Let us discuss the importance, structure and benefit of scaffolding in our day-today activities.
There are hundreds of scaffold-related injuries today and about 20 scaffold-related deaths, every year in the Some countries. If you are doing work on scaffolds, you don't just jump into the system to start work, you know how to work on them safely before full work start – it could save your life!
Considering series of research, here are some rules about Scaffolding Dubai that must be followed if you want to work safely:
(01) The strength of scaffolding members such as tubes and couplers should be ensured. Reference should be made to the procedures laid down in relevant standards of the International Organization for Standardization or equivalent procedures for their sampling and mechanical testing.
(02). An assign professional personal must be available to direct workers who are constructing or moving scaffolds. This competent person must also train workers, and inspect the scaffold and its components before every work shift, and after any event that could affect the structural integrity of the scaffold. The competent person must be able to identify unsafe conditions, and be authorized by the employer to take action to correct unsafe conditions, to make the workplace safe. And a qualified person, someone who has very specific knowledge or training, must actually design the scaffold and its rigging.
(03) Realistic assessment of loadings on the scaffold at all work stages should be made. In considering the wind load on the scaffold, reference should be made to the Code of Practice on Wind Effects in Hong Kong, 2004 (Buildings Department).
(04). All the supported scaffold and its components must support, without failure, its own weight and at least four times the intended load. The intended load is the sum of the weights of all personnel, tools and materials that will be placed on the scaffold. Don’t load the scaffold with more weight than it can safely handle.
(06) The strength and stability of the scaffold throughout all stages of scaffolding should be ensured.
(07). None supported scaffolds, working platforms/decks must be planked close to the guardrails. Plans are to be overlapped on a support at least 6 inches, but not more than 12 inches.
(08). Few inspections of supported scaffolds must include:
● Checking metal components for bends, cracks, holes, rust, welding splatter, pits, broken welds and non-compatible parts.
● Covering and securing floor openings and labeling floor opening covers.
E. Each rope on a suspended scaffold must support the scaffold’s weight and at least six times the intended load.
(09) The safe method of scaffolding devised should be kept under continual review.
(10). Scaffold platforms must be at least 16 inches wide, and guardrails and/or personal fall arrest systems must be used for fall protection any time you are working 10 feet or more above ground level. Guardrails must be between 35 and 43 inches high, and midrolls must be installed approximately halfway between the top rail and the platform surface.
(11). OSHA standards require that workers have fall protection when working on a scaffold 10 or more feet above the ground. OSHA requires the following:
a. The use of a guardrail OR a personal fall arrest system when working on a supported scaffold.
b. BOTH a guardrail AND a personal fall arrest system when working on a single-point or two-point suspended scaffold.
c. A personal fall arrest system when working on an aerial lift.
(12) Scaffolding components/materials/equipment should be handled, lifted, stored, stacked and transported safely.
(13). 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.
(14) The time when the scaffold would be erected and dismantled should be decided in the design and planning stage. The scaffold should be dismantled as soon as it is no longer required to be used.
(15). Wear hard hats, and make sure there are toe boards, screens and debris nets in place to protect other people from falling objects.
(16). Counterweights for suspended scaffolds must be able to resist at least four times the tipping moment, and they must be made of materials that cannot be easily dislocated (no sand, no water, no rolls of roofing, etc.).
(17). 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.
(18) Additional features such as attachment points for ladders, working platforms, guard-rails and toe-boards should be provided for the protection of workers using the scaffold. Safety nets and safety belts should also be provided for the protection of scaffolders.
(19) The safe Scaffolding Dubai and its erection/alteration/dismantling for all different stages of construction should be designed and planned well beforehand.
(20). All workers must be trained on: o how to use the scaffold, and how to recognize hazards associated with the type of scaffold they are working on; o the maximum intended load and capacity; o how to recognize and report defects; o fall hazards, falling object hazards and any other hazards that may be encountered, including electrical hazards (such as overhead power lines); and, of having proper fall protection systems in place.
(21) Safe access to and egress from the working places should be provided.
(22) Effective bonding system to earth should be provided to the scaffold.
Conclusion: For you to work safe and stay away from scaffolding injuries, you have to follow the principal structure and effectiveness of the work. Scaffolding is well design for safety purposes first. When you work with scaffolding, you must adapt to the rules of the system to maintain safety.