Over 100 people attended the launch of the Formwork Industry Association, the first ever industry association dedicated solely to the needs of the Australian formwork industry, at the wonderful Doltone House venue in Sydney on Friday night.   Attendees included those from a variety of formwork contractors, construction companies, suppliers, education and government bodies. 

“We are very pleased with the amazing turnout this evening”, commented FIA President Alex Angelucci. “For an industry not known for their social networking, this is a good indicator that our association is already hitting the right mark and meeting industry needs”. 

Tracey Cook, SafeWork NSW, in her address praised the work of the five founding board directors in creating the association and announced the handing over of responsibilities for the Formwork Industry Consultative Committee (FICC), originally set up and facilitated by SafeWork NSW, to the FIA. “It is a great honour to receive this praise”, added Angelucci, “and we will continue to work hard in gaining our industry’s feedback on the proposed code of practice to improve safety performance within our industry”. 

Daniel Beavon, SafeWork NSW Director, gave an informative address on the need for safety improvements in the industry to protect our workers and informed the audience of SafeWork NSW’s plans for the future, which includes working closely with the FIA.

“The FIA’s mission is to continuously improve competence and safety across the Formwork industry by bringing the industry together for networking, advocacy and knowledge sharing to raise standards and minimise risk”, stated FIA Vice President Jason Andrijic. “This launch event is the first of many events, both social and educational that we will host to educate and inform those within our industry”. 

Jason, along with FIA General Manager, Michael Sugg, is tasked with putting together the FIA’s education and awareness program for the industry, focused on improving safety and minimising risk. “We are working on a number of competency based workshops, specific training with a desire for certification, as well as social events to share best practice and educate workers across the industry” commented Andrijic. “Working together with our partners is essential too and we have in the pipeline a number of events for workers to learn best practice use of machinery and systems”, added Sugg. “We are delighted to have the support of our partners Doka, Big River, Dincel, Peri and HIlti”, commented Sugg and these companies were in attendance at the launch event, showing their support for the FIA and its members.

Also, taking to the stage was Chris Pracy, TAFE NSW, providing her and TAFE’s support to the FIA. In her address she indicated that TAFE NSW and FIA were already in discussions on providing a solution to the industry’s needs, understanding the potential reasons there had been little take up of the cert three courses. “We understand the time constraints your companies have and are working to provide a solution that meets the needs of everyone” stated Pracy. Sugg also confirmed these discussion were already underway and that he was collating industry feedback from the FIA members on their needs for competency based training and certification to improve safety standards within the industry.

The formwork industry is one of the largest employers in the building industry and along with its high-risk nature possesses one of the lowest safety records in the construction industry. In the SafeWork Australia report, falls from height accounted for the largest proportion of fatalities within the construction industry at 30%, followed by being hit by falling objects at 15%. Improving safety standards within the formwork industry is a key part of the newly formed Formwork Industry Association (FIA), established by formwork contractors as a need for formwork contractors, plus their workers, to raise industry standards. 

It was extremely good to see so many companies in attendance at the Formwork Industry Association launch and the industry is encouraged to get behind and be part of this industry association to shape the future of the formwork landscape and change the safety record of the industry both now and for the future generation of Australian Formworkers. As Angelucci stated in his closing comments, “Together we can make Formwork great again!”. 

 

For more information on the Formwork Industry Association (FIA) please visit their website.

To become a Member of the FIA join here.

For further comments please contact FIA General Manager, Michael Sugg on 0401 326161