Train employees who erect, disassemble, move, operate, repair, maintain or inspect scaffolds to recognize any work hazards.Determine if it is safe for employees to work on or from a scaffold during storms or high winds, and make sure there is a personal fall arrest system or wind screens in place.Choose and direct the employees who will erect, dismantle, move or alter scaffolds.Training provides a competent person with the skills to identify workplace hazards as well as the authority to correct them.Ī competent person has many responsibilities and must be able to perform several duties around the job site. So, who exactly is a competent person in the context of scaffolding? OSHA’s scaffolding standard defines a competent person as “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions, which are unsanitary, hazardous to employees and who has the authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them”.Ī competent person becomes knowledgeable about standards through training and/or experience. Each time supported scaffolds are erected a dismantled, a competent person must make sure they can be accessed safely and that fall protection is in place. This person should look for visible defects. A competent person must inspect the scaffold and scaffold components before each work shift and after something happens that could affect its structural integrity. Each employee who works on a scaffold must be trained on the hazards and procedures to control those hazards. Suspension scaffold rigging must support at least six times the intended load. Scaffolds and scaffold components must support at least four times the maximum intended load. Supported scaffolds with a height-to-base ratio of 4:1 must be tied off or restrained by guying or bracing to eliminate any tipping. Supported scaffold platforms must be fully planked or decked. The legs, poles, frames, and uprights have to bear on base plates and mud sills. Footings that support scaffolds must be level but also support the scaffold’s load. Crosspoints used as a midrail must be between 20 and 30 inches high. Midrails have to be installed approximately halfway between the toprail and platform. When used as a toprail, the crosspoints of a scaffold’s crossbracing must be between 38 and 48 inches above the work platform. 1, 2000, the height can be between 36 and 45 inches. 1, 2000 must have a toprail between 38 and 45 inches high. Employees on a single-point and two-point adjustable suspended scaffold need to be be protected by a guardrail as well as a personal fall arrest system. “Suspension scaffold” means one or more working platforms is suspended by ropes or other means from an overhead structure. Either guard rails or a fall arrest system must be in place for each employee more than 10 feet above a lower level, except those on single-point and two-point adjustable suspension scaffolds. Fall protection or fall arrest systems.OSHA’s “Safety Standards for Scaffolds Use in the Construction Industry” has several key provisions. To reduce accidents and deaths, OSHA sets standards to protect workers. Ten feet must be maintained between scaffolds and power lines. When scaffolds, conductive tools, or other materials contact overhead power lines, workers receive serious and often fatal injuries. Scaffolds built too close to power lines are an electrocution hazard on job sites. It also mandates the installation of toe boards, screens and guardrail systems as well as the safe containment of debris with nets, catch platforms or canopy structures. OSHA requires all workers to wear hardhats. Falling tools and equipment account for many workplace injuries and deaths. Those below scaffolds are just as susceptible to injury as those working on them. Each suspension rope must be capable of supporting at least six times the maximum intended load. According to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, each scaffold and scaffold component must be capable of supporting its own weight plus at least four times the maximum intended load without failure. Scaffolds must be erected on secure ground and must be able to hold the weight of both workers and equipment. Improperly erected scaffolds lead to collapse. Use a ladder, stair tower or ramp to get to each level of a scaffold. Not being able to safely access the scaffold is another reason for falls. Falls happen as a result of defective scaffold equipment, improper installation or operation, improper training of workers, or a failure to use appropriate personal fall protection equipment. 6 Scaffold Safety Do’s and Don’ts 4 Most Common Scaffolding HazardsĬommon accidents involving scaffolds include falls but also injury from scaffold collapse, being struck by falling tools, and electrocution due to the proximity of overhead power lines.
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