Some faulty formwork has forced concreters to fork over $125k in fines this week after the frame gave way during a routine pour.
In 2019, Victorian contractors Valmont were contracted to convert the second level of a multistorey car park in Clark Street, Sunshine, into an office space.
It was no small job, involving the removal of the car park ramp between levels one and two, installing structural steel and formwork, and the now pricey pouring of concrete into the void to complete the office floor.
But when pouring began in July of that year, a section of the formwork failed when a steel beam attaching it to the existing slab broke away, sending three workers falling more than two metres to the level below.
Two of those workers were later taken to hospital with serious injuries.
After the incident immediately sparked a WorkSafe investigation, the Victorian court found that the fall could have reasonably been prevented if Valmont had arranged a pre-pour inspection and obtained a written report certifying that the formwork was structurally sound to support the concrete pour.
At the time, safety inspectors didn’t find any evidence that the company had arranged for a builders surveyor or engineer to give the green light on the formwork before the pour began,
In the end, Valmot escaped a conviction but was ordered to pay an additional $42,752 in costs on top of the fine.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said working with formwork could be high risk and there was “no excuse” for concreters to omit important safety processes.
“Having a competent person inspect formwork before a concrete pour begins is a crucial step designed to avoid exactly this kind of disastrous scenario,” Mr Jenkin said.
“In this case two workers were injured and it could very easily have been much, much worse.”
Preventing fines and falls on your concrete pour
If you want to avoid coughing up a fine of your own and save your tradies from taking a tumble, here are a few tips WorkSafe recommends employers take on your next concrete pour.
- Ensure a competent and accredited person provides a formwork design capable of supporting the expected dynamic and static loads.
- Have systems in place to formally sign off a formwork deck as structurally sound, complete and safe for other trade workers to use as a work platform.
- Provide employees undertaking construction work with site-specific training, including the onsite risks associated with formwork decks.
- Ensure high-risk construction work is not performed unless a Safe Work Method Statement is prepared and followed.
- Use a fall arrest system, such as a catch platform or safety nets.
