What Are Scaffolding Safety Hazards And Precautions? This article looks at General Safety precautions for scaffolding and Scaffolding Safety Tips.
Common Scaffold Safety Hazards
Unfortunately, safety hazards on construction sites are more common than you may believe. According to the most recent HSE (Health and Safety Executives) reports, there were approximately 123 workers sadly killed in work-related incidents throughout 2021 and early 2022.
At least 29 of these deaths were due to a fall from height. It's essential to familiarise ourselves with the most common type of scaffolding hazards so that we can collect a variety of prevention techniques and access equipment, implementing them when necessary.
Falls
Falls result from a lack of proper personal fall arrest systems and little-to-no protective control measures where necessary or legally required, such as guard rails, mid rails, netting, fall arrest airbags, sufficient personal protection gear, safety harnesses, etc.
All construction companies must adhere to the OSHA standards and regulations, indicating that scaffolds must use adequate fall protection and ensure it is correctly installed, especially when working at heights reaching 10ft or taller.
By the OSHA standards, they represent the minimum of fall protection that a project requires; however, a vast range of contractors in the industry will require you to implement 100% of fall protection gear and methods at 6ft or more. We recommend employing at least more than two or three safety procedures alongside the necessary PPE, which for many must be worn regardless of height or circumstances.
Scaffold collapse
Proper erection of professional scaffolds is vital for preventing collapses and other possible hazards.
Before you install the scaffold, you must account for a wide range of factors, including the weight required to withstand and hold the necessary loads, people and the scaffold material itself.
Other considerations to make include the placement of the metal or wooden planks, the stability of the foundation, the distance of the work surface to your scaffolding and tie-in requirements.
You also want to avoid parking any heavy-duty equipment or vehicles close to the scaffolding structures to avoid accidents that could cause a major collapse.
Falling materials
Many people are at serious risk and exposed to various scaffold-related dangers when on-site or pedestrians bypassing the area that is being properly constructed or refurbished. Numerous individuals are known to have been injured or killed after being struck by fallen tools and materials that have slipped off scaffold boards or their platforms.
All individuals, whether members of your team or the public, must be protected from the risk of falling objects. OSHA regulations require you to protect people in two fundamental ways: installing efficient netting or toe boards around the working platforms that will efficiently catch the items from falling onto lower levels or the ground. Another option is to implement barricades that prevent individuals or equipment from falling under working platforms.
We also recommend applying hazard warning tape around the base plate of the scaffolding system or metal barricades that signal to pedestrians that they shouldn't approach the area.
Electrocution
We must then look at the pre-planning of the projects to assess whether any significant electrical hazards could obstruct the project or cause major injury to your other workers during the construction tasks on top of the scaffolding.
A minimum of 10 feet should be between your construction's scaffolding and the electrical hazards at stake. However, suppose you cannot maintain the distance due to the scale of your building project.
In that case, the electrical wires, power lines or hazards must be correctly insulated or de-energised by the relevant power company. The coordination between your company and the power company during scaffolding erection is paramount and cannot be overstated.
General Safety measures and precautions for scaffolding and ladders
Why is a lack of fall prevention a hazard?
No matter how clean and tidy your scaffolding platform is, there is always a risk that your workers could fall from the height their working at. It's vital to put measures in place to protect your staff at all costs, whether you have a mobile scaffold, tower scaffold or any other style.
Ensure your ladder is an industrial type, and make sure you use the right height and type of ladder to complete the job at hand.
Get a competent person to inspect your ladder to assess the potential damages before use.
Independent tied scaffolding or ladders have a reg tag of validity for one month.
Every ladder must be accurately positioned at a 75-degree angle.
Secure all ladders in three locations with high-quality industrial clamps.
Only one is allowed up and down the ladder at a time; if many are going up or down, the next person must wait until the previous person has finished climbing to the top or bottom to begin.
Never carry any materials or tools whilst climbing.
Never use a metal ladder to complete electrical work, as you could risk electrocution.
Scaffolding Safety Tips
Working with scaffoldings can be daunting; however, there are plenty of things, such as equipment, fall arrest methods and safety gear, that you can implement and wear to ensure all on-site employees are thoroughly protected. Here are a few of our safety tips that you can apply to your specific job site project to ensure you are safe:
To begin, it's paramount to surround yourself with and wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) when on any construction industry site; as the name suggests, it's designed to protect you from significant dangers.
Some examples of PPE include safety helmets, safety footwear (like steel-toed boots, climbing shoes or wellies), ear protection for loud environments, high visibility clothing, masks, goggles, waterproof clothing or thermals and harnesses.
Industrial and construction sectors are most akin to utilising and wearing this gear, especially those working at height or inside establishments with many levels. Numerous scaffold-related injuries consist of falling objects; therefore, all workers must wear tight-fitting hard hats covering the crown of their head and sinciput (forehead) to avoid the potential of being struck.
Non-slip footgear is best for working on high platforms so your feet can stay planted, and fall arrest equipment is also great for preventing falls and other obstructions.
All scaffolding structures, designs and materials are made with the intention of load-bearing, often down to the specific capabilities. You could seriously threaten the lives of yourself and your employees by choosing components unsuitable for the tasks or loads at hand.
You don't want to put hefty equipment or loads onto your platforms if the material isn't strong enough to withstand, as it could break, crack or collapse entirely. The result will cause immense injuries for anyone working on high or low levels or potential bypassers.
Regardless of the construction company you work for, every industry has its standards and regulations that must be comply followed and adhered to, many of which can vary depending on the county, city or country.
Several regulations address scaffoldings, as these are the foundational structures that allow you to complete the building tasks in the first place.
We recommend getting to grips with the laws in your local area before setting up any platforms or scaffold planks. By closely following these standards, you'll help prevent any accidents and avoid the liability of failing to meet these standards. Provide your employees with adequate training to recognise and minimise any major hazards or risks with scaffold-related projects.
Before you begin building your work platforms, it's paramount that you and a competent professional inspect each of your materials and equipment before construction. You want to ensure none of your existing parts has damage or defects that have the potential to compromise your scaffolding's structural integrity.
Source all your building materials from the same manufacturer, that way, you can guarantee these parts are designed to be efficiently used together. Mismatching parts could mean that you're constantly dealing with different strengths, and this could be a hazard which could lead to significant structural faults and failures.
When working on a scaffold for their new project or job, they must follow all manufacturer instructions, checking the fasteners and bracing to ensure they accurately match the specifications mentioned in the manual.
We recommend you avoid creating your own designs by adapting the given structure, as this could be detrimental to its integrity and cause faults. You want to begin by assessing the area where your scaffold is placed, ensuring it is entirely safe before ploughing ahead with the building job.
Ensure you work to a levelled ground surface and try your best to avoid intersecting power lines as you build or repair upwards, as they can be dangerous and get in the way. Moving, building or dismantling a scaffolding will always require the presence of a competent person according to the OSHA regulations that state you must have supervision.
Said competent person must be an individual with OSHA-approved training and the title that comes with it.
Once your construction site scaffolding has been appropriately erected, you will still require thorough, efficient inspections that allow professional surveyors to assess the condition of the build.
Alongside the structure of the scaffold, it's paramount that the area surrounding the base and its platforms are scanned for debris, defects or glaring hazards that could cause problems or scaffolding accidents. OSHA requires you to complete such checkups on your environment for the health and well-being of your workers.
You and your employees must keep heavy equipment and vehicles of various sizes as far away from the base of your job site's scaffolding so's not to crash into the structure or risk anything toppling onto it.
A helpful way to rid this issue and prevent the possibility of accidents is to set up barriers surrounding your scaffolding and ensure all necessary heavy equipment has clearance.
All your working equipment must be neatly organised and put away after use, including all tools and handheld equipment.
If you cannot physically put them away, perhaps appoint a free employee to take the tools from your workers after use and put them away, this prevents them from being left on the platforms in places that could lead to detrimental falls, trips and injuries. They could also fall onto those on lower levels; employees or bypassers could be at risk if they aren't organised.
The most significant aspect of working at height, especially on buildings exposed to the elements, is to ensure all work coincides with the current weather conditions. Completing outdoor construction projects can be difficult and dangerous if there are harsh weather conditions or environmental hazards of any kind, this will enhance the potential for serious injury, especially if some of your workers continue their work at heights.
High winds could be detrimental to those working on scaffoldings; it could make them rickety or cause your workers to lose their balance. Storms can bring down the power line, creating a major scaffolding hazard.
To complete the project, all professionals and consultants on construction sites must be fully licensed alongside any contractors you work with. By checking everyone's credentials, you can help prevent a wide range of injuries, as all members of the site will be hyper-aware of the fall hazards and the most effective ways you can avoid them.
To become licensed, you often have to go through rigorous and thorough training and educational programs that allow you to be skilled and knowledgeable in navigating a construction site job safely.
Those scaling your constructed scaffolding must practice proper safety methods and techniques using various prevention equipment throughout construction jobs or projects.
Another tip we recommend is for your employees to have three contact points with your structure at all times, whether two hands and one foot or one hand and both feet. Like recreational climbing, you must stay hooked throughout the entire process, whether with your hands or wires.
Additionally, it would be best if you never utilised some aspects of your tower scaffold, like its cross braces for climbing, as they cannot support the sheer weight purely on their own.
If you are working on a construction project in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent or London, you will be considring the safety requirements of your workers. Follow the links below for construction site safety nets, crash bags hire and edge protection hire.
Construction Safety Nets Kent Fall Arrest Bags Kent Edge Protection Systems Kent