Basics of Scaffold Safety
- Scaffold platforms must be at least 18 inches wide; guardrails must be between 39 and 45 inches high; and midrails must be installed approximately halfway between the toprail and the platform surface.
- Your lifeline must be tied back to a structural anchorage capable of withstanding 5,000 lbs of dead weight per person tied off to it. Attaching your lifeline to a guardrail, a standpipe or other piping systems will not meet the 5,000 lbs. requirement and is not a safe move.
- Wear hard hats, and make sure there are toe boards, screens, and debris nets in place to protect other people from falling objects.
- Counterweights for suspended scaffolds must be able to resist at least four times the tipping moment. They must also be made of materials that cannot be easily dislocated (no sand, no water, no rolls of roofing, etc.). [This would be calculated by the qualified person who designs the scaffold.]
- Your employer must provide safe access to the scaffold when a platform is more than two (2) feet above or below the point of access, or when you need to step across more than 14 inches to get on the platform. Climbing on cross braces is not allowed! Ladders, stair towers, ramps, and walkways are some of the ways of providing safe access.
Scaffolds must have adequate access.
- All workers must be trained on:
- how to use the scaffold, and how to recognize hazards associated with the type of scaffold they are working on;
- the maximum intended load and capacity;
- how to recognize and report defects;
- fall hazards, falling object hazards and any other hazards that may be encountered, including electrical hazards (such as overhead power lines); and
- having proper fall protection systems in place.
SOURCE: Construction Safety & Health Fall Hazards, Central New York COSH, 2007, OSHA grant product.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-7. Which of the following is considered an unsafe means of access to scaffolds?
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