HSENI Concrete Premises Prestressing Initiative 2025 - Findings
Between January 2025 and April 2025, HSENI Inspectors from the Explosives, Extractive Industries and Waste Group (EEIWG) carried out focused inspections to evaluate how health and safety is being managed for prestressing operations at concrete premises across Northern Ireland.
Introduction
During this period HSENI inspected 25 prestressing premises. The inspections aimed to ensure that operators had adequate procedures in place to safely carry out prestressing activities and to review the safety measures implemented at these sites.
Dutyholders were informed about the inspection campaign in January 2025, and they were provided with an electronic copy of the inspection pro-forma used by Inspectors.
This document was also made available on our website.
The overview of the initiative’s results highlights both areas where dutyholders demonstrated good management of prestressing procedures and areas where improvements are needed.
Positive observations
The following is a list of positive observations:
- procedures in place for reporting damaged wires
- manual handling controls implemented
- appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provided
- adequate off-loading, handling and storage of steel coils to ensure failure modes are minimised
- straps on steel coils cut with steel-strapping cutters
- exclusion of other operatives from the work area during stressing operations
- warning signs displayed with visual/audible alarms
- intermediate saddles provided every 5-10 meters
- saddles and anchorage points visually inspected daily
- hydraulic jacks routinely inspected and have a current calibration certificate
- pump fitted with a pressure relief valve
- barrels and wedges routinely cleaned and inspected with the aid of magnification
- rejected items such as barrels and wedges are removed from the production process immediately
Opportunity for improvement
The following is a list of procedures and areas where improvements are needed:
- development of a stressing policy
- ensure operatives involved in the prestressing process are suitably and sufficiently trained (PS1-4) with a record of training available
- develop risk assessments for prestressing activities which include the effects of dust and noise; and ensure they are communicated to operatives
- documented safe system of work (SSOW) for prestressing activities; with written evidence that employees have been trained on the SSOW
- development of a procedure for inspecting wires and for de-tensioning of beds
- ensure stressing equipment inspections are completed and available
- a Report of Thorough Examination is available for all lifting equipment used during prestressing activities
- provide a safe location for the stressing operative during stressing operations
- provide written instruction detailing size of strand and appropriate stressing force to the stressing operative
- protection measures to be in place post stressing at stressing and non-stressing ends
- ensure hydraulic jacks are maintained with a maintenance record available
- use of a steel barrel insert tool to measure taper of the barrel
- ensure spot checks are completed alongside an independent inspection of barrels and wedges every 12 months
- store barrels and wedges in a rotational system
- where lubrication sprays are used, they should be risk assessed
- where risk assessment for the use of lubrication spray identify the need for an extraction system, one needs to be provided
- maintain records for the cleaning, inspection and discarding of barrels and wedges
- NDT tests to be carried out on all beds every five years
Resources
Resources to assist the concrete industry in implementing suitable prestressing activity controls can be found at:
The inspection template used by inspectors during the 2024-25 inspection initiative can be found at:
HSENI enforcement action
One Prohibition Notice was served by Inspectors during the 2025 Inspection Initiative:
- procedure for cleaning and inspecting barrels and wedges was inadequate
Prestressing operations remain a major risk for the concrete sector in Northern Ireland. HSENI intend to repeat the Prestressing Initiative in Autumn 2026.
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