Forming a safe work space

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Economic fluctuations and ongoing logistical hurdles continue to dog the formwork industry, while concerns over safety and communication between the various players involved in construction remain at the forefront of the sector.

The recent spate of incidents at Dubai Marina, which saw seven Indian workers killed following an incident on the Al Sufouh network project, and a scaffolding collapse at the end of November, which saw two killed and a further three injured, has prompted those operating in the industry to place even greater scrutiny on sites in which their materials and staff operate.

Geir Jensen, general manager, Doka Gulf, believes this is again a prominent issue, which must be faced: "At the moment, there is nothing negative affecting Doka, however, after the recent news about scaffolding collapses, my concerns about site safety are getting more serious.

"I feel that the suppliers as well as the contractors have to be more aware of the safety aspects when using temporary products for the execution of the jobs. It doesn't help to deliver safe products if they are not handled in a safe way," he adds. To offset this Jensen says safe execution must be considered and the aim is to design formwork systems in a way that minimises the risk of misuse or negligence, backed up by regular visits by supervisors' onsite.

These concerns are yet to have any real detrimental impact on the market, however. Doka is stretched across numerous areas of the Middle East, with subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Within Dubai itself, the company is capitalising on its experience of working on the Burj Dubai by pursuing work on the coveted Al Burj tower, which is earmarked to be taller than the current record-holder. "Doka has made a technical study on how to execute the project," says Jensen. "From a formwork point of view it is technically possible and we have a solution on how to reach the desired working cycle. Based on our Burj Dubai experience we can estimate the consequences and the requirements for the execution
quite accurately."

But actually engaging with the client or contractor is another area where formwork is notably poor. "The communication in the construction industry is not very good. The different players involved in the execution of any project hardly communicate with each other. All the sub-contractors and suppliers deal directly with the main contractor. Communication across the lines - between the players - does not exist," Jensen says.

According to Hans Rau, managing director of Peri Middle East, a proactive attempt to communicate is laudable but inherently difficult. "It is important to have frequent communication. We visit our customers as often as possible to see how things are and what additional help we can offer. Most of the time the customers on site are very busy as they have to deal with all the suppliers and people working on site at once. Getting hold of them is sometimes the most challenging part, which is followed by them having the time to communicate with you."

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