Chapter 3

TEMPORARY WORK:

SCAFFOLDING
 SCAFFOLDINGS
• An estimated 2.3 million construction workers, or 65
percent of the construction industry, work on
scaffolds frequently. Protecting these workers from
scaffold-related accidents would prevent 4,500
injuries and 50 deaths every year, at a savings for
American employers of $90 million in workdays not
lost.

(U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety &

Health Administration, 2005)
• A scaffold is a temporary structure (usually
constructed from steel or aluminium alloy
tubes) which persons can gain access to a
place of work in order to carry out building
operations.
• It includes any working platforms, ladders and
guard rails.
 GENERAL TYPE OF SCAFFOLDS

SUPPORTED SCAFFOLDS SUSPENDED SCAFFOLDS

Supported scaffolds consist of one or more platforms supported by

outrigger beams, brackets, poles, legs, uprights, posts, frames, or
similar rigid support

Suspended scaffolds are platforms suspended by ropes, or other

non-rigid means, from an overhead structure.

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 Frame or Fabricated
 Fabricated frame scaffolds are the most
common type of scaffold because they are
versatile, economical, and easy to use.
 They are frequently used in one or two tiers by
residential contractors, painters, etc., but their
modular frames can also be stacked several
stories high for use on large-scale construction
jobs.
 Can be divide into BASE SECTION, SUPPORT
STRUCTURE, ACCESS, FALL PROTECTION,
PLATFORM, KEEPING UPRIGHT AND
PERSONNAL TRAINING/ COMPETENT
PERSONS.

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 BASE SECTION
SILL - a horizontal piece (as a
timber) that forms the lowest
member or one of the lowest
members of a framework or
supporting structure

PLUMB - to supply with or

install as

• It is impossible for a stable structure to be built upon a foundation that does

not start out square and level. OSHA has standards that apply specifically to
the steps that must be taken to assure a stable scaffold base.
• One way to ensure a stable foundation, when a sill is used, is to secure it to
the baseplate.
• Supported scaffold poles, frames, uprights, etc. must be plumb and braced to
prevent swaying and displacement.
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 SUPPORT STRUCTURE
• To control the risk of a scaffold falling or collapsing,
employers must assure that scaffolds are built within OSHA
standards relating to strength and structural integrity.
• Scaffolds and scaffold components must be capable of
supporting, without failure, their own weight and at least 4
times their maximum intended load.
• Scaffold components manufactured by different
manufacturers must not be intermixed, unless they fit
together without being forced and the scaffold's structural
integrity is maintained.

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 ACCESS
• Workers are most vulnerable to fall hazards
when climbing on or off a scaffold. Therefore,
employers are required to provide safe
scaffold access. Erectors and dismantlers face
additional access problems due to the
incomplete condition of the scaffolding.
• Employees must be able to safely access any
level of a scaffold that is 2 feet above or below
an access point.
• Portable, hook-on, and attachable ladders
must be positioned so as not to lean the
scaffold.
• Employers are required to provide safe access
for employees erecting or dismantling
supported scaffolds where it is feasible, and
where it does not create a greater hazard.

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Example of a frame scaffold with Stair tower with stair rail, including
portable ladder for access. toprail and midrail.

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 FALL PROTECTION
• The number one scaffold hazard is worker falls.
• Fall protection consists of either personal fall-arrest
systems or guardrail systems, and must be provided
on any scaffold 10 feet or more above a lower level.
• Fall protection consists of either personal fall arrest
systems or guardrail systems meeting OSHA
requirements.
• Employees performing overhand bricklaying
operations from a supported scaffold must be
protected from falling from all open sides and ends of
the scaffold, except at the side next to the wall being
laid.

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An example of fall- arrest systems. Obvious violation: No guardrail and no
Note that this worker is wearing a fall-arrest system. Also, because
safety belt, whereas the new standard scaffold is six tiers high, it must be tied
requires a full body harness. in to the building. 13
 PLATFORM
• Except when used only as a
walkway, the platform is the
work area of the scaffold.
• Therefore, an inspection of
a scaffold platform requires
safety checks of both the
platform structure and how
the platform is used by the
workers.

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• Each platform must be fully planked or decked between the
front uprights and the guardrail supports.
• Nothing that could cause a slip, trip or fall (i.e. tools, scrap
material, chemicals, snow, ice, etc.) is allowed to accumulate
on the platform.
• Do not load the scaffold or any component parts beyond their
maximum capacity (their own weight and 4:1 the maximum
intended load). A scaffold can be overloaded by:
– Too many people being on the platform
– Too much material being stored on the platform 
– Point loading, or concentrating too much of the load in one area
• There are two kinds of falling object hazards associated with
scaffolds. One concerns the employees on the scaffold itself,
and the other concerns employees who may work in or enter
the area below the scaffold.

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Example of a scaffold that is not fully planked. Also planks are not
cleated or otherwise secured against displacement. 
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Planking on this platform should be six planks wide, instead of only two.
Also, note that the planks are bowing because the bricks are loaded at one
point on the platform instead of being evenly distributed.

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 KEEPING UPRIGHT
• Once a scaffold is built, even if it is
compliant with every other standard
relating to footings, structure, capacity,
etc., it still will not provide a safe work
platform if it does not remain upright.
• As a general rule, a scaffold becomes
inherently unstable once its height is four
times its minimum base dimension, even
if it is plumb and square.
• Extreme weather or damage to structural
components can also affect a scaffold's
stability.

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• When a supported scaffold reaches a height that is more than
four times its minimum base dimension (4:1), it must be
restrained by guys, ties, or braces to prevent it from tipping.
• Scaffolds and scaffold components must be inspected for
visible defects before each shift by a competent person, and
after each occurrence that could affect a scaffold's integrity
(such as being struck by a crane).
• Scaffolds may not be moved horizontally while employees
are on them, unless they have been designed for that
purpose by a registered professional engineer, or in the case
of mobile scaffolds.
• Employees are not permitted to work on or from a scaffold
during storms or high wind, unless a competent person has
determined that it is safe,

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Good example of a scaffold braced into a building.
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 PERSONNAL TRAINING/ COMPETENT
PERSONS
• Critical to scaffolding safety are
the use of competent persons for
the design, erection/dismantling,
and maintenance of scaffolds, and
trained workers for their use.
• Therefore, assessing personnel
abilities should be a part of all
phases of the scaffolding
inspection.

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• Scaffolds must be designed by a qualified person,
and be constructed and loaded in accordance with
that design.
• Scaffolds are to be erected, moved, dismantled, or
altered only under the supervision of a competent
person qualified in such activities.
• Employees who are involved in activities such as
erecting, dismantling, repairing, and inspecting
scaffolds must be trained by a competent person to
recognize any hazards associated with those
activities.

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Scaffold that was not
constructed and loaded in
accordance with design

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OTHER TYPES OF SUPPORTED SCAFFOLDS

• Mobile
• Pump Jack
• Ladder Jack
• Tube and Coupler
• Pole or Wood Pole

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• This is a bamboo scaffold used on a multi-story building in
Asia. 25
• A close-up of the bamboo scaffold in previous slide. Note the
user's bare feet and the flip-flop sandals. A common method
of dismantling this type of scaffold is lighting it on fire and
burning it down. 26
This scaffold is on a city
sidewalk, and a saw horse is
being used to increase the
working height of the
scaffold. This indicates that
the scaffold is too short for
the job. OSHA prohibits
using "makeshift" objects
(e.g., saw horses) to
increase the working height
of a scaffold, because an
unstable platform increases
the likelihood of a fall.

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SUSPENDED SCAFFOLDS

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 TWO-POINT (SWING STAGE)
• Two-point adjustable suspension scaffolds, also known as
swing-stage scaffolds, are perhaps the most common type of
suspended scaffold.
• Hung by ropes or cables connected to stirrups* at each end of
the platform, they are typically used by window washers on
skyscrapers, but play a prominent role in high-rise
construction as well.
• Review the elements of suspended scaffold
safety with the following modules:
Anchorage>Support>Access>Fall
Protection>Platform>Stability>Electrical Hazards>Personnel
Training and Competent Person
*a piece resembling a stirrup (as a support or clamp in carpentry and
machinery) 29
 ANCHORAGE

• The safe use of a suspended scaffold begins with

secure anchorage.
• The weight of the scaffold and its occupants must
be supported by both the structure to which it is
attached and by each of the scaffold components
that make up the anchorage system.

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 Anchorage system
• The anchorage system consists of Tiebacks,
Counterweights and Direct Connections.
• Tiebacks must be secured to a structurally sound
anchorage on the building or structure, which may
include structural members, but not vents, electrical
conduit, or standpipes and other piping systems.
• Counterweights used to balance adjustable
suspension scaffolds.

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An example of a parapet hook These counterweights are supposed
tieback that is perpendicular to the to be secured to the outrigger
face of the building system by a steel plate clamped with
bolts

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 SUPPORT

• Adjustable suspension scaffolds are designed

to be raised and lowered while occupied by
workers and materials, and must be capable of
bearing their load whether stationary or in
motion.
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• Scaffolds and scaffold components must be capable of supporting,
without failure, their own weight and at least 4 times their maximum
intended load.
• Each suspension rope, including connecting hardware, must be capable
of supporting, without failure, at least 6 times the maximum intended
load applied to that rope while the scaffold is operating.
• No more than two employees should occupy suspension scaffolds
designed for a working load of 500 pounds.
• No more than three employees should occupy suspension scaffolds
designed for a working load of 750 pounds.
• Scaffold components manufactured by different manufacturers are not
allowed to be modified to make them fit together, unless a competent
person determines that the resulting scaffold is structurally sound.
• Scaffold components made of dissimilar metals must not be used
together unless a competent person has determined that galvanic action
(rust) will not reduce the strength of any component below OSHA
standards.

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• Suspension ropes supporting adjustable suspension scaffolds
must have a diameter large enough to permit proper
functioning of brake and hoist mechanisms.
• The use of repaired wire rope as suspension rope is
prohibited.
• Ropes must be inspected for defects by a competent person
prior to each workshift, and after every occurrence which
could affect a rope's integrity.
• Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data for suspended
scaffold fatalities from 1992-99 found that over 20 percent of
fall deaths were due to suspension ropes breaking. This
underlines the importance of inspecting ropes before every
workshift.

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This wire rope has
"bird-caged" and
become unsuitable
for use.

This wire rope has a

thimble secured by
an eye splice, as
required on the load
end of suspension
ropes.

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This consists of some sections of scaffold decking and some
aluminum ladders hung from the roof. Who determined if it was
capable of supporting its own weight and 4X its maximum
intended load?

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• Many scaffold failures occur early in the
morning, after condensation has collected on
the wire ropes overnight. The preferred
industry practice at the beginning of a shift is
to raise the scaffold 3 feet, hit the brakes, then
lower the scaffold and hit the brakes again.
This ensures that moisture on the wire rope
will not allow it to slip through the braking
mechanism, causing the scaffold to fall.

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If a suspended scaffold
becomes stuck while
traveling, the hoist motor
may strain and cause
additional load on tiebacks,
counterweights, or even the
structure itself. Should
these fail, the result may be
a fatal fall.

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 ACCESS

• While a worker may technically access a

suspended scaffold from a ladder, the
preferred industry practice is to do so from a
rooftop or from the ground, and then raise or
lower the scaffold to its working location.
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 FALL PROTECTION
• The number one scaffold hazard is worker
falls.
• Fall protection consists of either personal
fall arrest systems or guardrail systems,
and must be provided on any scaffold 10
feet or more above a lower level (two-
point scaffolds require both PFAS and
guardrail systems).
• This is especially critical with suspended
scaffolds, because they often are operated
at extreme elevations.

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This scaffold does not have guardrails along all open sides and ends
and has no midrail, and its occupants are not wearing personal fall-
arrest systems.

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 Platform
• Because the platform is the work
area of a suspended scaffold, an
inspection requires safety checks of
both the platform structure and how
the platform is used by the workers.
• The platform must be securely
fastened to hangers (stirrups) by U-
bolts, or by other means that make it
capable of supporting its own weight
and at least 4 times its maximum
intended load.
• 3 types of platform; Ladder-type,
Plank-type and Beam-type.
• There are two kinds of falling object
hazards associated with scaffolds.
One hazard concerns the employees
on the scaffold itself; the other
concerns employees who work in or
enter the area below the scaffold.

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 Stability
• Even if a suspended scaffold
has been assembled in
compliance with every
applicable standard, employers
and workers must continue to
exercise caution and use sound
work practices to assure their
safety.
• Extreme weather, excessive
loads, or damage to structural
components can all affect a
scaffold's stability.
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 Electrical Hazards
• Suspended scaffolds are
often made of metal and
sometimes used in close
proximity to overhead
power lines.
• These factors introduce the
risk of electrocution.
However, proper clearance
and maintenance reduce
this risk.

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Not only is this job-made scaffold in
violation of standards pertaining to
capacity and fall protection, but the metal
platform is in contact with a live power line.
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 Personnel Training and Competent
Persons
• Competent persons and
trained workers are critical to
safety on suspended
scaffolds.
• Therefore, assessing
personnel abilities is a vital
part of scaffold design,
erection, maintenance, and
use, and should not be
overlooked in scaffold
inspections.
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