Experts offer insights on formwork, scaffolding role in construction safety

Experts in the construction industry have provided insights on the role formwork and scaffolding can play in ensuring safety of men and materials in the construction industry, lamenting that, when it comes to safety, construction enjoys a notorious reputation.

Failure or fatality at construction sites is not peculiar to any country or region, they said, citing the Health and Safety Executive in the UK which says that construction continues to dominate the fatality stats with 70 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels and more than double the second worst affected industry.

The experts spoke at a training session for practitioners in the construction industry with the theme, ’Role of Formwork and Scaffolding in Construction Safety.’ The training was co-hosted by Construction Kaiser Limited (CKL), an indigenous construction firm with strong footprint in the industry and a foreign firm called Peri.

The experts also cited Eurostat (EU) which says that “construction remains the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the European Union,” adding that fall from heights remains the most prevalent cause of injury in the construction industry.

Explaining why focus is on formwork and scaffolding in the course of construction, Paul Oyewole, a design engineer at Peri, noted that in Nigeria, concrete frame construction remains the dominant form of construction, hence the need to ensure sound and safe formwork and scaffolding practices.

He explained that formwork, also known as shuttering, is a mold used to shape concrete into structural components like beams, walls, columns and slabs, adding that it can be of timber, steel, plastic or fiberglass used to hold concrete in place until it hardens and can support itself, while scaffolding is any temporary elevated or supported work surface used to support workers and/or materials.

As support materials for construction work, Oyewole said that both formwork and scaffolding do what he called “temporary works” which means they are temporary structures and systems used in construction projects to support, assist, or facilitate the main work. “Temporary works are designed, built, and removed once their function is fulfilled, typically after the permanent structure is completed or the construction activity that required them is finished,” he said.

In formwork planning and design, he advised that appropriate tools should be employed while drawing preparation should be approved and issued for construction (IFC) purposes. He gave examples of the PERI Design Tables for slab, walls and shoring systems, assembly instructions documents, and PERI CAD Next Gen.

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For safety, scaffolding should be designed to ensure, among other things, safety at use, adding that it is general obligations of employers and their workers to do risk assessment and detect warning signs. He recommended systems scaffold which offer advantages in terms of modularity, ease of assembly/disassembly, strength and durability, and safety.

According to him, there could be scaffolding failure arising from improper erection, insufficient length, not tied or no handhold available, overloading of scaffold platforms, poor or non-existent scaffolding maintenance, vehicle or equipment collisions with scaffolding supports and non-compliance with safety regulations on scaffolding.

To prevent that failure, Oyewole said precautions should be taken such as having the right/competent person, using proper construction scaffolding inspection checklist for daily and regular inspection, undergoing appropriate training of scaffolders and certificate of proficiency issued according to standards, taking necessary refresher trainings, and using a system scaffold which is safe, fast and efficient.

Igbuan Okaisabor, CEO, Construction Kaiser, had in his opening remarks, explained why they organized the training. He said that his company wants to improve the construction industry in the country, adding that they want industry practitioners to learn because mistakes must always be made irrespective of age and experience. “Recognise your failure as a springboard for success,” he advised, adding that “in the pursuit of excellence, we are bound to make mistakes.”

CKL and Peri, five years ago, entered into strategic partnership to ensure that accidents or fatalities and cases of building collapse are reduced drastically. Both firms recognized that, in Nigeria, fatalities or accidents at construction sites, building collapse incidents and construction failures arise from human error and the consequences are usually many. Weak scaffolding, wrong formwork placement and poor training in the use of formwork are some of the cases in point and these alone account for over 50 percent of fatalities at construction sites.

PERI, founded in 1969, is the world’s largest manufacturer of formwork and scaffolding with over 70 subsidiaries and 120 logistics centers worldwide. The company has over 8,000 employees worldwide and has blazed the trail in formwork and scaffolding innovation in Nigeria in the last decade it opened for business in the country.

“We are pleased to align our operations with PERI through this technical partnership agreement. This affiliation is indeed of great importance to us because of PERI’s technical innovations that we will be leveraging on in our operations,” Okaisabor explained.