FEATURE
In order to ensure proper working platforms on construction
sites, members of FPS created a simple form for general
contractors to sign that indicates there is an adequate
platform built to a proper design and specification, and that
it will be maintained by the general contractor throughout
construction activities.
“We call it the ‘Working Platform Certificate,’” said Egan
during his 2018 webinar. “It summarizes what the project is,
what part of the project the specialty contractor is working
on and under what load the working platform is designed
to operate. It names the designer, the designer’s organization
and any testing that is required.
“And then the principal contractor has to sign to say that
they are confirming the platform has been correctly designed,
correctly installed and will be correctly maintained before
the piling contractor goes to the site.”
Egan says that an early version of the Working Platform
Certificate was created in 2004 and that the initial reaction
from principal contractors was less than positive.
“In my experience, … as a subcontractor, you feel like
you’re down at the bottom of the food chain sometimes,”
said Egan in his webinar. “So how do you influence project
owners and general contractors?”
It was through FPS members collectively insisting on the
form’s use and refusing to enter sites without one that the
“ Don’t sacrifice your
standards in order to
win work. It can be very
tempting to say, ‘Hey,
the other guys can do
it without a working
platform, so that’s what
we’re gonna do.’”
– Martin Taube, P.Eng., P.G., Menard USA
certificate became standard practice for both FPS members
and non-members alike.
At the same time, a group of specialists was assembled
by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) at the direction
of FPS to create a unified approach to working platform
construction and design that defined the health and safety
requirements for safe platforms. BRE published a document
titled, “Working platforms for tracked plant: good practice
guide to the design, installation, maintenance and repair of
ground-supported working platforms,” also known by the
title “BR 470,” in 2004.
“Working platform safety is now written into health and
safety executive guidance in the U.K., but that took a long
time – almost 15 years,” said Gildea.
The Working Platforms Industry-Wide Working Group
The Working Platforms Industry-Wide Working Group was
initially created in 2017 after another DFI committee realized
the scope of the issue.
“I’m the former chair of the Ground Improvement
Committee for DFI, and several years ago, we tried to take
on the topic of working platforms,” said Taube. “We tried to
come up with some guidance for the industry, but as we
worked on the initiative, we realized that it’s a much bigger
topic with more relevance than just that committee’s focus.
This is a topic that extends basically throughout the entire
construction industry.”
The Working Platforms Industry-Wide Working Group
was formed to start gathering information, such as the existing
documents and guidance from the industry experience in
the U.K., to provide to DFI members. Formally adopting the
implementation of working platform certificates is a topic
currently up for debate in the Working Group, says Taube.
“That might be the direction we’re heading in,” he said. “I
don’t think that we’re committed to adopting it in its entirety,
and that’s what’s being hashed out now.”
Although, there are key takeaways from the protocol the
U.K. industry follows that the Working Platforms Industry-
Wide Working Group believes would be of benefit in the
North American market.
“The biggest five or six piling companies in the U.K. at
that time were the first ones to say, ‘We want to take the lead
on this,’” said Gildea. “If you look at the $1.5-billion market in
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