EFFC/DFI Working Platforms Task Group
The EFFC/DFI Working Platforms Task Group pools the experiences across the membership of EFFC and DFI to collaborate on the critical issue of improving the safety of working platforms. Working platforms are used by everyone that accesses a site, particularly cranes and drilling machines.
Group Chair
Peter Faust, Dipl.-Ing.
Malcolm Drilling Company, Inc.
Peter Faust, Dipl.-Ing, has over 30 years of experience in foundation design and construction. He holds a degree in geotechnical engineering from Technical University Graz, Austria. After managing large infrastructure projects in Asia and Europe, he joined Malcolm in 2006, overseeing business development, strategic planning, corporate communications and marketing. Faust is a DFI Trustee and has published guidelines on tremie concrete, support fluids and working platforms for deep foundations.
Guide to Working Platforms
On a typical construction site, the provision of a safe surface to work on involves and affects a number of the contracting parties (the client; principal designer; general contractor; specialty contractor; platform designer; platform installer or earthworks contractor; platform tester and platform maintainer), and as a consequence, the organization of its design, installation and maintenance can be complex. As this concerns money and liability, working platforms are often a contentious issue but nonetheless one that needs to be addressed. This second edition takes each step in turn and describes what good practice is, incorporating the results of recent research undertaken by EFFC, DFI and the industry.
Field Research Study (FRS) #1
Verifying the quality of the platform is difficult and can be expensive to carry out. To understand the best methods for testing and seek a practical solution to this problem EFFC and DFI undertook of comparative assessment of different testing techniques at several sites in the US and Europe. The aim was to find a cost-effective and simple way to assess whether a working platform is fit for purpose before and during the works.
Field Research Study (FRS) #2 and #3
Most manufacturers provide track pressure values following the requirements of EN 16228. However, the actual pressures exerted during the operation of the rig may be different due to multiple factors. The purpose of FRS #2 was to provide a more user-friendly summary of applicable track pressures that owners, consultants, designers, general contractors, as well as specialty contractors, can use to estimate track pressure, for at least a preliminary evaluation.
Prior to undertaking FRS #3, the variance in platform designs from different methods was significant, even with the same data set. The intent of FRS #3 was to improve the process of platform design, construction and use by identifying and better understanding the most influential parameters used in platform design.