UK construction-safety guidance by the Riskora Editorial Team
Producing a proper risk assessment for concrete pouring is not optional — it is a legal and practical requirement for construction work in the UK. Whether you are a sole trader or managing a multi-phase project, documented risk management protects your workers, satisfies clients, and keeps you on the right side of HSE enforcement.
Example Risk Assessment
Risk Assessment for Concrete Pouring
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The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for concrete pouring before operations start. Self-employed workers carrying out construction activities must also comply.
A construction contractor in UK needs to produce a risk assessment for concrete pouring before starting work next week. The client has requested professional documentation as a condition of site access. Using Riskora, they select the relevant trade preset, review pre-populated hazards, adjust controls for their specific site, and generate a professional risk assessment in under 5 minutes — ready for review and sign-off.
Wet cement is a COSHH substance: it is strongly alkaline, and prolonged skin contact causes full-thickness chemical burns as well as allergic contact dermatitis from hexavalent chromium. Alongside that, CDM 2015 requires temporary works to be properly designed, checked and inspected, with the permit-to-pour acting as the record that the check happened before the concrete arrived.
COSHH Regulations 2002 (wet cement — alkaline burns, dermatitis) · SI 2002/2677
HSE
CDM Regulations 2015 · SI 2015/51
HSE
Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (poker vibrators) · SI 2005/1093
HSE
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (skips) · SI 1998/2307
HSE
The two failures that hurt people on a pour are structural and chemical, and documentation usually covers neither properly. Formwork collapses because the pour went faster than the falsework design assumed, and burns happen hours later because someone knelt in wet concrete in porous trousers. Both are controlled by things that must be written down in advance — a pour rate and a permit, and a skin-protection standard.
| Hazard | Control measure |
|---|---|
| Formwork or falsework failure during the pour | Falsework designed and checked to BS EN 12812, permit-to-pour signed by the temporary works coordinator after inspection, pour rate limited to the design assumption, and a nominated person watching the formwork throughout. |
| Wet cement causing alkaline burns and dermatitis | Impervious gloves, long sleeves and eye protection as standard; wellingtons taped where operatives stand in wet concrete; washing facilities immediately available; and a written first-aid response for skin and eye contact. |
| Pump line blockage, whip and blow-out | Line secured and clamped, no one within the whip radius during priming or clearing, pressure released before opening any coupling, and blockage clearance carried out only by the pump operator. |
| Hand-arm vibration from poker vibrators | Trigger times calculated against the 2.5 m/s² A(8) action value, operatives rotated across the pour, and low-vibration pokers specified. |
| Falls into shuttering, reinforcement or the pour itself | Edge protection to all open edges and voids, rebar caps fitted to all projecting starter bars, and boarded access routes over reinforcement mats. |
| Delivery vehicle and pump set-up interface | Banksman for all reversing, level and adequate ground for outriggers with spreader pads, exclusion zone around the pump boom, and a traffic route agreed before the first delivery. |
Because the falsework is a temporary structure whose safety depends on it being built exactly as designed and loaded no faster than assumed. The permit to pour is the record that a competent person inspected it against the design and authorised the load — and it is the document investigated first after any collapse.
Serious enough to require skin grafting. Cement burns are alkaline and painless at first, so operatives often continue working while the damage develops. That is precisely why the control has to be preventive — impervious clothing and immediate washing — rather than reliant on the operative noticing.
The pump operator, after the pressure has been released. Blockage clearance is the point at which line whip and blow-out injuries occur, so the method statement should state that no one else opens a coupling and that the whip radius is cleared before pressure is applied.
Select your trade, pick your hazards, and generate a structured document — no training required.
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Riskora is an assistive document preparation tool. All documents generated must be reviewed, verified, and approved by a competent person before use on site. Riskora does not replace professional safety judgment, and no output should be treated as a legal compliance guarantee.