sources to dictate best practices when it comes to safer
working platforms. For contractors interested in learning how
they can improve today, members of the Working Platforms
Industry-Wide Working Group recommend reviewing the BR
470 document as a crucial first step.
“It’s got very good, practical recommendations for the
construction and maintenance of platforms, and also good
guidelines on designing platforms,” said Gildea. “Reviewing
that document would be the first step for anyone in the U.S.
If you apply the general recommendations in there, you’re
taking a step up from where you would be otherwise.”
Due to copyright, BR 470 is not available through
PDCA, DFI or ADSC-IAFD, but a digital copy can be
purchased for £45 (just under CAD$75) from BRE by visiting
www.brebookshop.com and searching “BR 470.”
“Review the BRE document and become familiarized with
that, and another good tool would be the Working Platforms
Industry-Wide Working Group, which is open to the public,”
said Taube. “We definitely encourage participation and
having discussions with other specialty contractors. Those
are the first steps.”
“Take the knowledge that’s out there – because there is
knowledge out there now,” said Finbow. “The knowledge
pool is growing week by week. Join organizations like
ADSC-IAFD, DFI or PDCA and benefit from that pool of
knowledge. Don’t stand alone; we’re much more powerful
as a group.”
The Working Platforms Industry-Wide Working Group is
looking to improve safety across the construction industry and
believes that, collectively, specialty contractors can make a
difference by insisting on proper working platforms and
refusing to compromise on safety.
“Safety is a responsibility, morally, of all of us,” said Finbow.
“Be bold. Stand up for what’s right and what you know
is right and needed to protect your workers,” said Taube.
“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.’ It can be a race to the bottom in terms of working
platform safety.”
Your participation is needed in order to improve working platform
safety across the industry. To join the Working Platforms
Industry-Wide Working Group, send an email to staff@dfi.org.
This article originally appeared in PileDriver and is reprinted
here with permission.
FEATURE
“This is a topic that extends basically throughout the
entire construction industry.”
– Martin Taube, P.Eng., P.G., Menard USA
46 Q3 2019 www.pilingcanada.ca
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