“Ideally, it’s the owner who should be responsible for
ensuring a proper working platform and it should be part of
the overall cost of the project,” he said. “However, in reality,
the very important consideration of the working platform
can get obscured in the bidding process as multiple parties
try to shed the liability using their contracts.”
As a project cost, the working platform can become a socalled
bargaining chip in the bidding process. Taube says
that’s because working platforms are not well defined, general
contractors and bidding parties are not in a position to put a
lot of extra money or allowances for them.
“Unfortunately, the working platform sometimes becomes
part of the currency of the bid,” he said. “In other words,
sometimes we will say that we require a certain thickness of
working platform and we might hear, ‘Your competitor only
needs one foot instead of two feet. Can you do it with a onefoot
working platform?’ Or, ‘I wanted to give you the work,
but these other guys are going to do it without a working
platform. Can you do that?’ It puts the subcontractor in a
position of possibly accepting a less substantial quality or
even no working platform.”
The consensus of the Working Platforms Industry-Wide
Working Group, and noted in the joint position document
from ADSC-IAFD, DFI and PDCA, is that the responsibility
for providing a safe working platform needs to be acknowledged
by the controlling entities and considered an integral cost for
every project.
“If the responsibility, or at least some of the responsibility,
was shifted to the owner, I believe that we would see better
working platforms,” said Taube.
The party that has control of the site for the full duration
is typically the most appropriate entity to have control of
the working platform, says Gildea, especially concerning
maintenance of the platform.
“In the U.K., the piling contractor provides the rig loads to
the principal contractor,” said Gildea.
With that information, says Egan, the principal contractor
is responsible for designing the working platform, either
using in-house temporary works designers or by engaging a
specialist geotechnical design firm.
“The maintenance responsibility resides with the GC, who
is in control of the site,” said Gildea. “The piling contractor
will flag any issues on site and the GC will maintain them.”
Finbow believes that inspection responsibilities should
fall to the specialty contractor.
“We’re using the platform with our rigs… my view is, if
I’m going to put a rig on there, I’m going to make sure that
it’s okay. I think it’s very clear,” he said. “We build platform
inspection into our own site management, reporting back to
the person(s) responsible for the maintenance of the platform’s
current condition. I would hope that everybody does that to
make sure that the rig is safe and isn’t going to implicate the
safety of their people.”
“It’s a complicated issue and it’s not something that everyone
agrees on,” said Taube.
How to start improving
Since there is limited guidance specific to the North American
market at this time, piling contractors must rely on other
FEATURE
In recent years, the topic of safe working platforms has
experienced growing attention in the U.S. market
CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
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