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Statewide compliance campaign - Formwork

In 2007 Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) conducted a campaign focusing on industry compliance with the Formwork Code of Practice 2006 (the Code). The Formwork Code of Practice 2006 was developed following extensive consultation with key industry stakeholders and technical experts, and commenced on 1 January 2006. The commencement of the Code and the introduction of the Formwork Compliance Campaign 2007 was the subject of extensive promotion by WHSQ in partnership with key industry stakeholders.

During the campaign a total of 73 projects were audited throughout Queensland. The key objective of the compliance campaign was to gauge the level of implementation of the Code across the formwork industry in the year following its commencement.

The campaign targeted five major areas of the formwork industry:

  1. documentation
  2. coordination and administration
  3. work systems
  4. wall, column and jump forms
  5. health concerns/other.

An audit checklist, developed by WHSQ in conjunction with industry stakeholders, was used to assess compliance during the audit.

What were the results of the campaign?

Compliance with these five major areas was high, with an overall compliance of 91%. The area with the lowest compliance rate was found to be that of documentation, which includes construction safety plans and work method statements.

Awareness of the Code was relatively high among both principal contractors and workers, and was generally uniform throughout Queensland. The campaign also revealed that sites where formworkers were aware of the Code and its provisions had a higher rate of compliance than sites that did not.

Formwork Compliance Campaign 2007 – Compliance Results

Formwork Compliance Campaign 2007 – Compliance Results

WHSQ Inspectors conducting the compliance campaign identified several reasons for failure to comply, with the most common being:

Where to from here?

The campaign found that overall the industry has a good awareness of the Formwork Code of Practice 2006 and its provisions. The results indicate that where an obligation holder is aware of the Code and its provisions, workplace health and safety compliance rates are high.

The poorest performing area was documentation and further stakeholder education regarding an obligation holder’s requirements concerning documentation may lead to improved compliance rates.

Additionally, the industry needs to improve:

A follow-up campaign is scheduled to occur in 2008, targeting a sample of obligation holders visited in the 2007 campaign.

As with any research, these findings represent only what was found at the time the workplace visits took place and are only relevant to the industries visited.

For more information:

View/print the Report on the Formwork Compliance Campaign 2007 Summary (PDF, 259 KB)