REINFORCEMENT CAGE SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Temporary works expert forum concerned over cage stability
The collapse of reinforcement (‘rebar’) cages before concreting has occurred periodically with serious consequences, including death and injury.
There have been collapses of wall cages, column cages and deep slab cages. The Temporary Works Forum (TWf) has now issued a Safety Bulletin – Stability of reinforcement prior to concreting (16 October 2015).
The Bulletin is aimed at those specifying, managing, designing, detailing and installing reinforcement cages (whether this be permanent works designers or contractors) and seeks to draw attention to some key issues in ensuring stability and thus safety.
Considerable potential risk
The TWf states that despite these occurrences, there is only limited guidance on the assessment of cage temporary stability. To a great extent, temporary stability has been dealt with by custom and practice.
However, changes in working practices may invalidate past assumptions e.g.
- Trend towards fixing taller cages with smaller diameter vertical bars;
- Use of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) in lieu of scaffolding;
- Use of long handled nips and automatic slash tie machines; and
- Different types of tying wire, tie patterns, etc.
Consequently the TWf believes:
“These changes invalidate a reliance on custom and practice as a means to ensure safety. It is unacceptable for incidents to occur as a means to allowing a new approach to evolve. Notwithstanding this, many of the measures required are straightforward and long-standing. A key message in planning is to, ‘Look, think, consider and decide’”
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