Waco Scaffolding & Equipment a major provider of scaffolding and access equipment and services has been acquired by Safeway Services at an auction held as part of Waco’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Waco was founded in 1945 employing 320 people with eight offices in the US. The company is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, selling, rents, erects and dismantles scaffolding and other access equipment for the construction and shipbuilding industries.
Marc Wilson, president and CEO of Safeway Services said: “Purchasing Waco is an excellent fit for Safway, The company has a long-standing reputation in the scaffolding business and many loyal customers. We look forward to working with Waco customers to demonstrate our commitment to safety, performance and customer satisfaction.”
Safway Services saw revenues of $765 million in 2010 and Waco’s revenues were $37 million, according to reports.
www.wacoscaf.com
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Scaffolding Systems South West bosses were fined a total of £13,000, Terrence Foster was fined £8,000 and his business partner Shaun Greenslade was fined £5,000. Both had to pay court costs of £2,040.
Exeter Magistrates court heard that on the 25 March 2009 a large section of scaffolding erected by Scaffolding Systems South West at a builders merchants came away from the building, damaging a number of parked cars.
The causes for the collapse that HSE inspectors found was that netting had been fixed to the scaffold that extended nearly a meter above the roof of the building. The netting was also fixed to the inside edge of the scaffold instead of the outside which basically made the scaffold a sail to the prevailing wind. The investigation also found there was inadequate stability measures on the scaffold to withstand foreseeable wind speeds, such as scaffolding ties.
HSE Inspector, Andrew Kingscott said:
Due to the impending review of TG20:08 Volume 2, which is necessary following the introduction of the European Wind Code and the publication of BS EN1991-1-4:2005 A1:2010 (European Wind) and the National Annexe to BS EN1991-1-4:2005 A1:2010, all the safe height tables, text and diagrams associated with wind loading covered in TG20:08 Volume 2 are no longer valid and the tables detailed below should not be used, with immediate effect:
Tables being reviewed:
Table 29 – 31 (Pages 154 – 159) 
Scaffolders have concerns over the step causing extra strain on the back when lifting tube above the head to fix the advanced guardrail. There is also concerns with the plate that the scaffolder stands on becoming very slippery when wet.
The online petition can be found here
