Steps to avoid unsafe shoring of excavations

Build Safe UAE (BSU) is set to hold talks with RAK Municipality next week to learn more about the unsafe shoring of excavations after a fatality took place in the emirate.

Meanwhile, the Dubai Municipality sent a statement asking all contractors and consultants working in the field of building and construction to follow the engineering norms in their work.

It urged the industry "not to cross beyond the technical specifications and requirements contained in the standard list of conditions and specifications of building and the safety manual issued by Dubai Municipality" and to "avoid legally punishable offences".

A BSU's weekly alert said that investigations are underway in RAK about the death of a labourer that occurred when he was digging a three-metre-deep hole as part of the street renovation and was buried alive under pile of sand and rocks that fell on him.

BSU Chairman Grahame McCaig is also in the process of meeting RAK's Municipality to further understand the incident and said that unsafe shoring of excavations is a very common issue.

BSU recommended that excavations of this type should be boxed in and the excavation permit system should be adopted.

Additionally, risk assessments would help identify the danger and toolbox talks on excavation collapse should be done for all project team members working on excavations.

Dubai Municipality noted the death of three people and the injury of a fourth one when a wall of a building fell on them at a construction site in Al Mizhar 1.

According to Marwan Abdullah Mohammed, Head of Engineering Supervision Section of Dubai Municipality, initial findings by the investigation team from the Buildings Department suggest the incident happened due to some very basic mistakes by the contractor and the consultant while executing the job. The basic reason for the incident is that the contractor built a wall of bricks in contravention of the engineering work norms.

He said: "After providing the foundations of the wall, it revealed a lack of construction strengthening points and alternative support throughout the length of the collapsed wall. No concrete columns were provided on the sides of the wall, which caused the collapse.

"The contractor put sand behind the wall, which resulted in the pressure from that side and there was also lack of adequate supervision by the contractor and the consultant to ensure the safety of work and labourers."

Meanwhile, according to the BSU weekly alerts (No 83) reported a collapse of a two mt high platform of a tower scaffold though no damages or injuries were sustained. The tower scaffold platform was erected by the client's appointed scaffolder to break concrete rendering on an exterior ramp wall. Without consulting the appointed certified scaffolder, the workers physically moved the platform to another work site by removing base plates and adding wheels. Upon moving the platform to the new work area, the workers attempted to remove the wheels and re-attach the base plates resulting in the toppling of the tower.

Despite the fact that no person or property was damaged, further work has been suspended indefinitely due to pending investigation and the workers involved have been removed from site for a deliberate breach of agreed site rules.

The scaffolding structure was dismantled by a competent scaffolder and an investigation was undertaken in the presence of the client.

On another site, a labourer was fitting duct inside a riser on the seventh floor of a building and was struck by a falling block. The accident was caused by the failure and negligence of the main contractor who permitted the subcontractor to work inside the riser at the same time that a masonry team was also working in the same riser 21 floors above. A hollow core block fell from the 21st floor and broke the overhead protection covering the ninth floor. It continued to fall and hit the worker who was working on the seventh floor. The worker was hospitalised and exempted from work for three months.

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