Surely, working at height involves great risk whether you’re working from scaffolding, podiums steps, aluminium scaffold towers or low-level access. When essential safety measures are ignored, the hazard to those working at height and those nearby is intensified even greater. When you buy scaffolding Perth or from your nearby areas, you must make proper inspection before starting any work.
Requirements for Safe Scaffolding Work
1. Training & Certification
All workers who are erecting, dismantling or working on scaffolding ought to be thoroughly trained and qualified to perform the job. Scaffolders must have completed the right training and acquired scaffolding licence to perform the scaffolding job.
2. Make Sure Scaffolding Is Protected & Stable
When scaffolding is erected in place to provide access to perform work at height, it ought to be appropriately positioned or tied to the building to make sure there is no movement and to prevent the scaffold from getting repositioned, which may cause instability.
Depending on the type, the scaffold has various kinds of brace retentions or locking systems. In place of appropriate and fitting retention parts as designed and provided by the scaffolding manufacturer, alternative nails or miscellaneous parts should not be used.
3. Scaffolding Condition
It’s essential to make certain whether you’re a scaffolder or the company’s owner – to ensure all scaffolding is appropriate for use and perfect for the task at hand. Faulty or defective scaffolding is the cause behind the scaffolding accidents and fatalities. These defective or imperfect scaffolding no longer has the structural ability or vigour to perform the job it once performed. Though scaffolding can “look” to be in good working order; however, scaffolding has a specific lifetime only.
Scaffolding needs repair and service due to general deterioration, environmental conditions and passage of time. Also, scaffolding can be repaired only as long as it is structurally in good shape and fit for use. Therefore, scaffolding companies must know where their scaffolding was manufactured, what safety standards it adheres to as well as the age of the equipment and whether it has been repaired or reconditioned.
4. Know and Respect the Load Capacity
One of the most common things that go wrong at the design phase is the failure to know and respect scaffolding load capacity. Understanding the load capacity does not only mean equipment and materials on the scaffold. The workers’ weight also needs to be considered and in so many instances it has been ignored. Scaffolding will crumple when computations and understanding of a scaffolds load capacity are misinterpreted.
Hence, the weight of the equipment, all material and workers should be taken into consideration and correctly calculated at the design phase itself to ensure safety.
5. Scrutinise and Maintain
Regular inspection should be performed once the scaffolding is erected and positioned. For competent scaffold inspection and hazard management, adopting a scaffold tag system can assist considerably. It’s critical that a full and complete risk assessment must be conducted before scaffolding is on-site and erected. Once scaffolding is assembled and erected, a scaffold check up procedure should also be in place.
6. General Safeguards
The following safeguards should be applied when scaffolds are used.
- Position scaffolds on firm ground.
- Always lock the wheels of scaffold when it’s in use.
- Always install and use scaffold fittings and accessories based on the manufacturer’s recommended practices.
- Secure all open sides and ends of scaffold platforms with appropriate guardrails, toe boards and mid-rails.
- Between scaffolds and electric power lines, keep a minimum of 10-foot distance.
- Refrain from hitting scaffolds with materials or vehicles.
- From scaffold platforms, remove tools and/ or debris.
- When working on or beneath a scaffold, wear a hard hat.
- When working on a scaffold, wear sturdy, non-slippery shoes.
- At the time of finishing the work shift, remove anything that’s placed on scaffolds.
