Tilt-up is used on thousands of new buildings very safely, economically and effectively; however it takes just a few people taking shortcuts to harm its good reputation. The new Worksafe Western Australia Industry Standard for tilt-up and Precast Concrete Construction for Buildings is due out about now, requiring compulsory training for tilt up sites. This code provides practical guidance for the design, manufacture, handling, storage, transportation and erection of tilt-up and precast concrete elements to ensure, as far as is practicable, a safe working environment for those in the industry. The code is intended to complement the key Australian Standards dealing with precast and tilt up concrete construction, AS 3600 and AS 3850. Worksafe say they were shocked when they did a safety blitz on tilt-up sites, with more than half of all sites having safety problems. They identified problems with erection, bracing, inadequate documentation, and lack of training, Regulation T3 requires that the WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner be notified of the intention to carry out tilt-up construction work. This requires confirmation that the work will be carried out in accordance with AS 3850 and that personnel carrying out the work have been trained in safe methods of tilt-up construction by a training organisation registered under the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) framework. Confirmation must also be provided in the notification that all tilt-up work will be directly supervised by a competent person. A competent person in this case is a person who has completed an approved course for managers and supervisors in the tilt-up industry delivered by a training organisation registered under the ANTA framework. Direct supervision means over sighting the work while it is being carried out, having regard to ensuring by way of direction, demonstration, monitoring and checking that the work is being performed in a safe manner in accordance with agreed procedures (the work plan) and ensuring a capacity to respond immediately in an emergency. A project specific work plan becomes a statutory requirement.
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