Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Cape secures 3 year extension to SABIC Contract at Teeside sites
Billy Gavin the singing scaffolder: [Video]
httpv://youtu.be/UjZ7_5TSEMA
The singing scaffolder..
If you have been freezing your nuts off today maybe this little video will cheer you up. The video was uploaded to YouTube by a co-worker Matthew Oneill and shows Billy Gavin singing his own scaffolder song he wrote himself wrote this himself. As always let us know what you think in the comments below.
Safway Group Purchases Assets of Swing Staging, Inc. & Related Companies
BTS Group acquires OBO Scaffolding firm
Offshore Scaffolding Safety Alert Issued In Australia
What Happened?
A scaffolder was dismantling a scaffold structure outboard of an offshore platform at a height of approximately 15 metres above the sea when a vertical scaffolding tube (a ‘dropper’) that was supporting him began to slowly slip.The tube was fixed in place with standard scaffold couplers and the tube was being pulled through these under the weight of the scaffolder. The scaffolder alerted other workers in the vicinity but they could not reach the connection in time to tighten the coupler. The tube continued to slip through the coupler until the scaffolder fell. Fortunately, the inertia reel harness he was wearing arrested his fall. The scaffolder managed to keep hold of the dropper so that it did not fall into the sea, and was suspended over water for approximately seven minutes. A hook from a rescue winch was swung over to the scaffolder, who attached it to the fall arrest harness, to allow the scaffolder to be pulled up to the platform’s walkway. The investigation found that the scaffolding coupler holding the dropper in place was loose and that there was no check coupler fitted above the dropper tube. It was also found that the rescue equipment used was not suitably rated for the weight of the scaffolder and the associated scaffolding. In addition, some of the certification for the equipment being used during the rescue activities was found to be out of date. During a subsequent inspection of the facility, a number of fall-protection devices were observed anchored to the bases of hand rail stanchions. The relevant standard on industrial fall-arrest systems and devices (AS/NZS 1891 series) specifies a minimum 15kN capacity for anchor points and it is considered poor practice in the wider industry to use hand rails or stanchions as anchor points.What Could Go Wrong?
If not for the inertia reel harness arresting the scaffolder’s fall, the scaffolder could have fallen several metres to the sea along with other dropped objects, potentially leading to death or serious injury. In addition, deficiencies in equipment rating, certification and regular inspection could have contributed to further failures during rescue activities.Key lessons
- It is considered good practice to install check couplers above the suspension scaffolding coupler as described in AS/NZS 4576 Guidelines for scaffolding.
- The scaffold should be visually inspected by the work party prior to using the scaffold.
- Scaffolds should be inspected regularly by a competent person.
- Only equipment within its certification period should be used.
- Safety equipment should be suitably rated for the personnel using it.
- Fall arrest equipment should be anchored at a suitably rated anchor point.
- The rescue plan should reflect the hazards the job presents rather than using a generic rescue plan for all scaffold jobs.
let us know your thoughts in the comments
48.3 Scaffold Design launch new “Scaffolding Insights” project
- What are the main challenges facing the scaffolding and access industry in the next 1-2 years?
- In what ways do you think the planning, procurement, budgeting, managing, understanding etc. of scaffolding (and temporary works in general) could be improved by main contractors / clients / procurers? Can you give any particular examples of good (or bad) practice in this regard?
Let us know what you think in the comments below
The NASC release a taster of the forthcoming TG20:13 guidance
- All standard scaffolds in TG20:13 are fully proven by design and calculation and as such no additional design work will be required.
- TG20:13 will adopt a more user-friendly approach than its predecessor and will be more pictorial then previous versions – a common complaint about the last revision was that it was difficult to follow.
- TG20:13 will be available electronically and to download as an App for mobile devices, and will include more scaffold types as standard designs. This guide will also demonstrate through a computer software system if a scaffolding system needs any additional design or not.
- Following feedback from TG20:08 saying it benefitted designers, the revised TG20:13 guidance will put the power back in scaffolders hands, not the engineers and will remove some of the burden for design currently experienced.
- Designs included will be: Basic Birdcages, Towers, Basic Fans, Loading Bays, Unit Transoms, 3M lift heights, Hop-Up Brackets, Basic Bridges & Basic Splays.
Written By Daniel Norton
Let us know what you think of these highlights in the comments section below.
Profits are trebled at Glasgow firm AS Scaffolding
Scaffolding collapse caught on video in West London
httpv://youtu.be/vIvi5gnBU3k
Yesterday (9th January 2013) scaffolding collapsed from a high rise building narrowly missing pedestrians in the street below. Luckily a motorcyclist was filming at the time and caught the terrifying incident on film. The location of this mystery collapse is unknown to ScaffMag other than somewhere in West London.Do you know what happened or where this was filmed ? please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.