Citation

Adam JM, Pallarés FJ, Calderón PA. J. Saf. Res. 2009; 40(4): 293-299.

Affiliation

ICITECH, Departamento de Ingenieria de la Construccion y Proyectos de Ingenieria Civil, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46071 Valencia, Spain. joadmar@cst.upv.es

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2009.07.003

PMID

19778653

Abstract

PROBLEM: One of the phases with the highest risk of falls from a height in the construction of a building is during the floor slab formwork stage. This paper analyzes this particular risk, as well as the most frequently used fall-protection systems. METHOD: A survey was carried out to define the current situation in Spain with regard to falls from a height during floor slab formwork and the fall-protection systems used to prevent such a risk. RESULTS: The results of the survey clarified the current situation in Spain with regard to this risk, and made it clear that there is considerable risk of falling from a height during the floor slab formwork stage. DISCUSSION: All the safety systems analyzed presented a series of weak points that should be studied in detail before they can be used on building sites. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The risk of falling associated with floor slab formwork and the most frequently used protection systems are analyzed. As no research had been carried out to date on this type of risk, we consider the research presented in this article to be a pioneer in the field.

Language: en