What is the health and safety plan on site
The health and safety plan on site is the document with which the main contractor develops, for their specific way of executing the work, the prevention measures provided for in the health and safety study (or the basic study) written in the project. The requirement comes from Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24, which establishes minimum health and safety provisions for construction works in Spain.
It is not a generic document or a copy of the project study: the plan must adapt those provisions to the auxiliary means, machinery and actual execution system that the specific contractor executing the work will use.
Difference between the health and safety plan and the health and safety study
The health and safety study is written by the project technician, before bidding or awarding the work, and identifies foreseeable risks based on the project written. The health and safety plan is written by the awarded contractor, once they know how they will actually execute the work, and develops the study measures adapting them to their own work organization.
Confusing both documents is a common error: the study is for the project and prior to award, the plan is for execution and after it, each one responds to a different phase of the process.
Who must approve the health and safety plan
The plan must be approved before work begins by the health and safety coordinator during work execution, if this role is required in the specific project. When its appointment is not necessary, approval belongs to the supervising architect. In works for public administrations, approval belongs to the administration awarding the work, with prior report from the coordinator.
Beginning work without that explicit approval breaches Royal Decree 1627/1997, regardless of whether the plan is written and awaiting signature, approval is not a subsequent formality, it is a precondition to work start.
How the health and safety plan is modified during work
The plan can be modified by the contractor itself throughout execution, depending on how work evolves or incidents not foreseen when writing it. Any modification requires the same express approval from the coordinator or supervising architect required for the initial version, a change in preventive measures applied without that approval has the same legal problem as starting work without an approved plan.
In long works, it is common for the plan to be reviewed several times as different work phases succeed (foundation, structure, enclosures, installations), each with its own specific risks that the original plan may not have covered in the same level of detail.
How Bloqbase supports tracking the health and safety plan
Bloqbase can help keep visible what state the work's health and safety plan is in, written, pending approval, approved, under review for modification, and to preserve the history of approved versions along with the date of each approval.
The software does not write the plan or replace the approval of the health and safety coordinator or the supervising architect: that technical and legal responsibility continues to belong to whoever the regulations assign it to.