Pre-cast Tilt-up Panels Safe Work Method Statement

Tilt-up panel reinforcement typically uses welded wire mesh sheets weighing 180-250kg each, with individual sheets measuring up to 6 metres by 2.4 metres. Workers must lift mesh from delivery stacks, carry across formwork, position accurately within panel forms, and overlap adjacent sheets as specified. The size and weight of mesh sheets requires minimum four-person team lifts, but uneven load distribution as sheets flex during handling creates unpredictable forces. Workers experience back strain from sustained holding during positioning, shoulder injuries when mesh sheets slip or shift suddenly, and crushing injuries to fingers and hands caught between overlapping mesh edges or between mesh and forms. Wind creates additional hazard by catching large mesh sheets acting as sails, potentially overbalancing workers or causing mesh to twist and strike personnel. Awkward bending and reaching postures required when working at floor level positioning mesh for extended periods cause cumulative musculoskeletal strain.

Consequence: Acute lower back injuries including muscle tears and disc herniation requiring extended recovery periods, chronic back pain and degenerative disc disease from repeated heavy lifting, shoulder rotator cuff tears requiring surgical repair, crushed fingers and hands causing fractures and soft tissue damage, and long-term disability affecting capacity for physical work.

Portland cement in wet concrete is highly alkaline with pH levels above 12, causing chemical burns through prolonged skin contact. During tilt-up panel concrete placement and finishing, workers frequently contact wet concrete with unprotected hands when adjusting reinforcement, positioning embedded fixtures, hand-screeding around obstacles, or power-troweling panel surfaces. Workers kneeling on fresh concrete during finishing operations experience concrete saturating clothing at knees, maintaining prolonged skin contact. Cement splashes on forearms during placement or finishing that are not immediately washed cause progressive skin damage over hours. The chemical burn develops slowly without immediate pain, causing many workers to underestimate exposure risk and continue working while damage progresses. Initial symptoms include skin redness and irritation, progressing to painful cracking, blistering, and ulceration with continued exposure. Repeated low-level exposure causes cement dermatitis, a chronic skin condition creating permanent sensitization requiring total avoidance of cement contact.

Consequence: Deep chemical burns requiring medical treatment and skin grafting in severe cases, permanent scarring and skin discoloration affecting exposed areas, chronic cement dermatitis causing painful skin cracking and bleeding with any future cement exposure, career-ending sensitization preventing all future concrete work, bacterial infections of damaged skin requiring antibiotic treatment, and psychological impact from permanent disfigurement.

Tilt-up panel concrete placement requires multiple concrete truck deliveries, with 6-8 cubic metre trucks reversing across sites to discharge points near panel forms. Truck drivers have extremely limited rear visibility, relying on mirrors and reversing cameras that may not detect personnel behind or beside trucks. Workers positioning reinforcement, installing embedded fixtures, or preparing forms may not hear reversing alarms over site noise or may misjudge truck approach speed and stopping distance. Concrete pump trucks with long boom sections create wide strike zones as booms rotate and extend to reach panel locations. Workers focused on finishing operations may not maintain awareness of boom positions overhead. Pump operators controlling boom movements from remote locations may have obstructed views of ground personnel. The urgency of maintaining concrete placement before material stiffens creates production pressure reducing focus on safety protocols.

Consequence: Fatal crush injuries from being struck or run over by reversing concrete trucks, severe traumatic injuries including head trauma and multiple fractures from boom impacts, spinal injuries causing permanent paralysis from being struck by heavy equipment, internal organ damage from compression forces, and psychological trauma for workers witnessing struck-by incidents.

Workers performing concrete finishing operations on tilt-up panels work at floor level but face significant slip and trip hazards. Fresh wet concrete creates extremely slippery surfaces, particularly when chemical release agents are applied to slab surfaces before casting. Workers power-troweling panels walk backwards while operating equipment, unable to see obstacles behind them including reinforcement projections, form edges, embedded fixtures, or material stockpiles. Electrical cords from power trowels and screeds trail across work areas creating trip hazards. Workers finishing panel edges lean over forms maintaining awkward postures that can cause overbalancing. Fatigue from sustained physical work over long shifts during panel placement (often extending 10-12 hours) reduces coordination and balance. Falls onto reinforcement steel protruding from panels can cause serious puncture and laceration injuries even from low height.

Consequence: Lacerations and puncture wounds from falling onto exposed reinforcement steel, fractures of wrists, arms, and ankles from impact with concrete surfaces or forms, head injuries including concussion from striking forms or slab edges during falls, soft tissue injuries including sprains and contusions, and infection risks from contaminated wounds penetrating skin.

Welded wire reinforcement mesh contains sharp cut ends where mesh has been cut to size, with wire ends protruding 10-50mm beyond cut edges. Workers handling mesh during installation sustain cuts and puncture wounds to hands, forearms, and legs from contact with protruding wires. Individual reinforcing bars installed around openings and panel edges have threaded ends or sharp cut surfaces causing similar injuries. When workers trip or fall across forms, exposed reinforcement steel causes laceration and puncture injuries. Reinforcement projecting above finished panel surfaces (such as starter bars for connections) creates hazards for workers walking across completed panels. The spring tension in cut mesh sheets causes cut ends to flex and strike workers when mesh is released during handling. Rusted or corroded reinforcement steel carries increased infection risk when wounds penetrate skin.

Consequence: Deep lacerations requiring stitches and potentially affecting tendons or nerves in hands and fingers, puncture wounds to legs and feet penetrating through footwear, eye injuries from wire ends striking face during mesh handling, bacterial infections including tetanus from contaminated steel penetrating skin, permanent scarring affecting hand function and dexterity, and loss of work time during wound healing.

Concrete placement for tilt-up panels requires vibration to eliminate air voids and achieve full compaction, using electric or pneumatic concrete vibrators generating noise levels of 95-105 dB(A) at operator position. Power trowels and ride-on finishing machines used for final panel surface finishing produce continuous noise at 90-100 dB(A). The concrete placement phase may extend 6-10 hours for large panel pours, creating prolonged noise exposure. Multiple items of equipment operating simultaneously compound noise levels. Workers focused on finishing operations may not maintain correct use of hearing protection or may remove protection to communicate with other workers. The cumulative noise exposure across multiple panel casting operations causes progressive hearing damage. Inadequate hearing protection or inconsistent use results in permanent noise-induced hearing loss affecting high frequencies initially and progressing to speech frequencies with continued exposure.

Consequence: Permanent noise-induced hearing loss affecting ability to understand speech and hear warning signals, tinnitus causing constant ringing interfering with sleep and concentration, temporary threshold shifts after exposure reducing hearing acuity for hours or days, social isolation from difficulty communicating in noisy environments, and reduced workplace safety from inability to hear equipment warnings.