Safety

• Construction observers are generally not responsible for injuries to third-parties resulting from the contractor’s operations. Under certain circumstances they can be liable for the failure to direct the correction of unsafe conditions.

To minimize your potential liability:

• Specifically disavow any right to control the work, stop the job, supervise or coordinate subcontractors, direct the contractor’s means, methods, techniques, sequences or procedures of construction, and safety precautions and programs.
• Go to the job site with a specific purpose, not just to wander around.
• Don’t attend meetings that do not impact on your scope of services - i.e. do not attend safety meetings.
• Visit only those portions of the site at which work you must observe is taking place.
• Issue a memorandum of your comments regarding the quality of the work.
• Avoid preprinted "inspection" forms that may have a reference to safety.

The Design Professionals Dilemma - Ignore an Unsafe Condition or Report it.

• The courts of most jurisdictions generally do not hold a design professional liable for construction site injuries that relate to the contractor’s operations merely because the design professional made periodic visits to the site, ABSENT CONDUCT WHICH EVIDENCES THE ASSUMPTION OF SAFETY RELATED DUTIES.
• Frequently, however, courts will find that a design professional bears at least some responsibility for a construction phase injury because his conduct at the site is inconsistent with the position that he has no duties with regard to safety.
• Many courts have also held that, as a professional, an architect or engineer cannot ignore an unsafe condition of which he has knowledge and which poses a risk to third-parties.
• The best compromise is to advise the owner or construction superintendent of an observed unsafe condition in writing. The writing should not address the manner of correction. The writing should emphasize that the A/E does not have, and is not undertaking any duties with regard to safety or safety inspections. Rather, in the course of his visit to the site to check on the progress of the work and the compliance of the work with the plans, a particular condition was observed.

As a project manager you may have more responsibilities for safety. The owner may want you to affirmatively monitor the contractor’s safety programs and/or conduct loss control surveys. This should be avoided. If the owner desires such services, they should be contracted for separately, directly by the owner, with a Safety Engineer. If some additional involvement with safety is required, the services should be limited to the following:

• Requiring contractors to submit safety programs - do not review them for adequacy.
• Requiring contractors to conduct "tool box" meetings.
• Report any conditions, actually observed and actually known to be unsafe, to the general contractor’s superintendent.

Your review of the work for compliance with the plans and specifications should be limited to: