Health and safety by design

Strategic risk chapter

3. Compliance expectations

Why compliance matters

Health and safety by design is required by several areas of legislation and must be applied from the earliest stages of planning and design. It is essential for preventing foreseeable risks, improving functionality and reducing the need for costly changes later.

Many of the compliance expectations exist because long-standing challenges continue to restrict good design practice, including restrictive client briefs, insufficient briefing on intended uses, time and budget limitations, and a tendency to repeat existing solutions rather than consider safer alternatives.

Compliance with health and safety by design is increasingly important as the industry faces new forms of risk, including the growing dependence on digital systems and the need to address cyber security at the design stage.

Legal requirements for health and safety by design

Health and safety by design is covered in several areas of health and safety legislation:

MHSW requires suitable and sufficient risk assessment and application of the hierarchy of risk control, including the preference for elimination of risk, combat at source and intrinsic safety.

Hierarchy of risk control – based on MHSW

Diagram illustrating the hierarchy of risk control, showing preferred approaches for managing health and safety risks. A vertical arrow on the left points downward and is labelled “Less potential hazard or risk reduction control”, indicating decreasing effectiveness down the hierarchy.​ ​ On the right, a list of bullet points describes the principles of risk prevention in order of priority. These include: avoiding or preferably eliminating risks through safety‑by‑design; evaluating risks that cannot be avoided; combating risks at source; adapting work to individuals, including workplace design, equipment and working practices; using technological advances to reduce risk; replacing hazardous processes or materials with less hazardous options; developing a coherent overall risk‑prevention policy covering organisation, conditions and the working environment; prioritising collective protective measures over individual measures; and providing clear risk‑management instructions and guidance to employees and others affected by work activities.​

CDM requires risks to be eliminated or controlled from the concept stage onward, including during feasibility studies, and requires designers to consider risks to those constructing, operating and maintaining structures.  Note that ORR has an agency agreement with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the enforcement of health and safety by design in respect of railways and other guided transport systems, giving ORR an enforcement role from the earliest stages of a project.

ROGS requires use of CSM-RA for significant changes, and requires cooperation between dutyholders on shared risks and interfaces.  This covers both basic design compatibility, such as between train and platforms, as well as operational issues, for example ensuring stations are designed with ventilation to ensure operators staff are not exposed to Diesel Engine Exhaust Emissions (DEEE).

More information on ‘The Law’ is provided in the Appendix.

ORR’s expectations of dutyholders

ORR has established the following priorities grouped by dutyholder role:

Health and Safety by Design responsibilities for different roles. Designers hold most HSbD responsibilities and should advise early on safer options and lifecycle risks. Clients should avoid introducing risk through restrictive briefs and provide clear information on intended uses and users. Constructors and contractors should engage early to advise on construction risks and safer, more efficient construction methods. Manufacturers and suppliers should clearly communicate product performance and limitations to support safe design decisions. Operators and maintainers should share lessons learned from operating similar systems and seek best practice across sectors. Specialist bodies and user groups should provide early advice on emergency access, security, and practical user needs to inform inclusive design.Health and Safety by Design responsibilities for different roles. Designers hold most HSbD responsibilities and should advise early on safer options and lifecycle risks. Clients should avoid introducing risk through restrictive briefs and provide clear information on intended uses and users. Constructors and contractors should engage early to advise on construction risks and safer, more efficient construction methods. Manufacturers and suppliers should clearly communicate product performance and limitations to support safe design decisions. Operators and maintainers should share lessons learned from operating similar systems and seek best practice across sectors. Specialist bodies and user groups should provide early advice on emergency access, security, and practical user needs to inform inclusive design.

ORR oversight, supervision and enforcement

Under RM3, ORR examines health and safety by design issues under OC5, PI1 and RCS3. Inspectors will continue to challenge dutyholders to show that change is managed proactively using good practice and relevant standards.

ORR’s Principles for health and safety on the railway set out minimum design and operational principles.

ORR allocates resources to influence major schemes where no existing dutyholder is in place, such as HS2.

Dutyholders must have design assurance procedures that ensure standards are met, deviations are controlled, and delivered assets match approved designs.

In permissioning functions, ORR will seek evidence that health and safety by design has been applied.

What ORR expects to see as good practice

Dutyholders should demonstrate:

Good practice areas for Health and Safety by Design. These cover leadership and learning, proportionate risk assessment using CSM-RA, consideration of human factors and system interactions, and whole-life lifecycle management with clear documentation.

Forums, opportunities and success stories

Access relevant forums.