604 Scaffold Safety

Training Requirements

Scope of Training

The employer must have each employee who performs work while on a scaffold trained by a person qualified in the subject matter to recognize the hazards associated with the type of scaffold being used and to understand the procedures to control or minimize those hazards. The training must include the following areas, as applicable: 1926.454(a)

Mandatory training topic include:

• fall hazards and falling object hazards in the work area;
• procedures for dealing with electrical hazards;
• erecting, maintaining, and disassembling the fall protection systems and falling object protection systems being used;
• proper use of the scaffold, and the proper handling of materials on the scaffold;
• the maximum intended load-carrying capacities of the scaffold, and
• any other pertinent requirements of the standard.

Trainer Qualifications

In additional to the mandatory general training, scaffold erectors and dismantlers should also receive specific training for the type of supported scaffold being erected or dismantled.

Retraining

When the employer has reason to believe that an employee lacks the skill or understanding needed for safe work involving the erection, use, or dismantling of scaffolds, the employer must retrain the employee so that the requisite proficiency is regained.

Retraining should be done when the following conditions exist:

• where changes at the worksite present a hazard about which an employee has not been previously trained; or
• where changes in the types of scaffolds, fall protection, falling object protection, or other equipment present a hazard about which an employee has not been previously trained; or
• where inadequacies in an affected employee's work involving scaffolds indicate they regain the requisite proficiency.

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