JULY 22 TOOLBOX TALK – ‘Temporary Works’
Contributor: Sinead Gaines, P.J. Hegarty & Sons
“Temporary Works is an area of construction that workers are not always aware of unless they are directly involved in it. It is important that everyone working on a construction site understands what Temporary Works is and report any elements of Temporary Work changes or defects to Site Management.”
(Sinead Gaines, EHS Manager, P.J. Hegarty & Sons)
Contributor’s Shared Advice:
Simplest Way to Describe Temporary Works?
Temporary works (TW) are the parts of a construction project that are needed to enable the permanent works (PW) to be built. Usually, the TW are removed after use some examples of
TW include access scaffolds or stairs, props, shoring, excavation support, falsework, and formwork, traffic management, hoarding, site gates and even sometimes the erection of signage can be considered TW.
It is very important that the same degree of care and attention is given to the design and construction of temporary works as for permanent works. As TW may be in place for a short time, there may be a tendency to assume they are less important; this would be an incorrect assumption. Lack of care with regards to design, selection and assembly may result in the risk
of an incident or injury.