For the past few months UASC has been in Salem, MA at Salem State University providing site safety manager consulting services on this concrete construction job. In the picture to the left you can see the concrete forms being built and put into place by our friends at Marguerite Concrete of Hopedale, MA.This type of construction requires rules and procedures to protect employees from the hazards of concrete and masonry operations.  You must be aware and follow these rules for your personal safety.No construction loads shall be placed upon a concrete structure unless it is determined by a person qualified in structural engineering that the concrete structure is capable of carrying the loads.All protruding reinforcing steel (rebar) shall be guarded in order to prevent injury should anyone fall on it.Signs and barriers shall be erected in the area of posting tensioned operations in order to keep out unauthorized and unnecessary personnel.No employee shall be allowed to work under concrete buckets while they are being hoisted or lowered.Proper personal protective equipment shall be required when applying cement, sand and water mixtures delivered by compressed air under pressure.There are a serious of requirements concerning equipment and tools.  These requirements are industry accepted standards and should present you with no problems.  If you need to review them, do so as you are responsible for these requirements.All masonry walls over 8 feet in height shall be braced to prevent overturning and collapse, unless the wall is supported so that it will not do so.  Bracing shall remain in place until permanent supporting elements of the structure are in place. A limited access zone shall be the entire length of the wall by the height of the wall plus 4 feet.Cast In Place ConcreteAll form work shall be capable of carrying all construction loads.Drawings or plans, including all revisions, for form work, shoring and related components shall be available at the jobsite.Do not use any shoring equipment that appears to be damaged or defective.Inspect all shoring immediately prior to, during and immediately after concrete placement.Make sure all bases for shoring are able to carry all applicable loads, are supported and properly aligned.Design of shoring shall be done by a qualified designer.  A qualified structural engineer shall inspect the erected shoring.Reinforcing SteelProperly secure and support wall mats, columns, etc. to prevent overturning and collapse.Take proper measures to keep wire mesh from recoiling.Removal of Form WorkDo not remove forms until concrete has sufficient strength to support itself and soon to be imposed loads. Reshoring has the same requirement as above.Precast ConcreteProperly support all precast units to prevent overturning and collapse.Lifting inserts in tilt-up members shall have a safety factor of 2.Lifting inserts in all other members shall have a safety factor of 4.Lifting hardware shall have a safety factor of 5.No employee shall be allowed under precast concrete members being lifted into position.Lift Slab Construction OperationsA registered professional engineer shall design all lift slab operations.Jacks and other lifting units shall e properly labeled and shall not be overloaded.All jacking equipment, including all accessories shall have a safety factor of 2.5.All jacks and lifting equipment shall:Have a safety device, which will allow the unit to support the loads in the event of a malfunction.Be designed and installed so that it will stop lifting if its load is exceeded.Secured so that it will not dislodge or dislocate during operations.All operations are to be synchronized and are to be controlled by a qualified, competent person.All temporary welding shall be performed by a certified welder.Do not transfer loads to maintain columns until welds have cooled to air temperature.