure that only authorised people are allowed on to the site. 5 Display a copy of the project notification prominently on site. 6 Provide the planning supervisor with information relevant to the health and safety file. 7 Give reasonable directions to contractors and monitor their work. 8 Make rules in the health and safety plan. If they are made, they should be in writing. 9 So far as is reasonably practicable, ensure contractors provide training and information to employees. 10 Ensure workers can discuss and offer advice and that there are arrangements for coordinating their views. 11 Ensure when arranging for any designer(s) to prepare a design that they are competent and adequately resourced for health and safety. Overview of the CDM Regulations 15
- 31. 12 Ensure whenarranging for any contractor(s) to carry out or manage con- struction work that they are competent and adequately resourced for health and safety. The contractor Contractors obviously have an important part to play in health and safety management as they are expected actually to carry out the construction work. Many are familiar with the principles of risk management as there is other legislation that requires employers, the self-employed and indeed employees to assess risks and adopt suitable control measures based on the principles of prevention. As far as CDM is concerned they need to cooperate and work closely with the principal contractor in such a way as to consider and manage the health and safety implications of their work. The CDM Regulations require that contractors do the following: 1 Cooperate with the principal contractor. 2 Pass to the principal contractor information which will affect health and safety, is relevant to the health and safety file or is relevant to RIDDOR. 3 Comply with the directions of the principal contractor and all the rules in the health and safety plan. 4 Provide relevant information and training to employees. 5 Ensure when arranging for any designer(s) to prepare a design that they are competent and adequately resourced for health and safety. The above information is merely a brief overview of the five duty holders involved in the CDM Regulations and is aimed at providing a flavour of their respective responsibilities. Each role is explored in detail later in the book. Application of the CDM Regulations We will next look at the CDM Regulations in terms of when they are applied to construction work. It is also necessary to define two key terms whose appli- cation it is important to be able to assess, namely ‘construction work’ and ‘structure’. We shall also assess when the Health and Safety Executive need to be informed of an intention to initiate a construction project. The term ‘notification’ is used to describe this requirement. Interpretation It is obviously important to appreciate when the CDM Regulations are actually applicable to a construction project or construction activity. Regulation 3 is concerned with the application of the regulations and states that: 16 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 32. Subject to thefollowing paragraphs of this regulation, these Regulations shall apply to and in relation to construction work. CDM regulation 3(1) This said, it is clearly evident that a definition of the term ‘construction work’ is desirable, and this clarity is provided by regulation 2(1) in that: ‘construction work’ means the carrying out of any building, civil engineer- ing or engineering construction work and includes any of the following – (a) the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, repair, upkeep, redecoration or other maintenance (includ- ing cleaning which involves the use of water or an abrasive at high pressure or the use of substances classified as corrosive or toxic for the purpose of regulation 7 of the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging) Regulations 1993), de-commissioning, demolition or dismantling of a structure, (b) the preparation for an intended structure, including site clearance, exploration, investigation (but not site survey) and excavation, and laying or installing the foundation of the structure, (c) the assembly of prefabrication elements to form a structure or the disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure, (d) the removal of a structure or part of a structure or of any product or waste resulting from demolition or dismantling of a structure or from disassembly of prefabricated elements which, immediately before such disassembly, formed a structure, and (e) the installation, commissioning, maintenance, repair or removal of mechanical, electrical, gas, compressed air, hydraulic, telecommunica- tions, computer or similar services which are normally fixed within or to a structure, but does not include the exploration for or extraction of mineral resources or activities preparatory thereto carried out at a place where such explor- ation or extraction is carried out. Extract from CDM regulation 2(1) Given the above references to the term ‘structure’, again a clear definition is required. This too is provided by regulation 2(1), which offers that: ‘structure’ means – (a) any building, steel or reinforced concrete structure (not being a building), railway line or siding, tramway line, clock, harbour, inland navigation, tunnel, shaft, bridge, viaduct, waterworks, reservoir, pipe Overview of the CDM Regulations 17
- 33. or pipe-line (whatever,in either case, it contains or is intended to contain), cable, aqueduct, sewer, sewage works, gasholder, road, air- field, sea defence works, river works, drainage works, earthworks, lagoon, dam, wall, caisson, mast, tower, pylon, underground tank, earth retaining structure, or structure designed to preserve or alter any natural feature, and any other structure similar to the foregoing, or (b) any formwork, falsework, scaffold or other structure designed or used to provide support or means of access during construction work, or (c) any fixed plant in respect of work which is installation, commission- ing, de-commissioning or dismantling and where any such work involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres. Extract from CDM regulation 2(1) When the CDM Regulations apply Knowing the extent of the legal definition of ‘construction work’ and similarly understanding the scope of a ‘structure’ in terms of the law, an attempt can now be made to establish when the CDM Regulations are applicable and also when notification is required to be made to the enforcing authority. So if the work is construction, as defined above, there are several factors that determine which of the CDM Regulations apply to the project. Significantly, where the full extent of the CDM Regulations does not apply then the designer’s duties can apply in their own right. Figure 1.2 explains when CDM is applicable. In summary, however, the following criteria are to be considered: • Is there demolition or dismantling? (See Appendix 4, ‘Glossary of terms’ for a definition.) • Is the project duration anticipated to be greater than 30 days or involve more than 500 person days? (See ‘Notifiable’ in Appendix 4, ‘Glossary of terms’.) • Will there be five or more people on site at any one time? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the full extent of the CDM Regulations applies, but the designer’s duties apply on all projects irrespective of these factors. When notification is required The regulations require that the Health and Safety Executive is provided with some basic project details. It is the responsibility of the planning supervisor to ensure that this notification is undertaken. On a domestic scheme, where the CDM Regulations are not fully applied, it is left to the contractor to notify the enforcing authority. 18 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 34. Figure 1.2 Theapplication of the CDM Regulations.
- 35. Notification is basedon the criteria illustrated in Figure 1.3. Interestingly, many organisations have in-house polices of applying the CDM Regulations to all projects because they appreciate that designs need coordination, people should be competent and hazards must be managed effectively. To help with compliance and policy implementation, a list of project types where CDM does, and does not, apply could form part of the client’s CDM toolkit. This list complements the existing CDM application flow diagram (Figure 1.2), and together they can act as a valuable aid to demonstrate the consideration given to application of the regulations. One important issue that we must consider when asking whether the CDM Regulations apply to a project is this. The CDM Regulations were introduced to implement a European directive, and they have been designed as management regulations for the appropriate management of hazards by defined project members. However, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW Regs) have all the legal elements to promote risk assessment, cooperation, competence and training, and provision of information. Therefore, if CDM is not applicable (with the exception of the designer’s duties), then the MHSW Regs will be adequate to manage the hazards. Simply, if CDM does not apply then MHSW will. Note: Some legal/CDM terminology can be misleading. Terms like ‘shall’, ‘practicable’ and ‘reasonably practicable’ are difficult to apply, even with a comprehensive and practical understanding. But to work within the regulations we need to understand what is expected of us and how far we need to go to execute a duty and comply. See Appendix 4, ‘Glossary of terms’ for guidance on these terms. Figure 1.3 Project notification. 20 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 36. Project hazard management Ifone of the objectives of CDM is hazard management then the primary function of all duty holders to make their health and safety contribution at the appropriate stage of the project is fundamental. Hazard management concepts The definition of a hazard is ‘something with the potential to cause harm’. The management of problems (or hazards) should be considered by all professionals as a part of the management function and not something that just health and safety people do. Most decisions in construction have an impact on design but also have financial, business risk, regulatory and health and safety implications. One could argue that most of the above are related and to make decisions independently is not prudent. To simplify, hazards could be thought of as ‘problems’ and the undertaking to address these as ‘actions’. Problems can be associated with the following categories on a project: • Existing environment, which includes: access to the site, e.g. busy roads, shared access, low bridges, restricted by size, etc.; access for materials to the workface, e.g. restricted by the adjacent building, overhead cables, etc.; ground conditions, e.g. contamination, wet, slopes, unstable buried structures, etc.; existing services, e.g. buried services, overhead services, etc.; materials, e.g. asbestos, lead paint, existing chemical storage, etc.; existing structures, e.g. unstable structures, existing temporary works, loose materials, etc.; local weather, e.g. flooding, high winds, exposed, etc.; existing activities, e.g. shops, operational use of the building, nearby school, etc. • Design and construction, which include: manual handling, e.g. laying 140mm concrete blocks, 600 × 600 slabs, 86kg kerbstones, etc.; vibration and noise, e.g. using pneumatic machinery; falls from height; falling objects, e.g. during lifting operations; site traffic, e.g. large plant and machinery; hazardous materials; uncontrolled collapse, e.g. excavations, structural instability; confined spaces, e.g. tanks, voids, basements; Overview of the CDM Regulations 21
- 37. restricted access; lifting operations,e.g. use of cranes; existing services, e.g. buries services, overhead power lines; deep excavations. • Future maintenance, which includes: access for cleaning, e.g. working off ladders, tower scaffolding; component replacement, e.g. curtain walling, lights; access for maintenance, e.g. confined spaces, working at height. If the primary objective of CDM is hazard management then an under- standing of how valuable health and safety information is communicated through a construction project is required. Each CDM duty holder has a responsibility to provide and communicate information through a system of statutory protocols. We will now, albeit briefly, assess this holistic hazard management process. Figure 1.4 illustrates the process, which we shall next explore. Client’s hazard management contribution A project, in terms of a hazard management concept, should start with the client identifying what information they need to provide to the planning supervisor and designers to enable them to consider the impact on the design and development of a tender package or construction brief. Providing the information to facilitate future consideration by a designer or contractor is a significant contribution towards managing the hazard. The information a client should provide is based on ‘reasonable enquiries’, and examples of what they should provide is detailed in Chapter 2. On many projects this work of information gathering is undertaken by the lead consultant, who is generally an architect or engineer. It is advisable to have a formal arrangement in place between the client and the person carrying out the work to define who is responsible for what. Figure 1.4 The holistic CDM flow of hazard management information. 22 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 38. Designer’s hazard managementcontributions Potentially the designer is in the best position to manage significant hazards based on their early intervention on the project and by the relationship between all the aspects that define the design and hazards. Early decisions about the location of a structure, the materials and processes and the fundamental design of the structure affect buildability and health and safety throughout the life cycle of the structure. The management of these problems must be integrated within the design process and promote the identification of hazards at all stages of design and initiate a design response that is weighted according to the level of risk. This is termed the control hierarchy. It promotes a design to avoid or eliminate significant hazards; where this is not possible the design needs to reduce the level of risk to where it is not significant; and if this is not possible suitable control measures are required or the hazard needs to be transferred to the contractor. The most common process for achieving this is risk assessment, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 3. Designer’s duties are unique in that they apply to all projects irrespective of the size, risk profile, number of persons working on the project or even if the project is for a domestic client. On a project where the full sets of CDM Regulations apply, the designer should communicate the outputs of their risk assessment to the planning supervisor. Planning supervisor’s hazard management contributions The first contribution to be made by the planning supervisor is the collation of relevant information from the client on the site’s environmental/inherent hazards. This can involve the planning supervisor or a competent person undertaking a site visit and recommending investigations to the client. The second and probably most important contribution is the planning super- visor’s duty to ensure designers design with adequate regard to health and safety and provide adequate information with their designs. The significant residual risks from the site and the design are then collated into the pre-tender health and safety plan. This document alerts the principal contractor of the issues and allows the principal contractor to plan and resource for health and safety. Finally the planning supervisor’s duty to ensure that the health and safety file is suitably developed and provided to the building/structure manager is also significant. The health and safety ‘file’ holds valuable health and safety information for all future projects, maintenance activities and operations throughout the life of the building or structure. Overview of the CDM Regulations 23
- 39. Principal contractor’s hazardmanagement contributions The principal contractor’s appointment and position on the project as the manager of all aspects of health and safety during the construction phase places them in a pivotal position to contribute to health and safety manage- ment. The principal contractor should manage all aspects of safety through a project-specific set of arrangements called the construction phase health and safety ‘plan’. The standards and tools for the management of health and safety on site delivered through the construction phase health and safety plan include risk assessments, method statements, fire, emergency, site traffic management and lifting plans, training, including induction, registers for inspections and permits to work. The principal contractor and contractor’s hazard management role is at the sharp end of construction and has direct links with fatalities and ill health, but as professionals their early contributions as site safety managers and in organisations with knowledge of constructability are invaluable. Risk assessment Risk assessment is a discipline that all construction professionals must either legally or practically be confident in practising. From the earliest decisions on a project, the principles of risk assessment should be applied. It is important to clarify that risk assessment is an integrated mindset that involves identification of problems and the development of solutions. The methodology, management of outputs and review should all be defined in either a health and safety policy or a safety plan before starting the process. The risk assessment pro forma should be considered as a report on one’s findings that can be communicated for collaborative working, proof of compliance or action/implementation of safety or design standards depending on the objective. Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to undertake risk assessments of their activities. However, the CDM Regulations do not specify the need for any risk assessment, but this is the most common process by which designers demonstrate they are designing with adequate regard to health and safety. The fundamental elements of risk assessment involve the process or mechan- ism, which should be different for different objectives, and the competence of the person undertaking the process in knowing what outputs or standards to define. The management of actions through the risk assessment document can be expanded to the use of a common risk register that provides a facility that is managed by controllers and contributed to by a defined user group. The con- troller could be the planning supervisor for a design risk register or a project manager for an all-inclusive risk register, and the contributor could be the 24 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 40. design team orthe whole project team. Modern information technology, par- ticularly the Internet, provides opportunities for project teams to run live risk registers that not only record the problems and solutions but also project- manage the actions and provide all the associated information to whoever requires it. Hazard checklists To start a risk assessment process, the hazard checklist can be beneficial. Examples of where such a checklist could be used on a project include: • a developer making initial enquiries about a site; • a client assessing the potential interface/impact of a project on existing operations, e.g. a highway, school/university, hospital, office, bridge, etc., and deciding what information to provide to potential designers and contractors; • a designer undertaking a design review to check for significant hazards that could be designed out or the risk reduced through design and what information to provide to the contractor; • a designer undertaking a post-construction activity assessment for large- component replacement and access for future maintenance including cleaning; • a contractor undertaking an initial hazard identification process on a new project and allocating hazard ownership and actions to the contracting team. The problems can be identified using the checklist as an aide-memoire or pro forma and recorded for action. Some of the hazards that could be considered on a checklist include: • asbestos; • falls from height; • falling objects; • fire risk; • manual handling; • noise and vibration; • site traffic; • highway traffic; • railways; • buried services; • overhead services; • confined spaces; • existing activities on site; • interface with the public; Overview of the CDM Regulations 25
- 41. • hazardous dust; •large difficult-to-manage components; • contaminated ground conditions; • buried structures; • condition of the existing structure; • uncontrolled collapse; • access restrictions (to site and workface); • nearby/on-site water courses; • lifting operations. Design risk assessment pro forma It could be argued that the design risk assessment pro forma is one of the most misused documents in the industry. The objective of the pro forma is to promote a process of design risk assessment, and not construction risk assessment, and to record and communicate with the planning supervisor and other designers as necessary. When deciding what to record and what not to record on a design risk assessment the designer should consider the following: • Is the hazard significant? • Do I need to record a design action and thought process when the evidence is on the drawing? • Would I expect a competent contractor to know what is recorded? • Am I assuming the contractor will use a certain method of work? • Would the contractor be aware of the asbestos report? • Are the other designers aware and will they consider the problems with the site? The design risk assessment pro forma has the potential to facilitate effective hazard management during the design phase, which on many projects goes on throughout the construction process. However, if not used effectively, such pro formas can facilitate an overly bureaucratic approach which can obscure the significant health and safety issues. The health and safety plan The health and safety plan is the medium used to articulate and communicate significant health and safety information throughout a project until the end of the construction phase. Prior to work beginning, during the tender stage for example, the contractors can view the plan and fully assess the significant health and safety issues and consequently ensure they can be sufficiently resourced and managed. 26 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 42. (1) The planningsupervisor appointed for any project shall ensure that a health and safety plan in respect of the project has been prepared no later than the time specified in paragraph (2). . . . (2) The time when the health and safety plan is required by paragraph (1) to be prepared is such time as will enable the health and safety plan to be provided to any contractor before arrangements are made for the contractor to carry out or manage construction work. Extract from CDM regulation 15 Note that the regulation only requires the planning supervisor to ensure that a health and safety plan is prepared. There is therefore no statutory duty for the planning supervisor actually to prepare the document. Generally, however, it is indeed the planning supervisor who collates and prepares the health and safety plan pre-construction. The principal contractor must develop the health and safety plan throughout the construction phase in that they need to consider and demonstrate how significant residual risk will be resourced and managed. The Approved Code of Practice clearly divides the health and safety plan into two distinct entities, namely the pre-tender plan and the construction phase plan. It is noteworthy, when emphasising the significance of the health and safety plan, that all project members make contributions to the document. Clients provide information on the project’s inherent hazards; designers provide details of risks associated with their design; planning supervisors may offer addi- tional information; and the principal contractor evolves and develops the plan complete with contributions from the contractors. Pre-tender health and safety plan The objective of the pre-tender (or pre-start) health and safety plan is to provide a project-specific and concise compendium of health and safety-related infor- mation upon which the principal contractor can base the strategy for construc- tion health and safety management. The document is fundamental to the CDM process, as it contains information based on the following criteria: Figure 1.5 The health and safety plan. Overview of the CDM Regulations 27
- 43. • a descriptionof the project, contact details and existing records and plans; • the client’s considerations and management requirements for the project, including site rules, existing emergency procedures, activities adjacent to and on site, and security arrangements during construction; • environmental restrictions and existing on-site risks, which should include safety and health risks; • significant design and construction hazards, including design assumptions and control measures, significant design risks including hazardous mate- rials, and arrangements for coordinating ongoing design work and design changes; • the format, content and arrangements for development of the health and safety file. This plan also has the facility to set minimum health and safety standards, which, following the letting of the contract or start of work, would be difficult to impose thereafter on any contractor. As the information and standards are important to the client’s operation and investment, the assessment of the contractor response to the plan is equally important. The plan should take advantage of CDM regulation 10 as a legal procedural gateway in informing the contractor that the client cannot allow work to start until a suitably developed construction phase plan has been developed. It is the client’s duty to assess this, but the planning supervisor must offer advice if asked. Construction phase health and safety plan The construction phase health and safety plan is the master control document for site safety. Its development for work to start must be based on the first stages of the construction programme but also should have the infrastructure to demonstrate that health and safety will be managed throughout the project. To this end, the development of the plan is critical as a hazard management tool. Regulation and assessment of the plan are legally completed by the client, often with advice from the planning supervisor. A typical construction phase health and safety plan, if it is to be deemed suitably developed, should contain the following: • a description of the project, contact details and existing records and plans; • arrangements for the communication and management of the work, including liaison between parties on site, consultation with the workforce, the exchange of design information, risk assessment and method statement production and approval, site rules and site emergency procedures; • arrangements for controlling significant site health and safety risks including temporary services, falls from height, lifting operations, traffic management, hazardous substances, removal of asbestos, contaminated land, reducing noise and vibration, manual handling, etc.; 28 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 44. • the healthand safety file layout and format, arrangements for collection of file information and storage arrangements. The construction phase plan can be a stand-alone document and on more complex projects it can be an integrated element of the organisation’s site safety management system. The health and safety file From a risk profile perspective, given that the majority of construction and maintenance operations will be undertaken post-completion and indeed throughout the lifetime of the structure, the health and safety file is considered to be an invaluable source of information. One of the initial concepts of the health and safety file is that any additional work including demolition on the building or structure will be supported by the file’s information. The health and safety file could be useful post-project completion for: • designers and contractors on future refurbishment projects; • developing facilities maintenance or management contracts; • electrical maintenance and upgrades to the system; • mechanical maintenance and upgrades to the system; • cleaning contractors planning work; • the client or planning supervisor in developing a tender; • an engineer tracing a fault on any system. The file can be a stand-alone document or reference source but is often an integrated part of the operational and maintenance manual for the structure or building. The biggest problem in developing a file is data management. The first stage is getting any data at all. The data then needs to be valuable. Irrelevant information should be avoided. The file must also be kept up to date with any amendments. Version control is important where multiple copies exist. The format of the health and safety file should be based on the following information: • A brief description of the work carried out. • Residual risks and information to support their future management, e.g. asbestos surveys and clearance certificates; existing buried services layout; contaminated land report. • Key structural principles within the design, e.g. sub-structural design, e.g. piles, foundations, etc.; structural frame/superstructure elements, e.g. bracing, floor loadings, roof Overview of the CDM Regulations 29
- 45. loadings, energy-stored elementslike pre-tensioned and post-tensioned beams, etc. • Hazardous materials used in the construction, e.g. lead paint on reclaimed windows; low-level contaminated land during some landscaping; finishes used in which there is a risk when repairing or cleaning. • Future movement and dismantling of plant and equipment, e.g. load weights and lifting arrangements; decommissioning arrangements; method statements for removal/installation of difficult-to-manage operations; associated services information for removal/installation of difficult-to- manage operations. • Equipment provided and arrangements for cleaning, e.g. access equipment training and safe operation; maintenance arrangements for equipment. • Detail on the nature and location of significant building, system or structure services, e.g. fire-fighting mains; electrical supply; water supply; gas supply; telecommunications supply; sewage connections. • As built and installed information on the structure and its equipment, e.g. substructure; main superstructure; roofing system; external finish; windows and atria; internal finishes; mechanical and electrical (M&E) details; fire doors and compartmentation; interface with existing structures. The development of the file is generally completed at the end of the project, with the client and planning supervisor defining the arrangements for its com- pletion. However, many clients and contractors alike are seeing advantages in the ongoing development of the file from the start of the design stage, owing to the valuable nature of the information throughout the construction phase. 30 Overview of the CDM Regulations
- 46. CDM clients andthe client’s agent Introduction 32 Who is the client? 33 Interpretation 33 Developers 34 Client’s CDM duties explained 35 Making the appointment of a competent and adequately resourced team 35 Providing relevant health and safety information to the team 39 Ensuring no work begins on site until a construction phase health and safety plan has been suitably developed 41 Availability of the health and safety file 42 The client’s agent 43 Some frequently asked client questions 44 Chapter 2
- 47. Introduction It has longbeen argued that the client holds the key to the successful health and safety management of any construction project. In terms of the CDM Regulations this cannot be denied. Through the appointment of a competent, adequately resourced team and by allocating sufficient time for the project to be properly planned, designed and constructed, the client can truly make the maximum contribution to the health, safety and welfare on site. The cultured client will also be aware of what information the team will require to be able to facilitate a proactively planned scheme. Designers and contractor need to be made aware of relevant health and safety information so they can make the right choices based on the level of risk. There is also a critical procedural gateway whereby the client must ensure that a suitably developed construction phase health and safety plan has been compiled by the principal contractor. Only then can the client allow construction work to begin. All too often though, the client has little or no understanding of the signifi- cant opportunity they hold to contribute to the health and safety management process. Clients can make the mistake of assuming that once they have appointed the team they can stand back from any health and safety responsibility yet still drive the project from all other angles. The uneducated client who has not fully understood their role in a project’s health and safety management can suffer potentially serious business risk issues by: • enforcing unrealistic project timescales; • appointing incompetent and under-resourced designers, planning super- visors and contractors; • not providing relevant health and safety information when it is needed; • allowing work to proceed without a suitably developed health and safety plan; • not making the health and safety file available post-construction. As many clients are not especially familiar with construction health and safety legislation, the CDM Regulations require designers to ensure that they are aware of their duties. The planning supervisor should also be able to advise the client on the health and safety aspects of appointments and the suitability of the construction phase health and safety plan and even help with the general project health and safety management arrangements. If the client is still uncomfortable with their CDM responsibilities they may empower a client’s agent to act on their behalf. This competent agent then assumes the client’s CDM responsibilities. It has been suggested, however, that if a client simply passes on their legal health and safety duty by appoint- ing an agent but continues to drive the project in all other ways, such as 32 CDM clients and the client’s agent
- 48. timescales and financefor example, the potential for CDM to work could be compromised or at least diluted. It may well be the case that the removal of the client’s CDM agent will be an option when the CDM Regulations are next reviewed. Who is the client? Before we take a detailed look at the respective duties of the client it is worth defining who the client is in the terms of the regulations. Although it may appear obvious in many cases it is important to establish who, on a particular project, fulfils the CDM functions of a client. Interpretation The interpretation offered by the Regulations themselves states that: Client means any person for whom a project is carried out, whether it is carried out by another person or is carried out in-house. Clients can come from a variety of organisations or individuals, including for example: • housing associations; • local authorities; • companies; • developers; • NHS trusts; • financial institutions; • charities; • government agencies. Guidance from the CDM Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) suggests that other factors to consider, when it may not be immediately clear who the client is, include: 1. Who is at the head of the procurement chain 2. Who arranges for the design work, and 3. Who engages the contractors ACoP HSG224 para 57 Where ambiguity exists, arrangements for carrying out the client’s respective CDM duties will need to be established very early on. Lack of clarity exists, for example, where a large client organisation does not have effective health and safety policy arrangements or quality assurance procedures. CDM clients and the client’s agent 33
- 49. Question: A schoolis to build a large extension to facilitate a new sports complex. Who is the client in terms of complying with the CDM duties? Is it perhaps: • the head teacher of the school? • the board of governors? • the chief executive of the local authority? • the education department? • building services? The answer is that someone competent needs to fulfil the various client duties, and the arrangements for this undertaking should be clearly defined in the organisation’s health and safety policy arrangements or perhaps integrated into project QA procedures. Note that the CDM Regulations do not apply to a domestic client. Developers It is evident that all developers are clients in terms of the CDM Regulations. However, the regulations also make specific mention of developers remaining the CDM client once they have sold to or entered into an agreement with a domestic buyer prior to the completion of a project but where they continue to arrange for construction work to be carried out. Regulation 5 offers: (1) This regulation applies where the project is carried out for a domestic client and the client enters into an arrangement with a person (in this regulation called ‘the developer’) who carries on a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not) in connection with which – (a) land or an interest in land is granted or transferred to the client; and (b) the developer undertakes that construction work will be carried out on the land; and (c) following the construction work, the land will include premises which, as intended by the client, will be occupied as a residence. (2) Where this regulation applies, with effect from the time the client enters into the arrangement referred to in paragraph (1), the require- ments of regulations 6 and 8 to 12 shall apply to the developer as if he were the client. CDM regulation 5 Example: A property developer intends to build 30 new dwellings on a green- field site. He is fortunate enough to sell 25 of the properties before he begins on 34 CDM clients and the client’s agent
- 50. site. As mentionedearlier, the CDM Regulations do not apply to domestic clients. However, in this instance the developer will remain a CDM client for the entire project as it is he who is undertaking or instigating the construction work. Client’s CDM duties explained Making the appointment of a competent and adequately resourced team This duty provides the client with an opportunity to make an immediate contribution to health and safety for the entire project from the very outset. They are the only duty holder who can appoint the planning supervisor and the principal contractor. In many cases the client is also responsible for the appointment of the lead designer. Clearly, if the health and safety management of a project is to be in any way effective then the appointed team must be both competent and adequately resourced to address the health and safety issues likely to be involved. Note that when we discuss competence and resources we are solely interested in these in terms of the ability to comply with the CDM obligations of the respective duty holder. Competence of planning supervisors, designers and contractors (1) No client shall appoint any person as planning supervisor in respect of a project unless the client is reasonably satisfied that the person he intends to appoint has the competence to perform the functions of planning supervisor under these Regulations in respect of that project. (2) No person shall arrange for a designer to prepare a design unless he is reasonably satisfied that the designer has the competence to carry out that design. (3) No person shall arrange for a contractor to carry out or manage con- struction work unless he is reasonably satisfied that the contractor has the competence to carry out or, as the case may be, manage, that construction work. Extract from CDM regulation 8 Provision for health and safety (1) No client shall appoint any person as planning supervisor in respect of a project unless the client is reasonably satisfied that the person he intends to appoint has allocated or, as appropriate, will allocate resources to enable him to perform the functions of planning supervisor under these Regulations in respect of that project. CDM clients and the client’s agent 35
- 51. (2) No personshall arrange for a designer to prepare a design unless he is reasonably satisfied that the designer has allocated or, as appropriate, will allocate adequate resources to enable the designer to comply with regulation 13. (3) No person shall arrange for a contractor to carry out or manage con- struction work unless he is reasonably satisfied that the contractor has allocated or, as appropriate, will allocate adequate resources to enable the contractor to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under the relevant statutory provisions. CDM regulation 9 Traditional methods used by clients to assess the competence and resources of their proposed project team include the use of pre-qualification question- naires and interviews. Generally, if an organisation has already established the competence of a particular principal contractor, for example from a previous project, then it may be possible to focus just on the adequacy of resources. There are dangers, however, associated with this philosophy as obviously no two projects are the same, personnel change and technologies move on. The client must also have the ability to assess who is competent and who is adequately resourced. The development of a checklist to facilitate such assessments is sometimes undertaken. It is, however, widely accepted that CDM competence is not what it should be, and improvements in the team’s ability to understand and implement health and safety management philosophies throughout a project remains a major industry challenge. Appointing the planning supervisor It has long been argued that late appointments of relatively incompetent plan- ning supervisors have been a contributory factor of inadequate health and safety planning from concept through to detailed design. Clients have not been made sufficiently aware of the valuable contribution that a competent planning supervisor can make. Their early appointment is a key CDM duty. (1) Subject to paragraph (6)(b), every client shall appoint – (a) a planning supervisor . . . in respect of each project. (3) The planning supervisor shall be appointed as soon as is practicable after the client has such information about the project and the con- struction work involved in it as will enable him to comply with the requirements imposed on him. . . . Extracts from CDM regulation 6 36 CDM clients and the client’s agent
- 52. If the planningsupervisor is to be in a position to advise on the competence and resources of the designers this naturally implies that they must be appointed at a very early stage. In fact, this is ideally as soon as the client is in a position to assess the competence and resources required of a planning supervisor. The role of planning supervisor can be undertaken by an individual, an organisation or another project member or indeed can be an in-house appoint- ment. What is required is for the client to ensure that the appointee is competent and adequately resourced to provide the service. It is also worth noting that there is no such creature as a ‘qualified’ plann- ing supervisor; therefore careful consideration is necessary to ensure the requirements of the appointment are satisfied. The planning supervisor will require sufficient knowledge of the design pro- cesses involved and the construction activities likely to be adopted and must also have a sound understanding of occupational health and safety legislation. If these criteria are clearly apparent then competence should be relatively straightforward for the client to establish. The most significant resource for a client to assess from a planning supervisor is arguably the time they are able to commit to the project. It is important for the client to know, for continued health and safety management continuity, that the planning supervisor is adequately resourced. One anomaly with planning supervisors thus far has been the sometimes large inconsistency in the fees they request for their services. Whenever a client is assessing a fee proposal from a planning supervisor who they are considering appointing it is imperative to know exactly how far the service extends. In particular, clients with little CDM knowledge may find it difficult to understand why large variations exist between quotations for planning supervision on a project. With many of the planning supervisor’s duties the planning supervisor must simply ‘ensure’ that a task is undertaken. Herein lies the relative inequality of fee proposals. The planning supervisor must: ensure that a health and safety file is prepared in respect of each structure comprised in the project . . . Extract from CDM regulation 14(d) Example: On a large construction project one planning supervisor quoted £500 to carry out the above statutory duty. A second planning supervisor quoted £5,000 for the same task as part of their fee proposal. You may well ask who the client is favouring thus far. However, the planning supervisor quoting £500 will ensure only that the health and safety file is prepared in that he will have the principal contractor actually put the file together. The other will request appropriate information and physically undertake all the necessary work to produce the file. CDM clients and the client’s agent 37
- 53. A competent planningsupervisor is undoubtedly a valuable asset to any construction project, and the client must be educated to appreciate the added value the planning supervisor can bring to the health and safety management process. Appointing designers The client has no legal duty under the CDM Regulations to appoint a designer or lead designer. However, in many cases the designer is the first appointee made by the client. Consequently the regulations below will become effective in establishing their ability to comply with their duties: No person shall arrange for a designer to prepare a design unless he is reasonably satisfied that the designer has the competence to prepare the design. CDM regulation 8(2) No person shall arrange for a designer to prepare a design unless he is reasonably satisfied that the designer has allocated or, as appropriate, will allocate adequate resources to enable the designer to comply with regulation 13. CDM regulation 9(2) Designers too, it has been suggested, are rarely challenged by clients in terms of proving that they are indeed competent to address the health and safety issues likely to be involved in their designs. More recently there has been a trend for clients to ask design practices to complete lengthy CDM pre-qualification questionnaires, but there is no evidence to suggest that this results in safer designs. A more practical suggestion for the assessment of designer CDM com- petence has been offered by the Construction Industry Council which requests simple, practical evidence of competence. Appointing the principal contractor Many clients understand the relevance of assessing the health and safety com- petence of contractors and it must be said that price is not always the overriding criterion to the successful award of a contract. Professional construction clients who appreciate the concept of a holistic business risk approach to project management will carefully consider the contractor’s ability to manage health and safety on site. When making an appointment the client must consider the following: The client shall not appoint as principal contractor any person who is not a contractor. CDM regulation 6(2) 38 CDM clients and the client’s agent
- 54. The principal contractorshall be appointed as soon as is practicable after the client has such information about the project and the construction work involved in it as will enable the client to comply with the regulations imposed on him by regulations 8(3) and 9(3) when making an arrangement with a contractor to manage construction work where such an arrangement consists of the appointment of the principal contractor. CDM regulation 6(4) Generally, good practice would demand that the competence of a principal contractor is assessed prior to an invitation to tender. This is sometimes under- taken with pre-qualification questionnaires. The establishment of adequate resources is often then undertaken at the tender stage. There will only be one principal contractor on a project at any one time, but it is possible for a change in the appointment, for example if there is a significant change in the project’s nature or perhaps if the principal contractor is clearly not able to carry out their CDM duty because of a decrease in competence or the provision of insufficient resources. Providing relevant health and safety information to the team It is the responsibility of the client to provide the team, usually via the planning supervisor, with relevant information relating to the proposed work. The client shall ensure the information is made available: as soon as is reasonably practicable but in any event before the commence- ment of the work to which the information relates . . . Extract from CDM regulation 11(1) This may sound like an obvious statement, but clients have a duty proactively to provide details on the condition of any proposed site. The term ‘reasonable enquiries’ is used to define the extent of detail required and this is supported by the following list of examples in the CDM Approved Code of Practice (ACoP): (a) the presence, location and condition of hazardous materials, such as asbestos or waste chemicals; (b) activities on or near the site, which will continue during construction work, e.g. retail shops, deliveries and traffic movements, railway lines or busy roads, public access to a retail store; (c) requirements relating to the health and safety of the client’s employees or customers, e.g. permit-to-work systems in a petrochemical plant, fire precautions in a paper mill, one-way systems on site, means of escape, ‘no-go’ areas, smoking and parking restrictions; (d) access and space problems, such as narrow streets, lack of parking, turning or storage space; CDM clients and the client’s agent 39
- 55. Another Random Documenton Scribd Without Any Related Topics
- 56. between the combsare unavoidably contracted; but in winter well- stored magazines are essential, while from their state of comparative inactivity spacious communications are less necessary. On the return of spring, however, when the cells are wanted for the reception of eggs, the bees contract the elongated cells to their former dimensions, and thus re-establish the just distances between the combs which the care of their brood requires[775]. But this is not all. Not only do they elongate the cells of the old combs when there is an extraordinary harvest of honey, but they actually give to the new cells which they construct on this emergency a much greater diameter as well as a greater depth[776]. The queen-bee in ordinary circumstances places each egg in the centre of the pyramidal bottom of the cell, where it remains fixed by its natural gluten: but in an experiment of Huber, one whose fecundation had been retarded, had the first segments of her abdomen so swelled that she was unable to reach the bottom of the cells. She therefore attached her eggs (which were those of males) to their lower side, two lines from the mouth. As the larvæ always pass that state in the place where they are deposited, those hatched from the eggs in question remained in the situation assigned them. But the working-bees, as if aware that in these circumstances the cells would be too short to contain the larvæ when fully grown, added to their length, even before the eggs were hatched[777]. Bees close up the cells of the grubs, previously to their transformation, with a cover or lid of wax: and in hanging its abode with a silken tapestry before it assumes the pupa state, the grub requires that the cell should not be too short for its movements. Bonnet having placed a swarm in a very flat glass hive, the bees constructed one of the combs parallel to one of the principal sides, where it was so straight that they could not give to the cells their ordinary depth. The queen, however, laid eggs in them, and the workers daily nourished the grubs, and closed the cells at the period of transformation. A few days afterwards he was surprised to perceive in the lids, holes more or less large, out of which the grubs
- 57. partly projected, thecells having been too short to admit of their usual movements. He was curious to know how the bees would proceed. He expected that they would pull all the grubs out of the cells, as they commonly do when great disorders in the combs take place. But he did not sufficiently give credit to the resources of their instinct. They did not displace a single grub—they left them in their cells: but as they saw that these cells were not deep enough, they closed them afresh with lids much more convex them ordinary, so as to give to them a sufficient depth; and from that time no more holes were made in the lids. The working bees, in closing up the cells containing larvæ, invariably give a convex lid to the large cells of drones, and one nearly flat to the smaller cells of workers: but in an experiment instituted by Huber to ascertain the influence of the size of the cells on that of the included larvæ, he transferred the larvæ of workers to the cells of drones. What was the result? Did the bees still continue blindly to exercise their ordinary instinct? On the contrary, they now placed a nearly flat lid upon these large cells, as if well aware of their being occupied by a different race of inhabitants[778]. On some occasions bees, in consequence of Huber's arrangements in the interior of their habitations, have begun to build a comb nearer to the adjoining one than the usual interval; but they soon appeared to perceive their error, and corrected it by giving to the comb a gradual curvature, so as to resume the ordinary distance[779]. In another instance, in which various irregularities had taken place in the form of the combs, the bees, in prolonging one of them, had, contrary to their usual custom, begun two separate and distant continuations, which in approaching instead of joining would have interfered with each other, had not the bees, apparently foreseeing the difficulty, gradually bent their edges so as to make them join with such exactness that they could afterwards continue them conjointly[780].
- 58. In constructing theircombs, bees, as you have been before told, in my letter on the habitations of insects, form the first range of cells— that by which the comb is attached to the top of the hive—of a different shape from the rest. Each cell instead of being hexagonal is pentagonal, having the fifth broadest side fixed to the top of the hive, whence the comb is much more securely cemented to that part, than if the first range of cells had been of the ordinary construction. For some time after their fabrication, the combs remain in this state; but at a certain period the bees attack the first range of cells as if in fury, gnaw away the sides without touching the lozenge- shaped bottoms; and having mixed the wax with propolis, they form a cement well known to the ancients under the names of Mitys, Commosis and Pissoceros, which they substitute in the place of the removed sides of the cells, forming of it thick and massive walls and heavy and shapeless pillars, which they introduce between the comb and the top of the hive so as to agglutinate them firmly together. Huber, who first in modern times witnessed this remarkable modification of the architecture of bees, observed, that not only are they careful not to touch the bottoms of the cells, but that they do not remove at once the cells on both sides of the comb, which in that case might fall down; but they work alternately, first on one side and then on the other, replacing the demolished cells as they proceed, with mitys, which firmly fixes the comb to its support. The object of this substitution of mitys for wax seems clear. While the combs are new and only partially filled with honey, the first range of cells, originally established as the base and the guide for the pyramidal bottoms of the subsequent ones, serves as a sufficient support for them. But when they contain a store of several pounds, the bees seem to foresee the danger of such a weight proving too heavy for the thin waxen walls by which the combs are suspended, and providently hasten to substitute for them thicker walls, and pillars of a more compact and viscid material. But their foresight does not stop here. When they have sufficient wax, they make their combs of such a breadth as to extend to the
- 59. sides of thehive, to which they cement them by constructions approaching more or less to the shape of cells. But when a scarcity of wax happens before they have been able to give to their combs the requisite diameter, a large vacant space is left between the edges of these combs, which are only fixed by their upper part, and the sides of the hive; and they might be pulled down by the weight of the honey, did not the bees ensure their stability by introducing large irregular masses of wax between their edges and the sides of the hive.—A striking instance of this art of securing their magazines occurred to Huber. A comb, not having been originally well fastened to the top of his glass hive, fell down during the winter amongst the other combs, preserving, however, its parallelism with them. The bees could not fill up the space between its upper edge and the top of the hive, because they never construct combs of old wax, and they had not then an opportunity of procuring new: at a more favourable season they would not have hesitated to build a new comb upon the old one; but it being inexpedient at that period to expend their provision of honey in the elaboration of wax, they provided for the stability of the fallen comb by another process. They furnished themselves with wax from the other combs, by gnawing away the rims of the cells more elongated than the rest, and then betook themselves in crowds, some upon the edges of the fallen comb, others between its sides and those of the adjoining combs; and there securely fixed it, by constructing several ties of different shapes between it and the glass of the hive; some were pillars, others buttresses, and others beams artfully disposed and adapted to the localities of the surfaces joined. Nor did they content themselves with repairing the accidents which their masonry had experienced; they provided against those which might happen, and appeared to profit by the warning given by the fall of one of the combs to consolidate the others and prevent a second accident of the same nature. These last had not been displaced, and appeared solidly attached by their base; whence Huber was not a little surprised to see the bees strengthen their principal points of connexion by making them much thicker than before with old wax, and forming numerous ties and braces to unite them more closely to
- 60. each other andto the walls of their habitation.—What was still more extraordinary, all this happened in the middle of January, at a period when the bees ordinarily cluster at the top of the hive, and do not engage in labours of this kind[781]. You will admit, I think, that these proofs of the resources of the architectural instinct of bees are truly admirable. If, in the case of the substitution of mitys for the first range of waxen cells, this procedure invariably took place in every bee-hive at a fixed period— when, for example, the combs are two-thirds filled with honey—it would be less surprising: but there is nothing of this invariable character about it. It does not, as Huber expressly informs us[782], occur at any marked and regular period, but appears to depend on several circumstances not always combined. Sometimes the bees content themselves with bordering the sides of the upper cells with propolis alone, without altering their form or giving them greater thickness. And it is not less remarkable that, from the instances last cited, it appears that they are not confined to one kind of cement for strengthening and supporting their combs, but avail themselves of propolis, wax, or a mixture of both, as circumstances direct. Not to weary you with examples of the modifications of instinct we are considering, I shall introduce but three more:—the first, of the mode in which bees extend the dimensions of an old comb; the second, of that which they adopt in constructing the male cells and connecting them with the smaller cells of workers; and the last, of the plan pursued by them when it becomes necessary to bend their combs. You must have observed that a comb newly made becomes gradually thinner at its edges, the cells there, on each side, progressively decreasing in length: but in time these marginal cells, as they are wanted for the purposes of the hive, are elongated to the depth of the rest. Now suppose bees, from an augmentation of the size of their hive, to have occasion to extend their combs either in length or breadth, the process which they adopt is this: They
- 61. gnaw away thetops of the marginal cells until the combs have resumed their original lenticular form, and then construct upon their edges the pyramidal lozenge-shaped bottoms of cells, upon which the hexagonal sides are subsequently raised, as in their operation of cell-building. This course of proceeding is invariable: they never extend a comb in any direction whatever, without having first made its edges thinner, diminishing its thickness in a portion sufficiently large to leave no angular projection.—Huber observes, and with reason, in relating this surprising law which obliges bees partially to demolish the cells situated upon the edges of the combs, that it deserves a more close examination than he found himself competent to give it: for, if we may to a certain point form a conception of the instinct which leads these animals to employ their art of building cells, yet how can we conceive of that which in particular circumstances forces them to act in an opposite direction, and determines them to demolish what they have so laboriously constructed[783]? Drones, or male bees, are more bulky than the workers; and you have been told, in speaking of the habitations of insects, that the cells which bees construct for rearing the larvæ of the former, are larger than those destined for the education of the larvæ of the latter. The diameter of the cells of drones is always 3-1/3 lines (or twelfths of an inch); that of those of workers 2-2/5 lines: and these dimensions are so constant in their ordinary cells, that some authors have thought they might be adopted as an universal and invariable scale of measure, which would have the great recommendation of being every where at hand, and at all events would be preferable to our barley-corns. Several ranges of male cells, sometimes from thirty to forty, are usually found in each comb, generally situated about the middle. Now as these cells are not isolated, but form a part of the entire comb, corresponding on its two faces—by what art is it that the bees unite hexagonal cells of a small, with others of a larger diameter, without leaving any void spaces, and without destroying the uniformity and regularity of the comb? This problem would
- 62. puzzle an ordinaryartist, but is easily solved by the resources of the instinct of our little workmen. When they are desirous of constructing the cells of males below those of workers, they form several ranges of intermediate or transition cells, of which the diameter augments progressively, until they have reached that range where the male cells commence; and in the same manner, when they wish to revert to the modelling of the cells of workers, they pass by a gradually decreasing gradation to the ordinary diameter of the cells of this class.—We commonly meet with three or four ranges of intermediate cells before coming to those of males; the first ranges of which participate in some measure in the irregularity of the former. But it is upon the construction of the bottoms of the intermediate ranges of cells that this variation of their architecture chiefly hinges. The bottoms of the regular cells of bees are, as you are aware, composed of three equal-sized rhomboidal pieces; and the base of a cell on one side of the comb is composed of portions of the bases of three cells on the other; but the bottoms of the intermediate cells in question (though their orifices are perfectly hexagonal) are composed of four pieces, of which two are hexagonal and two rhomboidal; and each, instead of corresponding with three cells on the opposite side, corresponds with four. The size and the shape of the four pieces composing the bottom, vary; and these intermediate cells, a little larger than the third part of the three opposite cells, comprise in their contour a portion of the bottom of the fourth cell. Just below the last range of cells with regular pyramidal bottoms, are found cells with bottoms of four pieces, of which three are very large, and one very small, and this last is a rhomb. The two rhombs of the transition cells are separated by a considerable interval; but the two hexagonal pieces are adjacent and perfectly alike. A cell lower, we perceive that the two rhombs of the bottom are not so unequal: the contour of the cell has included a greater portion of the opposite fourth cell. Lastly, we find cells in pretty considerable number, of which the bottom is composed of four pieces perfectly
- 63. regular—namely, two elongatedhexagons and two equal rhombs, but smaller than those of the pyramidal bottoms. In proportion as we remove our view from the cells with regular tetrahedral bottoms, whether in descending or from right to left, we see that the subsequent cells resume their ordinary form; that is to say, that one of their rhombs is gradually lessened until it finally disappears entirely; and the pyramidal form re-exhibits itself, but on a larger scale than in the cells at the top of the comb. This regularity is maintained in a great number of ranges, namely, those consisting of male cells; afterwards the cells diminish in size, and we again remark the tetrahedral bottoms just described, until the cells have once more resumed the proper diameter of those of workers. It is, then, by encroaching in a small degree upon the cells of the other face of the comb, that bees at length succeed in giving greater dimensions to their cells; and the graduation of the transition cells being reciprocal on the two faces of the comb, it follows that on both sides each hexagonal contour corresponds with four cells.—When the bees have arrived at any degree of this mode of operating, they can stop there and continue to employ it in several consecutive ranges of cells: but it is to the intermediate degree that they appear to confine themselves for the longest period, and we then find a great number of cells of which the bottoms of four pieces are perfectly regular. They might, then, construct the whole comb on this plan, if their object were not to revert to the pyramidal form with which they set out.—In building the male cells, the bees begin their foundation with a block or mass of wax thicker and higher than that employed for the cells of workers, without which it would be impracticable for them to preserve the same order and symmetry in working on a larger scale. Irregularities (to use the language of Huber, from whom the above details are abstracted,) have often been observed in the cells of bees. Reaumur, Bonnet and other naturalists cite them as so many examples of imperfections. What would have been their astonishment if they had been aware that part of these anomalies
- 64. are calculated; thatthere exists as it were a moveable harmony in the mechanism by which the cells are composed! If, in consequence of the imperfection of their organs or of their instruments, bees occasionally constructed some of their cells unequal, or of parts badly put together, it would still manifest some talent to be able to repair these defects, and to compensate one irregularity by another: but it is far more astonishing that they know how to quit their ordinary routine when circumstances require that they should build male cells; that they should be instructed to vary the dimensions and the shape of each piece so as to return to a regular order; and that, after having constructed thirty or forty ranges of male cells, they again leave the regular order on which these were formed, and arrive by successive diminutions at the point from which they set out. How should these insects be able to extricate themselves from such a difficulty—from such a complicated structure? how pass from the little to the great, from a regular plan to an irregular one, and again resume the former? These are questions which no known system can explain[784]. Here again, as observed in a former instance, the wonder would be less, if every comb contained a certain number of transition and of male cells, constantly situated in one and the same part of it: but this is far from being the case. The event which alone, at whatever period it may happen, seems to determine the bees to construct male cells, is the oviposition of the queen. So long as she continues to lay the eggs of workers not a male cell is founded; but as soon as she is about to lay male eggs, the workers seem aware of it, and you then see them form their cells irregularly, impart to them by degrees a greater diameter, and at length prepare suitable ranges of cradles for all the male race[785].—You must perceive how absurd it would be to refer this astonishing variation of instinct to any mere change in the sensations of the bees; and to what far-fetched and gratuitous suppositions we must be reduced, if we adopt any such explanation. We can but refer it to an instinct of which we know nothing; and so referring it, can we help exclaiming with Huber,
- 65. "Such is thegrandeur of the views and of the means of ordaining wisdom, that it is not by a minute exactness that she marches to her end, but proceeds from irregularity to irregularity, compensating one by another: the admeasurements are made on high, the apparent errors appreciated by a divine geometry; and order often results from partial diversity. This is not the first instance which science has presented to us of preordained irregularities which astonish our ignorance, and are the admiration of the most enlightened minds: So true it is, that the more we investigate the general as well as particular laws of this vast system, the more perfection does it present[786]." It is observed by M. P. Huber, in his appendix to the account of his father's discoveries relative to the architecture of bees, that in general the form of the prisms or tubes of the cells is more essential than that of their bottoms, since the tetrahedral-bottomed transition cells, and even those cells which being built immediately upon wood or glass, were entirely without bottoms, still preserved their usual shape of hexagonal prisms. But a remarkable experiment of the elder Huber shows that bees can alter even the form of their cells when circumstances require it, and that in a way which one would not have expected. Having placed in front of a comb which the bees were constructing, a slip of glass, they seemed immediately aware that it would be very difficult to attach it to so slippery a surface: and instead of continuing the comb in a straight line, they bent it at a right angle, so as to extend beyond the slip of glass, and ultimately fixed it to an adjoining part of the wood-work of the hive which the glass did not cover. This deviation, if the comb had been a mere simple and uniform mass of wax, would have evinced no small ingenuity; but you will bear in mind that a comb consists on each side, or face, of cells having between them bottoms in common: and if you take a comb, and having softened the wax by heat, endeavour to bend it in any part at a right angle, you will then comprehend the difficulties which our little architects had to encounter. The resources of their
- 66. instinct, however, wereadequate to the emergency. They made the cells on the convex side of the bent part of the comb much larger, and those on the concave side much smaller than usual; the former having three or four times the diameter of the latter. But this was not all. As the bottoms of the small and large cells were as usual common to both, the cells were not regular prisms, but the small ones considerably wider at the bottom than at the top, and conversely in the large ones!—What conception can we form of so wonderful a flexibility of instinct? How, as Huber asks, can we comprehend the mode in which such a crowd of labourers, occupied at the same time on the edge of the comb, could agree to give to it the same curvature from one extremity to the other; or how they could arrange together to construct on one face cells so small, while on the other they imparted to them such enlarged dimensions?—And how can we feel adequate astonishment that they should have the art of making cells of such different sizes correspond[787]? After this long but I flatter myself not wholly uninteresting enumeration, you will scarcely hesitate to admit that insects, and of these the bee pre-eminently, are endowed with a much more exquisite and flexible instinct than the larger animals. But you may be here led to ask, Can all this be referred to instinct? Is not this pliability to circumstances—this surprising adaptation of means for accomplishing an end—rather the result of reason? You will not doubt my allowing the appositeness of this question, when I frankly tell you, that so strikingly do many of the preceding facts seem at first view the effect of reason, that in my original sketch of the letter you are now reading, I had arranged them as instances of this faculty. But mature consideration has convinced me (though I confess the subject has great difficulties) that this view was fallacious; and that though some circumstances connected with
- 67. these facts may,as I shall hereafter show, be referable to reason, the facts themselves can only be consistently explained by regarding them as I have here done, as examples of variations of particular instincts:—and this on two accounts. In the first place, these variations, however singular, are limited in their extent: all bees are, and have always been, able to avail themselves of a certain number, but not to increase that number. Bees cemented their combs when becoming heavy, to the top of the hive, with mitys, in the time of Aristotle and Pliny as they do now; and there is every reason to believe that then, as now, they occasionally varied their procedures, by securing them with wax or with propolis only, either added to the upper range of cells, or disposed in braces and ties to the adjoining combs. But if in thus proceeding they were guided by reason, why not under certain circumstances adopt other modes of strengthening their combs? Why not, when wax and propolis are scarce, employ mud, which they might see the martin avail herself of so successfully? Or why should it not come into the head of some hoary denizen of the hive, that a little of the mortar with which his careful master plasters the crevices between his habitation and its stand, might answer the end of mitys? "Si seulement ils élevoient une fois des câbanes quarrées," (says Bonnet when, speaking as to what faculty the works of the beaver are to be referred,) "mais ce sont éternellement des câbanes rondes ou ovales[788]:"—and so we might say of the phenomena in question:—Show us but one instance of bees having substituted mud or mortar for mitys, pissoceros, or propolis, or wooden props for waxen ties, and there could be no doubt of their being here guided by reason. But since no such instance is on record; since they are still confined to the same limits—however surprising the range of these limits—as they were two thousand years ago; and since the bees emerged from their pupæ but a few hours before, will set themselves as adroitly to work and pursue their operations as scientifically as their brethren, who can boast the experience of a long life of twelve months duration;—we must still regard these actions as variations of instinct.
- 68. In the secondplace, no degree of reason that we can with any share of probability attribute to bees, could be competent to the performance of labours so complicated as those we have been considering, and which if the result of reason, would involve the most extensive and varied knowledge in the agents. Suppose a man to have attained by long practice the art of modelling wax into a congeries of uniform hexagonal cells, with pyramidal bottoms composed each of three rhombs, resembling the cells of workers among bees. Let him now be set to make a congeries of similar but larger cells (answering to the male cells), and unite these with the former by other hexagonal cells, so that there should be no disruption in the continuity or regularity of the whole assemblage, and no vacant intervals or patching at the junctions either of the tubes or the bottoms of the cells;—and you would have set him no very easy task—a task, in short, which it may be doubted if he would satisfactorily perform in a twelvemonth, though gifted with a clear head and a competent store of geometrical knowledge, and which, if destitute of these requisites, it may be safely asserted that he would never perform at all. How then can we imagine it possible that this difficult problem, and others of a similar kind, can be so completely and exactly solved by animals of which some are not two days old, others not a week, and probably none a year? The conclusion is irresistible—it is not reason but instinct that is their guide. The second head under which I proposed contrasting the instincts of insects with those of the larger animals, was that of their number in the same individual.—In the latter this is for the most part very limited, not exceeding (if we omit those common to almost all animated beings) eight or ten distinct instincts. Thus in the common duck, one instinct leads it at its birth from the egg to rush to the water; another to seek its proper food; a third to pair with its mate; a fourth to form a nest; a fifth to sit upon its eggs till hatched; a sixth to assist the young ducklings in extricating themselves from the shell; and a seventh to defend them when in danger until able to provide for themselves: and it would not be easy, as far as my knowledge extends, to add many more distinct instinctive actions to
- 69. the enumeration, orto adduce many species of the superior classes of animals, endowed with a greater number. But how vastly more manifold are the instincts of the majority of insects! It is not necessary to insist upon those differences which take place in the same insect in its different states, leading it to select one kind of food in the larva, and another in the perfect state; to defend itself in one mode in the former, and in another in the latter, &c.—because, however remarkable these variations, they may be referred with great plausibility to those striking changes in the organic structure of the animal, which occur at the two periods of its existence. It is to the number of instincts observable in the same individual of many insects in their perfect state that I now confine myself; and as the most striking example of the whole I shall select the hive-bee,—begging you to bear in mind that I do not mean to include those exhibited by the queen, the drones, or even those of the workers, termed by Huber cirières (wax makers); but only to enumerate those presented by that portion of the workers, termed by Huber nourrices or petites abeilles (nurses), upon whom, as you have been before told[789], with the exception of making wax, laying the foundation of the cells, and collecting honey for being stored, the principal labours of the hive devolve. It will be these individuals alone that I shall understand by the term bees, under the present head: and though the other inhabitants of the hive may occasionally concur in some of their actions and labours, yet it is obvious that so many as are those in which they distinctly take part, so many instincts must we regard them as endowed with. To begin, then, with the formation of the colony:—By one instinct bees are directed to send out scouts previously to their swarming, in search of a suitable abode[790]; and by another, to rush out of the hive after the queen that leads forth the swarm, and follow wherever she bends her course. Having taken possession of their new abode, whether of their own selection or prepared for them by the hand of man, a third instinct teaches them to cleanse it from all impurities[791]; a fourth to collect propolis, and with it to stop up
- 70. every crevice exceptthe entrance; a fifth to ventilate the hive for preserving the purity of the air; and a sixth to keep a constant guard at the door[792]. In constructing the houses and streets of their new city, or the cells and combs, there are probably several distinct instincts exercised; but not to leave room for objection, I shall regard them as the result of one only: yet the operations of polishing the interior of the cells, and soldering their angles and orifices with propolis, which are sometimes not undertaken for weeks after the cells are built[793]; and the obscure but still more curious one of varnishing them with the yellow tinge observable in old combs;—seem clearly referable to at least two distinct instincts. The varnishing process is so little connected with that of building, that, though it takes place in some combs in three or four days, it does not in others for several months, though both are equally employed for the same uses[794]. Huber ascertained by accurate experiment that this tinge is not owing to the heat of the hives; to any vapours in the air which they include; to any emanations from the wax or honey; nor to the deposition of this last in the cells; but he inclines to think it is occasioned by a yellow matter which the bees seem to detach from their mandibles, and to apply to the surface which they are varnishing, by repeated strokes of these organs and of the fore feet[795]. In their out-of-door operations several distinct instincts are concerned. By one they are led to extract honey from the nectaries of flowers; by another to collect pollen after a process involving very complicated manipulations, and requiring a singular apparatus of brushes and baskets; and that must surely be considered a third, which so remarkably and beneficially restricts each gathering to the same plant[796]. It is clearly a distinct instinct which inspires bees with such dread of rain, that even if a cloud pass before the sun, they return to the hive in the greatest haste[797]; and that seems to me not less so, which teaches them to find their way back to their home after the most distant and intricate wanderings. When bees
- 71. have found thedirection in which their hive lies, Huber says they fly to it with an extreme rapidity, and as straight as a ball from a musket[798]: and if their hives were always in open situations, one might suppose, as Huber seems inclined to think, that it is by their sight they are conducted to them. But hives are frequently found in small gardens embowered in wood; and in the midst of villages surrounded and interspersed with trees and buildings, so as to make it impossible that they can be seen from a distance. If you had been with me in 1815, in the famous Pays de Waes in Flanders—where the country is a perfect flat, and the inhabitants so enamoured either of the beauty or profit of trees, that their fields, which are rarely above three acres in extent, are constantly surrounded with a double row, making the whole district one vast wood—you would have pitied the poor bees if reduced to depend on their own eye- sight for retracing the road homeward. In vain during my stay at St. Nicholas I sallied out at every outlet to try to gain some idea of the extent and form of the town. Trees—trees—trees—still met me, and intercepted the view in every direction; and I defy any inhabitant bee of this rural metropolis, after once quitting its hive, ever to gain a glimpse of it again until nearly perpendicularly over it. The bees, therefore, of the Pays de Waes, and consequently all other bees, must be led to their abodes by instinct, as certainly as it is instinct that directs the migrations of birds or of fishes, or domestic quadrupeds to find out their homes from inconceivable distances[799].—When they have reached the hive, another instinct leads them to regurgitate into the extended proboscis of their hungry companions who have been occupied at home, a portion of the honey collected in the fields; and another directs them to unload their legs of the masses of pollen, and to store it in the cells for future use.
- 72. Several distinct instincts,again, are called into action in the important business of feeding the young brood. One teaches them to swallow pollen, not to satisfy the calls of hunger, but that it may undergo in their stomach an elaboration fitting it for the food of the grubs; and another to regurgitate it when duly concocted, and to administer it to their charge, proportioning the supply to the age and condition of the recipients. A third informs them when the young grubs have attained their full growth, and directs them to cover their cells with a waxen lid, convex in the male cells, but nearly flat in those of workers; and by a fourth, as soon as the young bees have burst into day, they are impelled to clean out the deserted tenements and to make them ready for new occupants. Numerous as are the instincts I have already enumerated, the list must yet include those connected with that mysterious principle which binds the working bees of a hive to their queen:—the singular imprisonment in which they retain the young queens that are to lead off a swarm, until their wings be sufficiently expanded to enable them to fly the moment they are at liberty, gradually paring away the waxen wall that confines them to their cell to an extreme thinness, and only suffering it to be broken down at the precise moment required;—the attention with which, in these circumstances, they feed the imprisoned queen by frequently putting honey upon her proboscis, protruded from a small orifice in the lid of her cell;— the watchfulness with which, when at the period of swarming more queens than one are required, they place a guard over the cells of those undisclosed, to preserve them from the jealous fury of their excluded rivals;—the exquisite calculation with which they invariably release the oldest queens the first from their confinement;—the singular love of monarchical dominion, by which, when two queens in other circumstances are produced, they are led to impel them to combat until one is destroyed;—the ardent devotion which binds them to the fate and fortunes of the survivor;—the distraction which they manifest at her loss, and their resolute determination not to accept of any stranger until an interval has elapsed sufficiently long
- 73. to allow ofno chance of the return of their rightful sovereign;—and (to omit a further enumeration) the obedience which in the utmost noise and confusion they show to her well-known hum. I have now instanced at least thirty distinct instincts with which every individual of the nurses amongst the working-bees is endowed: and if to the account be added their care to carry from the hive the dead bodies of any of the community; their pertinacity in their battles, in directing their sting at those parts only of the bodies of their adversaries which are penetrable by it; their annual autumnal murder of the drones, &c. &c.—it is certain that this number might be very considerably increased, perhaps doubled. At the first view you will be inclined to suspect some fallacy in this enumeration, and that this variety of actions ought to be referred rather to some general principle, capable of accommodating itself to different circumstances, than to so many different kinds of instinct. But to what principle? Not to reason, the faculty to which we assign this power of varying accommodation. All the actions above adduced come strictly under the description of instinctive actions, being all performed by every generation of bees since the creation of the world, and as perfectly a day or two after their birth as at any subsequent period. And as the very essence of instinct consists in the determinate character of the actions to which it gives birth, it is clear that every distinctly different action must be referred to a distinct instinct. Few will dispute that the instinct which leads a duck to resort to the water is a different instinct from that which leads her to sit upon her eggs; for the hen though endowed with one is not with the other. In fact, they are as distinct and unconnected as the senses of sight and smell; and it appears to me that it would be as contrary to philosophical accuracy of language, in the former case to call the two instincts modifications of each other, as in the latter so to designate the two senses; and as we say that a deaf and blind man has fewer senses than other men, so (strictly) we ought not to speak of instinct as one faculty (though to avoid circumlocution I have myself often employed this common mode of expression), or
- 74. say that oneinsect has a greater or less share of instinct than another, but more or fewer instincts.—That it is not always easy to determine what actions are to be referred to a distinct instinct and what to a modification of an instinct, I am very ready to admit; but this is no solid ground for regarding all instincts as modifications of some one principle. It is often equally difficult to fix the limits between instinct and reason; but we are not on this account justified in deeming them the same. This multitude of instincts in the same individual, becomes more wonderful when considered in another point of view. Were they constantly to follow each other in regular sequence, so that each bee necessarily first began to build cells, then to collect honey, next pollen, and so on, we might plausibly enough refer them to some change in the sensations of the animal, caused by alterations in the structure and gradual development of its organs, in the same way as on similar principles we explain the sexual instincts of the superior tribes. But it is certain that no such consecutive series prevails. The different instincts of the bee are called into action in an order regulated solely by the needs of the society. If combs be wanted, no bee collects honey for storing until they are provided[800]: and if, when constructed, any accident injure or destroy them, every labour is suspended until the mischief is repaired or new ones substituted[801]. When the crevices round the hive are effectually secured with propolis, the instinct directing the collection of this substance lies dormant: but transfer the bees to a new hive which shall require a new luting, and it is instantly re-excited. But these instances are superfluous. Every one knows that at the same moment of time the citizens of a hive are employed in the most varied and opposite operations. Some are collecting pollen; others are in search of honey; some busied at home in the first construction of the cells; others in giving them their last polish; others in ventilating the hive; others again in feeding the young brood and the like.
- 75. Now, how arewe to account for this regularity of procedure—this undeviating accuracy with which the precise instinct wanted is excited—this total absence of all confusion in the employment by each inhabitant of the hive, of that particular instinct out of so many which the good of the community requires? No thinking man ever witnesses the complexness and yet regularity and efficiency of a great establishment, such as the Bank of England, or the Post-office, without marvelling that even human reason can put together with so little friction and such slight deviations from correctness, machines whose wheels are composed not of wood and iron, but of fickle mortals of a thousand different inclinations, powers, and capacities. But if such establishments be surprising even with reason for their prime mover, how much more so is a hive of bees whose proceedings are guided by their instincts alone! We can conceive that the sensations of hunger experienced on awaking in the morning should excite into action their instinct of gathering honey. But all are hungry: yet all do not rush out in search of flowers. What sensation is it that detains a portion of the hive at home, unmindful of the gnawings of an empty stomach, busied in domestic arrangements, until the return of their roving companions? Of those that fly abroad, what conception can we form of the cause which, while one set is gathering honey or pollen, leads another company to load their legs with pellets of propolis? Are we to say that the instinct of the former is excited by one sensation, that of the latter by another? But why should one sensation predominate in one set of bees, while another takes the lead in a second?—or how is it that these different instincts are called up precisely in the degree which the actual and changing state of things in the hive requires?—Of those which remain at home, what is it that determines in one party the instinct of building cells to prevail; in another that of ventilating the hive; in a third that of feeding the young brood? For my own part, I confess that the more I reflect on this subject, and contrast the diversity of the means with the regularity and uniformity of the end, the more I am lost in astonishment. The effects of instinct seem even more wonderful than those of reason, in the same manner as the consentaneous movements of a mighty and divided
- 76. army, which, thoughunder the command of twenty generals and from the most distant quarters, should meet at the assigned spot at the very hour fixed upon, would be more surprising than the steam- moved operations, however complex, of one of Boulton's mints. For the sake of distinctness and compression, I have confined myself in considering the number of the instincts of individual insects to a single species, the bee; but if the history of other societies of these animals—wasps, ants, &c. detailed in my former letters, be duly weighed, it will be seen that they furnish examples of the variety in question fully as striking. These corroborating proofs I shall leave to your own inference, and proceed to the third head, under which I proposed to consider the instincts of insects—that of their extraordinary development. The development of some of the instincts of the larger animals, such as those of sex, is well known to depend upon their age and the peculiar state of the bodily organs; and to this, as before observed, the succession of different instincts in the same insect, in its larva and perfect state, is closely analogous. But what I have now in view is that extraordinary development of instinct, which is dependent not upon the age or any change in the organization of the animal, but upon external events—which in individuals of the same species, age, and structure, in some circumstances slumbers unmoved, but may in others be excited to the most singular and unlooked-for action. In illustrating this property of instinct, which, as far as I am aware, is not known to occur in any of the larger animals, I shall confine myself as before to the hive-bee; the only insect, indeed, in which its existence has been satisfactorily ascertained, though it is highly probable that other species living in societies may exhibit the same phenomenon.
- 77. Several of thefacts occurring in the history of bees might be referred to this head; but I shall here advert only to the treatment of the drones by the workers under different circumstances, and to the operations of the latter consequent upon the irretrievable loss of the queen—facts which have been before stated to you, but to the principal features of which my present argument makes it necessary that I should again direct your attention. If a hive of bees be this year in possession of a queen duly fertilized, and consequently sure the next season of a succession of males, all the drones, as I have before stated[802], towards the approach of winter are massacred by the workers with the most unrelenting ferocity. To this seemingly cruel course they are doubtless impelled by an imperious instinct; and as it is regularly followed in every hive thus circumstanced, it would seem at the first view to be an impulse as intimately connected with the organization and very existence of the workers, and as incapable of change, as that which leads them to build cells or to store up honey. But this is far from being the case. However certain the doom of the drones this autumn, if the hive be furnished with a duly-fertilized queen, their undisturbed existence over the winter is equally sure if the hive have lost its sovereign, or her impregnation have been so retarded as to make a succession of males in the spring doubtful. In such a hive the workers do not destroy a single drone, though the hottest persecution rages in all the hives around them. Now, how are we to explain this difference of conduct? Are we to suppose that the bees know and reason upon this alteration in the circumstances of their community—that they infer the possibility of their entire extinction if the whole male stock were destroyed when without a queen—and that thus influenced by a wise policy they restrain the fury they would otherwise have exercised? This would be at once to make them not only gifted with reason, but endowed with a power of looking before and after, and a command over the strongest natural propensities, superior to what could be expected in a similar case even from a society of men; and is obviously
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