Mr. Martin O'Halloran:

A number of provisions in our construction regulations allow inspectors to consider the holistic situation on the site. Irrespective of whom the contractual employment relationship may be with, the duty holders include those who are responsible for the site and have effective control. Many of the cases that we take to court relate to instances of confusion arising, in that people believed that they did not have a duty of care to employees when they actually did. Inspectors are vigilant about this issue.

We are conscious of what we call the casualisation of labour. Multiple self-employed subcontractors, or subbies, might be working on a large construction site. An inspector will ensure that the project supervisor design phase, PSDP, and the project supervisor construction stage, PSCS, include co-ordination roles so that no one is hanging out, as it were, whose health and safety is not protected. We are aware of this issue and our inspectors are very tuned into it.