07:05 am, Monday 18 October, 2010

construction industry as a result of a bridge collapse in August, ACT Work Safe says.

18 workers were injured when a bridge over the Barton Highway crashed during a concrete pour.

Federal Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten says they are looking to improve the current safety regulations.

“The Government’s realised that as a result of the bridge collapse there are too many loopholes in the legislation,” he said.

According to Mr Hall, several policy changes have been recommended, including an improved formwork code of practice.

“The ACT Government’s been in negotiations with us now and have made clear commitments to us around training, improving safety training for workers and also improving their tendering process to greater reflect the importance on safety,” he said.

ACT Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said investigation into the bridge collapse is ongoing, but noted that the structure’s formwork may likely be the cause of the collapse.

“I think there’s a high chance we will look at at least adopting a code of practice in relation to formwork,” he said.

Mr McCabe said the authority is looking at how other jurisdictions regulate formwork.

“Although it really will be up to the Work Safety Council and what it recommends to the Minister.”

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06:51 am, Friday 15 October, 2010

The NSW Industrial Court has fined a concrete supply company $85,000 over a worker fatality in 2008.

The Newcastle company, which supplies pre-mixed concrete primarily to the building industry, pleaded guilty to breaching section 8(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000.

On 14 March 2008, the worker climbed the rear of a moving confined space, the man was hit on the head by one of the truck’s mixing blades.

He was later found by a workmate and pronounced dead at the scene.

The court heard that the truck’s guardrails, which would have stopped the worker from leaning inside the mixer, had been removed and not reinstalled.

The company admitted that it did not provide a safe working environment or adequately train workers around proper practices for cleaning heavy vehicles.

WorkCover NSW’s General Manager of Occupational Health and Safety Division John Watson said all employers must make workers’ safety the highest priority, especially when working on construction sites or around heavy machinery.

“Safe work procedures for all tasks, including cleaning of equipment, must be developed and implemented in partnership with workers,” he said.

“Workers then need to be informed and trained in those procedures.

“Protections such as guarding should be installed and maintained in a safe condition.

“The message is an important one. Work Safe, home safe.”

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07:41 am, Monday 11 October, 2010

A concrete company has been prosecuted by WorkCover following the death of an employee in 2008.

The Hunter Valley-based company was fined $85,000 by the Industrial Relations Court for beaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act

In February 2008, the employee was cleaning one of the trucks of the company at its Gateshead premises. The court heard the man’s head was trapped between the vehicle’s concrete agitator and the side of the hopper. The incident proved fatal for the man.

The court was told the company’s safety procedures were relayed to employees merely through a “buddy system”.

After the incident, the concrete firm had made changes to the trucks by fitting them with a guard between the agitator and the hopper. It had also changed the safety procedure on cleaning the trucks and started implementing a proper training regime.

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07:53 am, Thursday 30 September, 2010

A two-month campaign has been launched by WorkCover NSW, with inspectors carrying out a statewide inspection of concrete formwork are properly trained.

Since February this year, formworkers in the state no longer need a Certificate of Competency, but they must still undergo proper safety training.

The decision not to require certificates of competency for people working with formwork or safety standards.

Furthermore, an extensive research and consultation revealed no discernible difference in the incident and fatality rate in NSW when compared to the other jurisdictions, where licensing is not required for formwork and explosive-powered tool operators.

The concreting services industry employs about 53,000 NSW workers.

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09:04 pm, Friday 3 September, 2010

Complications with the demolition of the bridge in Canberra has led to delays in the reopening of Barton Highway.

A span of the Gungahlin Drive bridge construction workers were hurt.

An engineering report was released stating the formwork was not properly braced to stop girders from moving sideways during the concrete pour.

The original plan by Roads ACT was to open the highway this weekend.

However, spokesman Tony Gill said the date of reopening has been pushed back.

“They’ve encountered some difficulties in demolishing the concrete bridge that was poured and didn’t collapse,” said Mr Gill.

“They’ve had to change tack and it will delay the demolition process by about five days.”

According to Mr Gill, Barton Highway will hopefully be reopened on September 11.

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06:18 pm, Monday 30 August, 2010

The demolition of Canberra’s bridge on Barton Highway is on schedule and could be open to traffic at the end of the week.

Roads ACT said workers are removing the rubble caused by the bridge collapse around the clock.

construction worker were injured.

An engineering report was released saying the formwork was not braced properly to prevent girders from moving sideways while concrete was being poured.

According to Roads ACT spokesman Tony Gill, demolition work was performed over the weekend.

“The estimate is that we will take between five and seven days depending on the progress and depending on some of the difficulties they encounter when they are trying to protect the existing structure because some of the structure can be salvaged,” he said.

“The concrete pier in the median and the bridge abutment on either side, they can be salvaged. So they just have to be careful how they do the demolition in that area.”

However, Mr Gill has cautioned that demolition has to be done carefully since WorkSafe ACT is still collecting evidence from the construction site.

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02:23 pm, Thursday 26 August, 2010

The formwork, an engineer’s report says.

construction accident.

The engineer’s report, which was prepared for Roads ACT, revealed the formwork was not braced to stop the girders moving sideways while concrete was being poured. This led to excessive stress on the structure.

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said he will not make any comment on the report until Worksafe completes its inspection.

ACT Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said an investigation will be conducted while the bridge is being demolished.

“We have identified points in the demolition where it will need to stop, we’ll need to collect some of the material that’s there and take it away for analysis and consideration,” he said.

“The real evidence that we need is probably lying on the roadway underneath all of that mess.”

The head contractor for the project released a statement accepting the findings in the report.

“We are also holding our own internal inquiry into our processes to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” the statement said.

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11:49 am, Monday 16 August, 2010

Nine construction workers have been injured on Saturday after the bridge in Canberra they were working on partially collapsed.

The nine workers were taken to the hospital, although their injuries were described as non-life threatening.

Concrete was being poured on a span of bridge over the Barton Highway. It was closed to traffic when the incident occurred.

ACT WorkCover is investigating the bridge collapse.

According to ACT Roads spokesman Tony Gill, the road can be reopened when the debris is cleared away.

“Our initial advice is that it could take up to two weeks before we are in a position to remove the debris and get the road open for public use,” Mr Gill said.

“We are getting an independent engineer’s report just to get an understanding of how the bridge collapsed and secondly we need to engage a demolition contractor to remove the debris.

“But we also have to make sure it is safe for that demolition contractor to go in and remove the debris.”

In light of the incident, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is calling for work in formwork structures to be halted on certain sites.

“We will be conducting inspections of the formwork and safety procedures throughout Canberra,” CFMEU’s Dean Hall said.

ACT WorkSafe’s Mark McCabe believes it is not necessary to stop work in construction sites.

“I would certainly think that all businesses should be having a good look at that kind of work before they proceed,” he said.

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