Making Health & Safety Part of the Design Journey

MAKING HEALTH & SAFETY PART OF THE DESIGN JOURNEY

We’re placing our partners in the spotlight.

At MWA, we are proud to work alongside individuals and businesses that are leaders within their field. Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing you to a selection of industry experts who are achieving great things while helping to shape the way we, and our industry, work.

In our first instalment we will be focusing on health and safety, which is a top priority for our team.

Those that work within our industry will recognise that keeping up with constantly changing regulations takes specialist insight and is a full-time job in itself!

That’s why we partner with Tony Putsman – civil engineer, trainer and co-founder of CDM Differently.

Tony is our health and safety lead and the expert we can call upon to provide a second opinion. Ultimately, he provides an extra layer of expertise on top of our own. You could say that this is so important that we check twice!

As he is also tuned into all of the latest news, he keeps us abreast of changes, while helping us to interpret the updates and guide us on what they mean for our projects.

Through our ongoing partnership, we benefit from his advice, insight, and real-time guidance that supports safer, smarter design – all tailored to how architectural teams operate.

Here, Tony tells us more about his journey, what drives CDM Differently and why health and safety should always start at the design stage.

Getting to Know Tony Putsman

Tony Putsman – Co-founder of CDM Differently

Tony’s career started in July 1974 – the exact month the Health and Safety at Work Act gained royal assent.

In his words:

“My passion has always been about joining the dots between legislation, design and practical delivery.

“I entered the construction industry at a time of massive change. Health and safety was becoming a serious focus, and I’ve spent many decades not just adapting to that change but helping others make sense of it.”

 

For the first half of his career, Tony worked in project management on a variety of schemes – from water and highways to more architecturally-led builds like residential and student accommodation. These projects gave him a strong understanding of how architects work and the many different challenges we juggle, not least:

• Client expectations
• Planning constraints
• Budgets challenges
• Complex, overlapping design requirements.

These moving parts need to be aligned without compromising safety – something that Tony recognised early on.

In 1995, the introduction of the Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations shifted the focus again. While engineers had systems to manage the changes, Tony realised that architects were often left to figure it out alone.

So, in 2002, he set up on his own as a Risk Management Consultant at Xenophon Project Services (XPS). He then teamed up with architect Paul Bussey, in 2013, to launch CDM Differently – an initiative that focuses on making safety a natural part of design.

So, What Is CDM Differently?

CDM Differently isn’t your usual health and safety training setup.

Instead of offering generic advice or long-winded documents, it offers a more design-led, realistic approach to managing risk – tailored to the way architects, designers and engineers actually work.

To date, Tony, working with Paul, has delivered principal designer training to over 1,000 architects across the UK. His approach is simple: to help professionals feel more confident and informed, especially when it comes to Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) responsibilities and building safety compliance.

Tony comments:

“Architects aren’t just dealing with technical drawings. They’re balancing client needs, regulatory compliance, aesthetics and usability, all whilst doing it under pressure.

“CDM Differently is about recognising those pressures and offering the support that fits into the way architects work. We focus on collaboration, communication and practical steps that keep people safe without compromising design.”

Tony stays connected to industry change through organisations like Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). So, when something changes, Tony is already on it and able to translate updates into something useful for teams just like us.

At its core, CDM Differently is about supporting design without compromising safety – something that matters more now than ever, especially in light of the Building Safety Act and the lessons learned from the Grenfell disaster.

Our Work with Tony and CDM Differently

Tony just gets it.

He understands how architects think and works with us to bring health and safety into the picture without overcomplicating things. No jargon. No lectures. Just clear, practical advice that helps us do our job better.

Ryan Lewis, Associate Director at MWA, explains:

“What makes Tony’s support so valuable is that he is always up to date – from the major legal updates to the more subtle changes. For us, it’s a huge advantage. Whether it’s a quick call or a bigger conversation, Tony’s already done the work and can tell us exactly what we need to know.”

 

Thanks to our partnership with Tony, we can stay focused on delivering great design that make buildings work harder, with confidence that our approach to health and safety is current, considered and in expert hands.