803 Scaffold Safety Program Management

Scaffold Safety Program Defined

A Scaffold Safety Program (SSP) may be thought of as a plan of action to accomplish a safety objective related to work with scaffolds. An effective SSP is designed around the processes, procedures, and practices normally assigned to employees and integrates safety-related decisions and precautions into them. Construction contractors must initiate and maintain safety programs as may be necessary to comply with CFR 1926.451, Scaffolds.

Now let's talk about the critical components to help ensure a successful scaffold safety program.

Safety Culture

The scaffold safety program is never going to be successful unless the company has an effective safety culture. Believe it or not, OSHA actually has a pretty good definition for a safety culture. OSHA defines culture as "a combination of an organization's, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, values, ways of doing things, and other shared characteristics of a particular group of people."

It's important to understand that, from the employer's point of view, the company's corporate culture is something to be managed. However, if you ask an employee to define culture, he/she will likely tell you it's just "the way things are around here."

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