Scaffolding awareness

This is an awareness talk. It is not training to erect, alter or dismantle a scaffold. HSE says scaffolds must be designed, erected, altered and dismantled only by competent people, and the work should be directed by a competent supervisor. If that is not you, you do not start taking tubes out because they are in the way of a window.

The law requires employers and self-employed contractors to assess the risk from work at height and to plan the work so it is carried out safely. Suitable precautions must prevent falls. HSE says general access scaffolds provide a way of working at height while preventing falls, and should be provided whenever practicable. A ladder because the scaffold is not ready is the ladders talk, and it is not a shortcut around this one.

Scaffolders' own priority, in HSE's words, is collective fall protection, cutting the time they are exposed to a fall and the reliance on harnesses and lanyards. Erection, dismantling and alteration can follow the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation guidance SG4, or similar guidance from the manufacturer of a system scaffold. Strength and stability calculations are required unless a note of the calculations is already available, or the scaffold is assembled to a generally recognised standard configuration. HSE names NASC TG20 for tube and fitting scaffolds, and the manufacturer's instructions for system scaffolds. Anything else needs a bespoke design by a competent person. Depending on complexity, a competent person draws up an assembly, use and dismantling plan, and a copy stays available to anyone involved until the scaffold is dismantled.

Where it stands matters before anyone boards it. The ground or foundation must be capable of supporting the scaffold and the loads on it. Watch for voids such as basements or drains, and for soft ground. It has to be braced and tied into a permanent structure, or otherwise stabilised. Single-tube rakers alone do not usually provide that stability. Ties must be within their safe working load. Install ties as the scaffold goes up, and only remove them in stages as it comes down. If a tie is removed so work can proceed, an equivalent tie must be provided nearby. Proprietary system scaffolds are erected and tied as the manufacturer says. If you see a tie missing and no one has put an equivalent back, you do not climb it while someone goes to look.

Loading is where crews get it wrong. HSE says scaffolds are not usually designed to support heavy loads on their working platforms. If you intend to load a platform out, tell whoever is providing the scaffold, because a bespoke design will likely be required. Assume the scaffold is general purpose, with a maximum load of 2 kN/m², which HSE also writes as 200 kg/m², unless the provider has told you otherwise. An inspection and very light duty scaffold, for access, inspection or light cleaning, has a maximum of 0.75 kN/m². A heavy duty scaffold for heavy masonry and cladding has a maximum of 3.0 kN/m². Do not sheet a scaffold, or attach debris netting, without telling the people who designed and erected it. They have to design for that. A pallet of blocks on a platform that was boarded for people is not a small change.

Before anyone uses it, HSE says make sure it is safe and suitable. Platforms fully boarded and wide enough for the work and for access, usually at least 600 mm. Boards properly supported and not overhanging excessively, for example no more than four times the thickness of the board. Safe access, preferably a staircase or a ladder tower. Loading bays fitted with fall protection, preferably gates that can be moved safely. Check it is suitable before use, and check it again when it is substantially altered or adversely affected, for example by high winds. While it is not available, including during assembly, dismantling or alteration, mark it with warning signs and stop people getting into the danger zone by physical means, not by a shout.

Guard rails, toe boards and other barriers stop people and materials falling. HSE says they must be strong enough, fixed to something that can support them, and include a top guard rail or equivalent at least 950 mm above any edge from which people can fall, a toe board sufficient to stop a person and materials rolling or being kicked off, and enough intermediate rails or alternatives so the unprotected gap does not exceed 470 mm. Brick guards on a rail have to be able to take the weight of bricks that could fall against them. Barriers other than rails and toe boards are allowed if they are at least 950 mm high, secure, and give an equivalent standard.

Inspection sits with the user or hirer, not with a hope that the scaffolders glanced at it last month. HSE says the user or hirer makes sure scaffolding is inspected after installation and before first use, then at an interval of no more than every 7 days, and after any circumstances liable to jeopardise the safety of the installation, for example high winds. A competent person does it. Their knowledge, training and experience have to match the scaffold. Competence may have been assessed under CISRS, or they may have been trained by the manufacturer of that system. A non-scaffolder who has been on a scaffold inspection course, such as a site manager, could be competent to inspect a basic structure. The report notes defects or matters that could give rise to a risk, and any corrective action, even when that action was taken promptly. If the tag or the report is missing, or the weather has hit it since the last look, we do not use it until someone competent has checked it.

Over a pavement or a road, a scaffold needs a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, from the local highway authority. HSE says never erect or dismantle over people or a busy pavement. If the public could be hurt, think about a closure. Do it inside a segregated area, when fewer people are about. The Christmas shutdown talk covers taking the bottom ladder away and stopping children climbing it. Today, the awareness points are simpler. Who erected this, is it complete, is the loading what it was designed for, and who inspected it in the last 7 days or since the last high wind? If we cannot answer, we stay on the ground.