Top Tips to Ensure Workers Stay Safe On and Around Scaffold
- Always ensure that unless your scaffold is erected to a recognised configuration (such as that contained within the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation technical guidance TG20:13), it is designed by a competent person with experience and training in this field. All scaffold erections must be overseen by a competent supervisor.
- Inspect your scaffold frequently. It should be inspected after installation, before being used for the first time, and following that at intervals of no more than seven days.
- Make sure you re-inspect scaffold in the event of any circumstances that could compromise its safety, such as high winds, or if it has been modified in any way.
- Ensure that inspections are undertaken by a competent person who knows about your particular scaffold system. Use a tag system if applicable so workers know when the last inspection took place.
- Train workers how to use and access the scaffold, and make sure they know not to make any changes to it, such as removing platform boards or toe boards.
- Ensure the scaffold is suitably guarded – use double guard rails and toe boards and make sure all open sides are protected. Platform floors must be free from gaps to avoid anything such as tools falling through. Avoid slips and trips by removing waste and spare materials, and ensure good housekeeping on the scaffold.
- Where possible, tie the scaffold to the supporting structure and ensure it is set on firm, level ground to stop any movement.
Over 60% of fatalities involving work at height include falls from structures such as scaffold. Make sure your workers are properly protected.
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