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The updated Work Health and Safety (Formwork Code of Practice) Approval is in effect as of 8 May
This page provides guidance for persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) and workers on the risks posed when working with formwork and falsework in the workplace.
What is Formwork?
Formwork means the surface of the form and framing used to contain and shape wet concrete until it is self-supporting.&#;It is&#;a&#;temporary structure that supports part or the whole of a permanent structure until it is self-supporting.
Formwork includes&#;the forms on or within which concrete is poured,&#;and the frames and bracing which provide stability&#;during the assembly, pour and curing stages.&#;Formwork construction may involve high risk activities for example, operating powered mobile plant like cranes, working at height and excavating foundations.
What is Falsework?
Falsework means the temporary structure used to support a permanent structure, material, plant, equipment and people until the construction of the permanent structure has advanced to the stage where it is self-supporting.
Although commonly referred to as part of the formwork assembly, the joists, bearers, bracing, foundations, frames&#;and footings are referred to as falsework.
What are the risks?
Risks associated with formwork may include:
Duties to manage risks in the workplace
PCBUs have a duty to eliminate risks in the workplace, or if that is not possible, minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
Other duty holders who have a role in managing risks under the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS Act) include:
For further information on Work Health and Safety (WHS) duties see our workplace rights and responsibilities webpage.
Risk Management
For more information, please visit concrete slab formwork.
A PCBU must manage the risks to workers and other people&#;s health and safety which may arise from the erection, alteration, dismantling and use of formwork and falsework.
A PCBU should follow the four-step risk management process:
For further guidance on the risk management process and the hierarchy of control see the Code of Practice: How to manage WHS risks.
When considering if the risk of formwork and falsework can be eliminated from the workplace, PCBUs should consider alternative construction methods which can be used. Such as:
If risks cannot be eliminated, think about how they can be minimised, for example:
Control measures should be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain effective.
Competency and licencing
A person who erects, alters or dismantles formwork must be competent to do so. There is no high risk work licence for formwork but there are requirements for other activities associated with formwork such as:
Key design differences exist between building formwork and falsework. For starters, formwork is an umbrella term, in that formwork projects incorporate falsework assets. Strictly speaking, however, they&#;re separate entities. One task addresses the services used to contain freshly poured concrete. Falsework, the second approach to structural work, targets form holding undertakings. Both defined as temporary constructs, it&#;s still sometimes hard to distinguish one technique from the other.
What Is Structural Falsework?
Check out a partially constructed bridge. It&#;s a good example to kick off this post, after all. That bridge is almost finished, but it&#;s not yet ready to support itself. Looking below the structure, there are temporary piers, each made of latticed metal, supporting the bridgework. They&#;re supporting the load-critical span, holding the concrete segments in place until the building materials are fully cured and stable. In a second example, there&#;s wooden braces and ties anchoring a newly erected wall. Inside the wall, a network of steel wires supports the fortified embankment. Finally, keeping those wires rigid, there are studs and ties penetrating the surface, and it&#;s their job to hold the framework rigid. Column collars, wall braces and more, falsework constructs are intended to support loads and keep those loads stable until they become self-supporting.
Shaping Concrete Formwork
Like the moulds that contain liquid jelly, gargantuan casts are erected on-site as concrete containment faces. They&#;re built to restrain the side-to-side &#;pressures&#; and top-down loading effects that would otherwise occur as the building material slumped and collapsed. Back at that bridge, the supporting pillars below the horizontal span aren&#;t there just yet, but a set of articulated forms are on-site. Wet concrete is seen streaming into the hollow segments. Days later, they&#;re dismantled. Standing tall and rigid now are the hardened pillars, free of the structural formwork. And that&#;s just a basic example, one that we&#;re using to represent an enormous industrial sector. Formwork moulds are expertly laid as bridge arches, structure faces, atrium columns, and much more besides.
In summary, formwork is used to hold poured building materials. They stay until the concrete dries, and then they&#;re dismantled. They&#;re also load-supporting, for they&#;re holding back masses of wet concrete. Formwork is different. There are metal and wooden variants, which subdivide further into articulating metal systems or wooden braces and ties. Installation expertise aligns each element, each mould and bracing beam. That applies to both construction techniques, for those elements need to be perfectly aligned and built to meet exacting dimensional tolerances. Checked, adjusted, checked again for proper erection and alignment, the formwork and falsework structures only receive their wet concrete loads when they&#;re correctly installed.
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