“There are more and more investors and employers who without thinking appoint a coordinator, as the laws dictate,” said Šesto.

Davor Šesto (59), coordinator I and coordinator II from Zagreb, otherwise mag. Ing. Electrical engineering, has been in occupational safety for the last ten years. He says of himself that he did not find himself entirely planned in this ‘branch’, but that he “found himself” in it.

– There has been a great need for a coordinator for the last 2 months and even years. Namely, since the reconstruction of buildings damaged by the earthquake began, the works almost do not stop, and new construction sites are regularly opened – explains Šesto, who is currently coordinating works on four construction sites, three of them in Karlovac County and one in the City of Zagreb.

WHAT EXACTLY COORDINATOR 2 DOES AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE

But what exactly does coordinator 2 do on one construction site and why there is a ‘2’ at all and what is the difference from ‘1’. The main difference is that the coordinator 1 performs before the start of works on the site, i.e. during the design when the Occupational Safety Study is being done and before the start of construction works when it is necessary to make a Work Execution Plan, and ‘deuce’ when two or more contractors working on the same construction site start working on the same site.

More specifically, as we mentioned in the article ‘
Coordinator 1 and 2, when do we need them and where to find them?
‘

“Coordinator 1”
i.e. Coordinator of Occupational Safety is a person who coordinates the application of general principles of safety at work and occupational safety rules during design during the development of the project.

This person has the responsibility to draw up or give a plan for the execution of works according to the implementing regulation as well as
the planning and implementation of preventive measures
and educating employees about safety at work.

– My day at the construction site consists of visiting all workers and workplaces and checking that they wear proper protective equipment as well as properly handle working machines. E.g. if someone starts working that day with a new working machine, it is important that we go through the process of controlling the machine with the worker and determine whether the machine is being worked with in a safe way or whether the worker is properly trained to work – explained D. Šesto.

More than 50% of construction site deaths due to falling from heights

On the other hand,
“Coordinator 2”
, i.e. Coordinator for Safety at Work is a person whose duties are ‘activated’ when construction begins.

Some of the ten duties he has is that he is obliged to draw up or have the necessary adjustments of the plan of works and documentation with all changes on the site, and to ensure that only persons employed on it and persons who have permission to enter the site have access to the site.

– It is significant that even more than 50% of accidents on construction sites with a fatal outcome occurred as a result of falling with height and falling into depth, then 10% to 15% of them during heavy lifting and injuries caused by the impact of self-propelled machinery on the site. Namely, the dangers at work in the construction sector are really significant and therefore the role of coordinator 2 is of great importance, but with it also responsible – concludes Davor Šesto.

Interestingly, there are more and more frequent occurrences that the services of coordinator 1 are needed (which our interlocutor also is, op.a.) when obtaining loans in banks.

COORDINATOR 2 NEEDED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FAMILY HOUSES

“I have already had several situations in which I was hired to draw up a work plan because it was required as a necessary document when granting loans or in the public procurement procedure”, explained D. Šesto.

Let’s mention that it is (quite) little known that coordinator 2 is also needed in the construction of family houses, even when it comes to an ‘ordinary’ family house. The law and regulations on this issue are clear: any construction site on which particularly dangerous works are carried out, which is each construction site and on which works are carried out by two or more contractors, the investor should have an appointed coordinator 2. However, in Croatia, the burst is still far behind the rest of Europe, where their presence has become indispensable.

“We are approaching this standard and there are more and more investors and employers who are appointing a coordinator without thinking, as the laws dictate,” said Davor Šesto.