At American Scaffolding, we are intensely committed to improving worker safety. Our dedication is not borne simply out of the fact that approximately 65% of construction workers use scaffolding. Even if that percentage was merely a percentage point or two, the safety of every worker represented is vitally important to us.

The data on scaffolding training is old, but the number reported by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics indicates that 25% of workers received no such instruction. If the percentage is not concerning, consider the raw number of workers affected: with an estimated 2.3 million workers using scaffolding, 25% would be roughly 575,000 workers who are not trained. That’s a lot of people. It’s a lot of risk, and not only for these individuals and the companies they work for. Think about all the family members potentially affected by a preventable scaffolding-related injury.

Key Scaffolding Risks

Much of the background on scaffolding risks is familiar to anyone in constructions, but some major ones
to review include:

• Attention to Installation – Proper assembly and installation is vital for worker safety. It needs to be built according to code always. Pre-shift inspections for faulty or loose parts before using scaffolding need to be part of daily and weekly routines.
• Remember that accidents and falls often happen during assembly and removal. To prevent accidents and falls, ensure safety precautions throughout the entire cycle of scaffold use.
• Moreover, it’s important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and OSHA requirements. Equipment in good condition that has been properly assembled, examined, load tested, and used safely should not fail.
• Electrocution – With 18% of scaffolding-related deaths caused by electrocution, working with or near a power source calls for extreme caution. Always lock and tag out the power source.

Falls and Falling Objects

Falls alone account for 10% of all scaffolding accidents and more than 50% of deaths in the construction industry. It is vital to be prepared for any potential falls. Employees should clip into fall protection immediately. Make sure employees are always wearing the proper PPE.

Climbing up and down a scaffolding platform rather than using safety equipment like ladders presents significant avoidable risk. Remember that workers need to use fall protection on all fixed ladders with a top height of more than 24 feet above the lower level with the user’s harness no more than nine inches away from the anchorage point. The lifeline must be strong enough to withstand a 500-pound drop from 18 inches.
Plus, with gravity always at work, remember that even small objects falling from large heights can cause serious injury or death. For the safety of employees working below, scaffolding must always be assembled with all guardrails and toe boards.

Further Precautions to Consider

With scaffolding safety paramount to ensuring the well-being of both construction workers and the public, here are some additional safety measures and practices:

• Make Training and Communication Priorities: All workers should receive training on scaffolding safety practices, including how to properly use and inspect scaffolding. Effective communication among team members is also crucial for coordinating activities and ensuring safety. Only trained and qualified personnel should erect, dismantle, or work on scaffolding. Workers should understand the risks associated with scaffolding and know how to mitigate them.
• Inspect Routinely: Scaffolding should undergo thorough inspections before each use, as well as at regular intervals during use. This includes checking for any damage, loose connections, or instability.
• Adhere to Weight Limits: Do not exceed the maximum intended load capacity specified for scaffolding. This includes considering the weight of workers, tools, materials, and any equipment being used on the scaffolding.
• Require Fall Protection: We cannot say it enough: require your workers to use appropriate fall protection equipment, such as harnesses and lanyards, when working on scaffolding at heights. This helps prevent serious injuries in the event of a fall.
• Secure Platforms: Fully plank and secure scaffolding platforms to prevent movement or displacement during use. Eliminate or minimize any gaps between planks to prevent tripping hazards.
• Heed Weather Considerations: Avoid using scaffolding in adverse weather conditions such as high winds, ice, or heavy rain, as these can compromise its stability and safety.
• Establish Emergency Procedures: Familiarize workers with emergency procedures in case of accidents or incidents involving scaffolding. This includes knowing how to safely evacuate the area and administer first aid if necessary.

It is critical to understand how to stay safe and have the proper set of scaffolding safety standards in place. Adhering to these safety measures and practices such as those recommended here, construction sites can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and injuries associated with scaffolding. Remember that regular safety audits and ongoing training can help reinforce a culture of safety within the construction industry.

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What is common to all these systems, and is a service we take pride in, is the comprehensive training support we are able to offer our customers. All of our training is in accordance with guidelines and recommendations of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Scaffold and Access Industry Association (SAIA) and Scaffolding, Shoring and Forming Institute, Inc. (SSFI). Our training encompasses Competent Person Training, as well as user training on most systems.

Competent Person Training

As American Scaffolding Safety Director, Kim Hoffa, relates, “At American Scaffolding, Competent Person training provides important classroom and hands-on training for everything involved in the proper erection, use, and dismantle of the specific types of systems. However, taking the Competent Person course does not automatically designate one as a CP. That designation comes from the employer of the individual, who by training, education and experience exhibit the characteristics of a Competent Person.” Along with being deemed a Competent Person, an organization should also consider if the individual meets the definition of “qualified.” This means one who by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has successfully demonstrated his/her ability to solve or resolve problems related to the subject matter, the work, or the project.

As detailed in our new brochure that will be available soon, Competent Person Training covers the following areas:

• Suspended Scaffolding
• Frame Scaffolding
• System Scaffolding

Scaffolding Equipment User Training

When it comes to User Training, American Scaffolding offers courses for equipment from the following manufacturers:

• Universal Systems Scaffolding
• Bee Access / My-te Products
• Altrex Modular Swing Stage
• Vanguard Frame Scaffolds
• Bisomac Hoist / Beta Max
• Power Climber Hoist
• Hi-Lo Climbers
• Tractel Hoist
• Hi-Tech Hoist

We provide user training on-site when a client purchases equipment, or simply requests training. Once a system has been erected, we cover areas including operations and daily inspections. Our training includes hands-on experience as well as discussion. Just some examples include the Altrex Modular swing stage and rigging system that may be used with either a Bisomac or a Tractel Hoist Motor. Yet another example would be how Universal Systems equipment is used with the Super Chute system to create the multi-story debris chutes.

Frame Scaffold Training

Following is a summary of some examples of training we provide for frame scaffolds:

Types of Scaffolds

Scaffolds are temporary elevated platforms used to support workers and/or their materials. There are several different types. Covers types, regulations governing scaffolds, components of, uses, safety, tips and tricks for installation, configurations, choosing the right scaffold type for the job and activities, scaffold loads, duration, and conditions.

Scaffold hazards

There are many risks associated with working at heights, especially when using scaffolds. You must be able to identify potential hazards and maintain constant safety awareness and comply with safety rules and regulations. Covers fall protection, fall hazards, unsafe access, struck by falling objects, electrocution, and scaffold collapse.

Foundations

For a scaffold to be stable it must be on a strong, stable foundation. Accidents involving scaffold collapse are due to inadequate foundations. This covers the intended load, regulations, foundation components, foundation preparation, ground surfaces, scaffolds near excavations, sloped foundations, and indoor floors.

Platforms

Platforms support workers and materials at elevated heights. They must be adequate and safe for the working conditions and type of work to be conducted. There are different types of platform units made from a variety of materials. You must be able to identify the appropriate type and style of platform for situation. This covers solid sawn wood planks, laminated scaffold planks, metal planks, scaffold decks, composite planks, calculating plank capacity, regulations governing platforms and platform hazards.

Guardrails and Toe boards

Guardrails are an important fall prevention measure, which is a barrier, normally consisting of an assembly of top rails, midrolls and posts, erected to prevent workers from falling to lower levels. A toe board is a barrier placed to prevent materials or tools from accidentally being kicked or knocked off the work platform to a lower level. This covers how to install, heights, load capacity, regulation, codes and standards, guardrail access, guardrail gates, falling object protection, screens, and barricades.

Ties and Guys

Guy wires typically take the place of ties when there is not adjacent structure, or the adjacent structure is not strong enough to support the ties. Guying provides stability and strength in the absence of ties. A tie is a device used between scaffold components and the building or structure to enhance lateral stability. This covers factors affecting scaffold stability, tension, compression, anchors, tie design and use, tie location, horizontal spacing.

Scaffolding Training Resources

Also, the links below provide some references for governing and industry resources on scaffolding training:

OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926
Subpart L-Scaffolds and Subpart M-Fall Protection

ANSI/ASSP – American National Standards Institute/American Society of Safety Professionals

A10.8-2019 Scaffolding Safety Requirements
https://webstore.ansi.org/Standards/ASSE/ANSIASSPA102019?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-sbkjZ23-QIVE4dbCh0x6QBhEAAYASAAEgLs8PD_BwE

SAIA – Scaffold & Access Industry Association

https://www.saiaonline.org/trainingandeducation

SSFI – Scaffolding, Shoring & Forming Institute

https://www.saiaonline.org/ssfi

As mentioned above, American Scaffolding’s dedicated Safety Director is Kim Hoffa. You may have met Kim; she’s regularly out at job sites.  Please call our office and ask for Kim any time safety questions or training needs in relations to scaffolding equipment arise in your organization. All of us at American Scaffolding are eager to help you make your worksites and projects as safe as possible and users are comfortable with the equipment they are using.

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We have a suggestion for archeologists studying these sites: look for a mast climber. Perhaps, just maybe, hidden under millennia of wind-blown soil and dust is a forgotten and buried mast climber that a genius of ancient times rigged up to make construction of these wondrous structures relatively simple. Maybe.

Advantages of Mast Climbers

Where ancient Egypt is concerned, this is a mystery remaining to be solved, but just a few months prior to the appearance of this article on History.com, we posted news of our own acquisition of two Scanclimber Monster SC8000 mast climbers. As described in that earlier post, the advantages and versatility of mast climbers are many, including:

• improved productivity and ergonomics
• greater safety
• the wide variety of projects they can facilitate, such as façade work, masonry restoration, and new construction to name a few.

It’s worth revisiting insights of a study conducted by The Center for Construction Research and Training. In a survey of forty-two masonry contractors who used mast climbers:

• Roughly 70% cited increased productivity as the greatest advantage of this equipment
• More than 60% said mast climbers save time
• More than 50% viewed them as safer than other types of scaffolding

This report also went into great detail with recommendations for the safe use of mast climbers. It offered in-depth detail in five key areas:

1. Training Programs and Qualifications for Training Providers
2. Engineering and Administrative Controls
3. The Responsibilities of Manufacturers, Suppliers, Distributors, Users and Owners
4. Determining Specific Qualifications and Roles of All Involved Parties to Improve Site Safety and Oversight
5. Regulatory and Consensus Standards

In the few years since we’ve acquired our Scanclimber Monster SC8000 units, they have been put to use on several fascinating projects in southwestern Ohio and across northern Kentucky that include projects for companies like Humana, the Ohio Falls Power Plant, and the new car rental building at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

At the Humana corporate office in Louisville, the mast climber is being used for masonry restoration and at the Ohio Fall Power Plant, for concrete repair. Increased efficiency and productivity are benefits of the mast climbers on these projects, while at the same time ensuring a safe working environment every day.

Also, a project for Central Insulation Systems involves concrete demo work on the exterior of an apartment complex. The mast climber enables workers to safely sawcut concrete and place the slab on it. By utilizing the lifting capacity of the SC8000, the system simplifies the work and provides greater safety.

Scanclimber Monster SC8000 Technical Features

As illustrated in the Scanclimber Technical brochure, some highlights of the Monster SC8000 Mast Climber include:

• Numerous safety features, beginning with:
  • Mechanical safety brake
  • Emergency lowering system
  • Safety railings with kickboards
• Galvanized steel masts that:
  • Offer long life expectancy
  • Require less maintenance
  • Are modular for easy moving and storage.
• An electrical system with two lifting motors, sockets for hand tools and remote control and more.

Be sure to check out the Scanclimber materials posted on our website for additional information:

• The Monster SC8000 Technical data publication provides detailed specification about the equipment.
• The Mast Climbing Work Platform brochure provides an in-depth look at the many features and benefits this system offers, along with highlights of technical data.
• See the General Information file for high level key points about the SC8000.

So far, no one has asked to use our Scanclimbers to erect pyramids, but one thing is for certain: the future always offers fascinating surprises! Who knows what the next construction project calling for use of the Scanclimber SC8000 might be?

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