SAFETY
The Federation Mission Statement clearly states as one of its prime objectives:
“To reduce the incident rate in the industry through the sharing of knowledge between members and consultation with relative authorities, unions etc”.
Each member is fundamentally responsible at law for the implementation of Safe Working practices on their projects in accordance with the regulations applicable in the state that they are working in. The Federation will do whatever is deemed possible to bring to members attention the experiences of other members and of similar organisations elsewhere in the world. To view some of the initiatives being taken please follow the links below:
Incident Report System - Results of 2007-2008
In early 2007 the Members of the Federation endorsed a proposal to introduce a reporting system for its members so that members could better understand the nature of unsafe incidents occurring within the piling and foundation sector of the industry. We now have the results of the first 12 months of the study - please follow this link for further information.
Safe Working Platforms
Members of the Federation have agreed to initiate a concerted campaign to improve working platforms required for piling rigs and associated equipment on project sites. This involves the introduction of a Working Platform Certificate. The objective of the campaign is to increase the awareness in the industry of the need for safe working platforms and the importance of maintaining them in good condition throughout the course of a project.
Safety Committee
The Federation has appointed a Safety Committee with a representative from each of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria/South Australia working in co operation with the Executive Director. Nic Morgan of Geotech Pty Ltd is heading up this committee assisted by Richard Harper from Frankipile. The committee is required to establish a realistic Action Plan for initiatives that they consider are achievable on an annual basis and to report regularly to General Meetings on progress being made and assistance required from other members.
Safety Hazards
The Federation has established an index of Safety Hazards applicable to the Piling and Foundation Engineering industry which is regularly updated from various sources worldwide. Members are encouraged to use these in their own in house safety training sessions, tool box meetings etc.
Incident Reporting System
A new incident reporting system has been introduced internally within the membership of the Federation in an effort to better understand and document the cause and effect of incidents within the industry. This new system is based on the system which has been in use by the European Federation of Foundation Contractors for the past 12 years. The Australian statistics will be capable of being benchmarked against the European experience for the first time.