Formwork and shoring: no surprises during the pour

Caught-between 5 min 29 CFR 1926.703

Concrete, Carpentry

Why it matters

Wet concrete weighs about as much as a pickup truck per cubic yard. When a form or shore gives out during a pour, workers under it are crushed and workers on top fall with it. These collapses happen fast and with little warning.

The talk

Formwork holds up a huge load for a short time. Fresh concrete pushes down on a deck and pushes out on wall forms, and it pushes hardest while it is still wet. That is why forms and shoring have to be built to a plan. The drawings for the formwork, the shoring layout, and the work decks must be on the jobsite. Build it the way the drawings show. If you run out of shores, ties, or bracing, stop and ask. Do not swap in a different shore, skip a brace, or space things farther apart because it looks strong enough. Looks do not hold concrete.

Check every shore before it goes up. Do not use a post with a bent tube, a cracked weld, a missing pin, or a stripped screw jack. Set shores on sills that are sound and solid, not on mud, frozen ground, or a scrap block. Base plates and shore heads must sit tight against the sill and the form. A shore that leans or is loaded off center can kick out. During the pour, someone checks the shoring before, during, and right after concrete goes in. If you see a shore bending, a form bulging, or hear cracking or popping, stop the pour and get everyone out from underneath. Never jack up a shore to raise the form after concrete is placed.

Stripping is its own hazard. Forms and shores do not come out until the company says the concrete is strong enough to hold itself and whatever load is on it. Pulling shores too early is how slabs fail days after the pour. When you strip, work from a safe position, not right under the panel you are dropping. Keep other trades out of the area below. Reshoring goes in as the original shores come out, when the plan calls for it. Stack stripped forms neatly, pull or bend nails, and keep walkways clear so nobody trips into an open edge.

Key points

Build forms and shoring to the drawings kept on the jobsite.
Inspect each shore before it goes up.
Set shores on sound, solid sills with tight base plates and heads.
Check shoring before, during, and right after the pour.
Stop the pour if a shore bends or a form bulges.
Never raise forms by adjusting shores after concrete is placed.
Strip only when the company says the concrete is strong enough.

Do this

Ask when parts are missing instead of making do.
Tag out and set aside damaged shores.
Keep people out from under decks during the pour.
Watch and listen for movement while concrete goes in.
Install reshores as shores come out when the plan calls for it.

Do not do this

Do not set shores on mud, frozen ground, or scrap blocks.
Do not skip a brace or widen the spacing.
Do not jack shores up after the concrete is placed.
Do not strip early to save time.
Do not stand under a panel you are stripping.

Talk about it

Where are the formwork drawings for this pour, and has everyone seen them?
Who is watching the shoring during the pour, and what is the stop signal?
What is the ground like under our sills today?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

Training aid only. This talk is not legal advice. It does not replace your company's safety program, a competent person, the equipment maker's instructions, or the OSHA standard itself.

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