Scaffolding Safety Measures during construction and maintenance

A safe working platform is a temporary structure that provides support for workers and materials used in building, development, maintenance, and repair work.

The platform serves two purposes. One is to provide a safe platform for workers to work at height and the other is to provide safe access to all places where a worker may be needed to work at any time. Mishaps involving scaffolds are generally caused either by structural failure of the platform or by workers or materials falling from the platform.

The platforms ought to be of sound material, adequate strength (multiple times the normal load) and appropriately planned. Their erection, change and destruction ought to be done under the management of a skilled person. They ought to be safely upheld or suspended and ought to be appropriately braced or supported to guarantee security. Typical size is 4 cm thick x 23 cm wide x 3-4 m long.

Steel tubes of round section (typically 5 cm dia) used in scaffolds should conform to IS:2750 and IS:4014 for Steel Scaffolding.

Overhead Protection, not more than 3 m over the work foundation of the framework becomes vital if overhead work is going on. Essentially for the people working or passing under a platform, at any rate, 30 cm projected shade or screen ought to be given at the framework working level. 

In high wind or tempest, work on platform should be avoided. No hot work should be done on the wooden stage.

Requirements for Means of Access in Scaffoldings:

Failure to provide such access has caused genuine mishaps. Protected methods for access might be stepping stools, portable or fixed, slopes, runways, corridors, or flights of stairs. It is recommended that portable stepping stools should not be used as a method for access where the height of the framework exceeds 3.75 m.

The incline of the stepping stool should be at a 4:1 ratio. It should extend to the landing stage and be securely fixed at the upper end. The use of cross supports or the platform as a means of access should not be allowed.

Minimum width requirement in Scaffolding:

  • 0.7 meter - If the platform is used as a footing only 
  • 0.9 meter if the platform is used for material deposits
  • 1.1 meter if the platform is used to support a higher platform
  • 1.3 meter If the platform is one upon which stone or bricks are dressed or roughly shaped 
  • 1.5 meter if the platform is used to support a higher platform and is one upon which stone or bricks are dressed or roughly shaped

Requirements for railings and toe-boards in Scaffolding:

A common cause of accidents at scaffolds is the failure to provide railings at the exposed sides of the scaffold platforms. Often, the failure occurs when the scaffolding is erected for jobs of short duration. Where materials are stacked on a platform, the height of the toe-board may have to be raised; or it may even be necessary to cover the entire space between the top rail and the toe-board with wire netting or planks. Normal height of the railing is 1 m and toe board 15 cm.

Boards and planks in working platforms, gangways and ramps Requirements in scaffoldings: 

For platforms of wooden planks, in general, the spacing should not exceed the following: 

  • Planks 32 millimetres thick – 1.0m
  • Planks 38 millimetres thick 1.5m 
  • Planks 50 millimetres thick 2.6m 

Boards or planks that form part of a working platform, gangway, or ramp should not project beyond their end supports to a distance exceeding four times the thickness of the board or plank. A 50-millimetre projection is desirable. Overlapping of boards is unsafe.

General Hazards and Safety measures in Scaffoldings: 

Scaffolds should never be loaded over the working load for which they are designed. Wood scaffolds are not generally painted. However, in the case of ladders and certain permanent types of scaffolds such as the mobile scaffold, protection is generally provided by periodically treating them with a coating of linseed oil.

Main hazards with scaffolding are listed below: 

  1. Unsuitable material of construction.
  2. Inadequately supported scaffold boards. 
  3. Improper platform width and thickness.
  4. Unsecured or unbraced scaffolding to the structure.
  5. Damaged or wrong couplers. 
  6. Unsecured ladders slipping. 
  7. The omission of guardrails or toeboards.
  8. Overloading the scaffold. 
  9. Erected on an uneven surface.

Safety Measures to be taken during and after scaffolding (Checklist):

  • Scaffold foundation should be verified before erection. Loose or friable packing such as bricks should not be used as support. For height more than 15 m, steel scaffold should be preferred and not a wooden one.
  • Inspection after 7 days and after every damage is necessary. Points to be checked include stability, ties and fixing, alignment of members, bending, tightness of lashing (3R couplers, planks, platforms, guard rails, toe boards) and condition of ladders.
  • Warning notices should be displayed near the incomplete or damaged scaffold. 
  • Dismantling should be carried out in the reversed order to an erection. Materials should not be thrown from heights and should not be left lying here and there. They should be properly collected.
  • After completion of work, all scaffold materials should be stored in a dry protected place using racks, boxes or trays. The damaged parts should be replaced or repaired, cleaned, treated with preservative or paint. Couplers and other fittings should be lubricated.

Scaffolding safety measures