31 May 2023
The Office of Industrial Relations has advised that WorkSafe Queensland (WHSQ) are currently conducting a concrete placing boom (CPB) audit.
WHSQ will be auditing all persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) planned inspections and preventative maintenance programs. The audit will focus on major inspection requirements and documentation.
There have been several recent incidents involving CPBs, including an incident in early 2022 involving the catastrophic failure of the kingpost of a concrete placing boom being operated in Cairns.
Inspections of the kingpost identified pre-existing cracking and a deficient major inspection report. The circumstances of this incident are like the circumstances of a fatal incident that occurred in Victoria in 2021.
In March 2022, a 32-metre mobile CPB collapsed on a building site in North Queensland. The king post (slew turret) catastrophically failed because of a crack through the top of the post.
The falling boom caused extensive damage to the cabin of the truck on which it was mounted and to the formwork deck being poured. Fortunately, the boom did not strike the boom line hand or other workers on the slab being poured. The unit was manufactured in 1989.
The inspections and routine maintenance are to be carried out at intervals specified by the manufacturer and should be carried out:
- Daily before commencement of work
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Yearly
- Six yearly major inspection.
WHSQ will focus on major inspections which are to be a comprehensive inspection that includes dismantling all high stress areas and components subject to wear, unless considered unnecessary by the certifying engineer, including those areas that normally cannot be readily accessed during periodical inspections.
For further information members can contact the Master Builders Health and Safety team, or refer to the Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2019.
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