Crane hire company fined over tilt-up construction job
Issue Date: - Thursday, 10 July 2008
A crane hire company has been fined $2500 for failing to follow the correct procedure in varying the method of bracing concrete tilt-up construction panels.
P.C.H. Pty Ltd – trading as Pemac Crane Hire – pleaded guilty and was fined in the Armadale Magistrates Court this week for breaching the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations.
Pemac Crane Hire was engaged in erecting tilt-up construction panels at a site in Canning Vale in February 2007 when WorkSafe inspectors visited the site to follow up the earlier unrelated collapse of two panels on the site.
The work Pemac was contracted to do included the erection of 22 concrete panels to form the exterior walls of the building under construction.
These panels required temporary bracing to hold them in place before they were finally secured, and this bracing was to be as per the specifications on the engineer’s plans.
Three of the panels could not be braced in accordance with the engineer’s plans because other tilt-up slabs had been poured in the wrong place by the concreting company.
A director of Pemac Crane Hire who was operating the crane proceeded to erect the three panels around the obstacle after discussions with the principal of the concreting company.
The panels were not erected in accordance with the engineer’s plans and a written variation to the drawings was not obtained, in breach of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that the case illustrated that all possible precautions needed be taken when undertaking tilt-up construction work.
“Tilt-up construction is high-risk work and the regulations are there to ensure that the risks are avoided, or at least kept to a minimum,” Ms Lyhne said.
“An enormous amount of time and resources has been invested in lessening the risks involved in tit-up construction over recent years, and this case illustrates the importance of complying with the laws.
“Fortunately no-one was injured as a result of this breach, but WorkSafe inspectors had been summoned to the site in response to an earlier collapse of panels, so it may well have been simple luck that no injuries had occurred on the site.
“We have seen the tragic consequences of not sticking strictly to the laws where tilt-up construction is concerned, and everyone involved in the industry needs to ensure that safety is the top priority on site.
“A comprehensive Code of Practice on Tilt-up and Precast Concrete Construction has been available for some years, and copies of this code should be made available on all sites where tilt-up work is taking place.”
Further information on tilt-up and precast concrete construction is available by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au. Copies of the Code of Practice can be purchased for $3.30 per copy, or downloaded from the website at no cost.