Faced with a 35-per-cent government-funding squeeze, the HSE has decided to close two of its offices in the North West of England.
The Executive’s plans to close its Preston and Manchester sites, which are approaching their lease-break periods in the next year or so, will affect 58 and 100 staff, respectively. In both offices there is a mix of visiting staff, inspectors and visiting officers, and office-based administrative personnel. The posts will transfer to the HSE’s headquarters in Bootle, Merseyside.
According to an HSE spokesperson, the office closures, which are not expected before June, are seen as the best way to protect its existing headcount and should not adversely affect its front-line contact with business. It also expects to save around £5.3m over 10 years by consolidating its estate in the region.
The spokesperson explained: “Like every part of government, HSE is looking for ways of improving the efficiency of our organisation and delivering value for money to the taxpayer without undermining front-line services. This decision will allow us to reduce the amount of buildings we use without cutting jobs, or reducing the service we provide to the North West.”
However, the PCS union claims that 20 per cent of staff will opt against a move and look to leave the organisation.
Paula Brown, PCS national executive member and chair of the union’s HSE branch, said: “HSE’s own study showed that at least one in five staff will seek to leave following the move to Bootle, with the figure rising to more than half of lower-paid staff. The loss of skills and local knowledge will take years to replace.”
The union also believes that any savings the move yields will be wiped out by a rise in days lost to injury and illness in the wider regional economy. It plans to meet HSE management early this month to argue against the closures.
PCS negotiations officer Jayson Sloss said: “An alternative proposal to retain downsized offices in Preston and Manchester is far more preferable. It would maintain quality health and safety provision while still offering savings to HSE, and it is disappointing that HSE rejected this possibility.”
Source : Unknown
Join the discussion
Become a member and discuss this and other stories in our Community join now
A UAE scaffolding company is considering launching its own safety training programme to compete with existing schemes and prosper in the lucrative but safety-intensive oil and gas industries.
Neil Taylor, contracts manager at the Al Futtaim Engineering’s Scaffolding & Formwork Division, has highlighted the prospect of a training school internally on the back of a dearth in good scaffolding training schemes in the region and an expected tightening to regulation.
Scaffolding safety is not always followed nor enforced, says Taylor.
“I’ve floated the idea to management so we’ll see what happens. It is a sellable service – if regulation comes in then companies will have to train their scaffolders better,” he told CW.
Taylor says that despite existing safety standards for scaffolding in Dubai – the company’s home market – there is little enforcement through fines. Without such pressure, he says, some companies do not enforce standards internally.
“There is no government authority regulating this. Abu Dhabi is pushing on with HSE and training up inspectors who will go on site and fine contractors. The regulation is there, Reg 8, 24, but they are not enforced in the street.”
Taylor is also critical of some of the existing programmes that claim to be CITB accredited, a general industry standard, that do not train participants to the required levels.
But this has presented to him an opportunity, particularly in light of the company’s strides to improve its safety accreditation as it seeks to win projects in oil and gas – two industrial areas that demand high safety standards from all contractors and have been shining examples of thorough training.
“The majority of our work is with outside contractors and we’re looking to move into oil and gas industries, because scaffolding is a big market in these markets,” he said.
“The approach to safety is different. In the town [urban-based projects such as those residential and commercial] the safety standards can be pretty grim, though in oil and gas the standards are pretty paramount and you have to comply with British or European standards.
“Companies that work offshore, the contractors, do training because when you’re offshore everyone needs to be trained,” he added, mentioning CCC, the fabrication company, as a particularly strong example.
Taylor’s division provides tailored scaffolding structures and has supplied systems used at the top of the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab among other notable projects. But the oil and gas markets are likely to present a healthy source of revenue in the next few years if contracts can be secured, he says, due to the typically longer duration of contracts and more reliable payment structure.
Barry Furlong, director and general manager UAE at Harsco Infrastructure, which last year brought Quebeisi SGB and Hunnebec, two subsidiaries, under a single banner of Harsco Infrastructure, also attests to the opportunities in the oil and gas markets, with slight differences between contracts deriving from maintenance work as from new projects.
“Maintenance work tends to be longer, so you may be locked in for 2-3 years, so that’s a steady stream of income,” he said.
Source: Construction Week Online
Birmingham City Council has been criticised for spending £400,000 on scaffolding around a crumbling building which it may sell.
The clock tower scaffold
For the last nine months the authority has been paying an outside contractor to provide scaffolding for the Clock Tower in Harborne.
The money is coming from the Adults and Communities budget – one of the departments which is facing the toughest cuts in next year’s spending review.
The 130-year-old Grade II-listed building is run by the Adults and Communities Directorate which has been told it is the department which will bear the brunt of the massive cutbacks in April.
Since the 1960s, the Clock Tower has been used as an adult education centre, but it closed in July when a survey revealed it was structurally unsafe due to years of neglect on the maintenance and repair programme.
In March the council was forced to put up scaffolding when slates starting falling from the roof onto the pavement below.
More than 100 adult education classes held at the Clock Tower have been transferred to other sites in south Birmingham.
But since then – faced with a massive repair bill and a need to sell off assets to plug the black hole in its finances – the council has decided to put the building up for sale. But there will be a condition that the new owner retains it for community use.
When the cost of the scaffolding was revealed during a meeting of Harborne ward committee, residents were shocked and questioned the amount.
Derrick Clarke, a conservation architect and a member of the Harborne Society, said he feared the council had been overcharged.
“I have recently worked on a project to renovate the National Trust’s Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire – a much larger building – where the total scaffolding bill for the whole year was £650,000,” he said.
“How can it cost £400,000 to put scaffolding around the Clock Tower?”
Another resident Harry Takhar said: “The adults and communities budget is paying out £60,000 per month – who authorised this uncompetitive charge?
“I have been told by a scaffolding firm that the cost would be £45,000 set-up costs for 14 weeks and then £2,200 per month thereafter – considerably cheaper than what the council is paying.”
He also asked why the council did not take the advice given to it free of charge earlier in the year by Mr Clarke, an expert in such matters.
Council leader and Harborne councillor Mike Whitby defended the cost, saying the process for hiring the scaffolding had gone through the usual competitive tendering procedure.
He also pledged that the Clock Tower would remain a community building and would not be knocked down.
“The issue of ownership is flexible – the days when the public sector can manage a building ad infinitum are gone,” he said.
The community consultation on the Clock Tower’s future will run until February 11. Members of the public are invited to have their say via forms available in Harborne Library.
Source: Birminghampost.net
In the Foreword to the new NASC guidance SG4:10 Philip White (Head of Construction, HSE) states,
“This revision represents a step change in the way scaffold contractors should erect their scaffold structures. The guidance is straightforward and comprehensive and represents best practice within the industry”
Since its introduction in the mid-nineties Safety Guidance Number 4 (SG4) from the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) has become the established minimum standard for fall prevention in the scaffolding industry. SG4 rose to prominence following the major revision in 2000 (SG4:00) as it represented a significant change and challenge to the established methods of working that had been practiced for decades.
In 2000, the updated revision (SG4:00) saw the introduction of a new methodology that was christened the ‘tunnelling principle’, where the scaffolder’s priority on any working platform was to progressively create a safe working platform with guardrail protection and correctly supported working platforms, in the same manner a miner shores up a tunnel as it is excavated – thus minimising the time exposed to risk. This was also the first occasion where scaffolders were now expected to wear personal fall protection equipment (safety harnesses) at all times, as standard.
The priority now was to provide a ‘safe zone’ utilising collective measures before resorting to personal protection. However, it was still recognised that there was an inherent risk of a fall in scaffolding operations that could not be completely avoided therefore scaffolders would need to be clipped on whenever exposed to a risk of a fall and not traversing themselves and materials. The tunnelling principle made an allowance for scaffolders to traverse, unprotected, along a boarded lift for the maximum length of materials they were guardrailing with e.g. a maximum of 6.4m (21ft).
SG4 was again revised and updated in 2005 to reflect the requirements of the new Work at Height Regulations (WAHR), introduced that year, and included guidance on developments in technology in the intervening years. Innovations included amongst others; newcollective protection methods that could remove the unprotected traversing element of the tunnelling principle and new anchor devices that enabled scaffolders to attached their harnesses to higher points above the working platform, thereby reducing fall distances.
A change of emphasis in the new regulations for collective protection over personal was already supported by the SG4:05 guidance. However, to further promote innovations in collective protection equipment and methods an interim guidance note was issued in September 2008 (SG4:05 Appendix A). The aim was to raise the profile and promote collective measures available to scaffolders and employers. Many of these innovative new products and systems of work have been devised by scaffolders and contractors, which include a variety of cost effective solutions which is normally the major objection to change by many employers.
In agreement with the Health and Safety Executive SG4 is revised every 5 years and work on the next revision is well underway. The working party is aiming to complete revisions of both the management guide (SG4) and the user guide (SG4 You) for approval by the HSE, NASC Council and Membership for a launch before the end of the year (2010).
The new SG4:10 – ‘Preventing Falls in Scaffolding’ – will see more emphasis on the creation of a ‘Safe Zone’ by scaffolders covering avariety of safe methods. This revision will also see the removal of the practice of the ‘unprotected traversing element’ from the tunnelling principle. The initial impact to the Industry to implement these new measures will be significant for those who have not yet embraced the systems of work promoted by SG4:05 and Appendix A. Interestingly the NASC’s analysis of the ‘unprotected traversing element’ shows that it represented only a small percentage of the scaffolder’s working day. The NASC accepts that in practice the ‘unprotected traverse’ fails to comply with current legislation. However at the time of the previous revisions, it was accepted by the HSE as areasonably practicable solution in the absence of other alternatives. It has to be recognised that the initial investment and increased future overheads is a major factor to be taken into consideration by Scaffolding Contractors, however, the guidance will help ensure scaffolders and their employers work safer and comply with the law.
“The HSE will no longer accept the unprotected traversing element of the tunnelling principle that featured in previous versions of the guide [SG4:10]”Philip White, Head of Construction, HSE
The NASC and HSE acknowledge that there are scaffolders and contractors who still do not comply with the current guidance. This is evident in any town or city by the tell-tale signs scaffolders leave behind i.e. no Scaffolder’s guardrails or intermediate transoms. It is clear that you don’t have to actually see scaffolders working to know whether they have even attempted to work to SG4.
The NASC considers collective protection as passive protection, for example a guardrail will remain in place and provide protection should someone fall against it, whereas personal fall protection equipment (harnesses) is ‘personal’ or ‘active’ protection that must be attached to afford any benefit to the user. A number of NASC Members are already routinely working with collective protection measures and report increased demand from Principal Contractors and Clients for the same.
To order your copy of SG4:10 Preventing Falls from Scaffolding please click hereSource: The NASC
The NASC anticipate that the HSE will carry out a ‘scaffolding safety blitz’ during 2011 focusing on compliance with SG4:10. Stringent measures are expected to be taken against scaffolders, their employers and also main contractors who fail to ensure safe systems of work are adhered to.
If Carlsberg made advance guardrails….. could this be the best advance guardrail system on the market??… we think so.
The Fast Guard™ Collective Fall Prevention System has been designed to meet the needs of the modern scaffolding industry and SG4:10. The system is exceptionally fast to install,
Fast Guard website
instinctive to use, requires little loading out and provides a safe working environment, in advance, for scaffolders.
The key component behind the Fast Guard system is a unique self locking coupler which attaches to a scaffold standard from any direction, without the need for tools.
From the safety of a fully protected platform couplers are loaded with traditional scaffold tube, including stop ends and returns, ready to provide continuous guardrails.
The Fast Guard couplers are then raised beyond normal reach using the Fast Guard Positioning Wand and levelled with reference to the next platform ledger to provide a correctly positioned 950mm high advance guardrail.
Following completion of the next platform the advance guardrail tube is used to provide the permanent intermediate guardrail of the working platform, or raised again to form the advance guard rail of the next platform.
When completing long elevations consisting of several lengths of tube Fast Guard Joiners are used to provide a continuous and unbroken guardrail. The Joiners are designed to lock and be unlocked from the safety of the protected platform.
Using Fast Guard to safely dismantle a scaffold is easy. Fit the Fast Guard couplers above the top existing guardrail; remove the intermediate guardrail and load into the couplers cradles; fit all joiners as required. Leaving the Fast Guard system in place for your own protection, descend to the level below and completely dismantle the scaffold as normal, including all ledgers and external sway bracing. Using the positioning wand lower the Fast Guard couplers to within comfortable reach and remove.
Scaffolders use couplers every day of their working lives, it’s second nature. A collective fall prevention system that does the same, and follows common scaffolding principles in the way it is implemented, soon becomes second nature too.
Find Out More … http://www.bsafelimited.co.uk/
On the 26th November in the Landmark Hotel, SG4:10 was launched at the NASC AGM. Simon Hughes author and member of the working party stated “it was another milestone in scaffolding health and safety and further progression in protection from falls from height”. All NASC members should be receiving their books this week and for non-members, the NASC will be selling it at £25 per copy Tel: 020 7822 7400 to order your copy the SG4:You booklet is to follow.
So What Can We Expect To See In The Book ?
The main emphasis of SG4:10 is all about Scaffolders safety zone and collective fall protection which includes:-
Scaffolders Safety Zone (a fully boarded lift with single guardrail )
Proprietary Advanced Guardrail Systems (Layher AGS or similar)
Proprietary Advanced Guardrail Tools (Step Ups and Fast Guard)
The HSE had concerns about the tunneling method and traversing at an exposed edge while the scaffolders guardrail is installed. The NASC also has an agreement with the HSE that they will continue there support of SG4 if they are involved in the review process and the guidance is reviewed and updated every 5 years for advances in technology and good practice within the industry.
NASC Member Criteria
For information, any company applying to join the NASC must go through a rigorous audit and provide evidence of training. Part of this is a requirement for 90% of the workforce to be CISRS card holders and 90% must be directly employed. The requirement for 50% of the 90% to hold a Scaffolder’s card or an Advanced Scaffolder’s Card remains unchanged..
Useful Links:
NASC, HSE, Simian Risk
I found this on another site the other day, i am not and will not take credit for it !
To be a real scaff you need the following….
102,Has considered/contemplated or tried to fit the 3.5 tonne lorry through the Mcdonalds drive through.
103,Has got really friendly with the site canteen lady, run up a massive bill on credit ,then knokced her and been heard laughing and muttering “fat old cow her sausages were tescos white label anyway, she deserved it”
104, Has braved the coldest,snow laden roads only to turn up in the yard,do a handbrake turn ,skimming the parked forklift being jump started,lept out of the car to a barrage of snow balls, put up a stowic defense of the fitting bins,then breezed into the office declaring “you can’t work out in this mate,its freezing and dangerous”
105,Used the forklift in the yard as a jack to change a wheel or bald tyre.
106, Has forgotten how to tie a dolly knot…..
107, Always,always has a ridiculous middle name!
108, Thinks the contracts manger doesn’t know anything about scaffolding…”That’s why he’s in the office!”
109, Has, at some stage in his career, rolled a spliff in the passenger seat of a Ford Cargo
110, Makes a 6 monthly pilgrimage to Lillywhites to buy cheap Umbro socks for work.
111, Doesn’t know what a dolly knot is
112,Thinks SG4:05 is “that new terminal at Heathrow Palmers are doing”
113,Never realised your supposed to read and sign the method statement.
114, Thinks the supervisors business cards are great for Roach’s but little else “Just like im”
115,Has knocked one out over the office girl,regardless of what she looks like
116,Has got drunk,lary and tried to tap you up for a pay rise at the Christmas drink and will definatley have used the phrase “But we do loads more than them wan*ers” before running off with the kitty.
117, Every gang in the country must, by law, contain one lanky scaffolder who has a gaotee beard and wears army style camoflague combat trousers to work.
118, Thinks that Nando’s is an acceptable place to take the missus on their wedding anniversary.
119, Supplys overpriced £30 a wrap ‘pub standard’ cocaine to the yard foreman, QS and design engineer.
120, Has ‘tubular artist’ in the employement section of their facebook profile.
121, Will never have enough knowledge to lie about a massive project they’ve never worked on – and wish they had of done, but will suppliment it with the generic “Yeah, we just went over there for 3 days to do a hangar”
122, Item 121 will ALWAYS be a hangar.
123, Will have no idea that the fella they’re telling lies to about items 121/122, was the project manager on that job ‘they did the (imaginary) hangar on’.
124,Will over exagerate by as much as 25% the gear used in the imaginary Hanger (121)
125,Will have struck the above imaginary hanger by simply undoing the top fittings and letting it fall to the ground, or even better into a river,lake or the sea narrowly missing some valuable piece of machinery or ship.
126,Will let you fill in ,post off ,wait for weeks for a response to that application to work on a Police station, military installation, sensative government building etc, before letting you know that the reason its not been accepted is that they have been inside a couple of times but didn’t think it would matter if they forgot to put it in the box that said “Any previous convictions”
127,Has to be home by 3.00 pm as their wife’s a hairdresser and has a job on worth £75 cash that night and they need to look after Little Alfie and Chardonay.
128,Will always drink and drive in the company van ,sit out in the beer garden on the pavement wearing the company clothing to advertise the fact, then when caught utter the phrase “sneaky bast*rds were waiting for me” with a shocked look on his face.
129,Would do anything for his work mates as they are “diamond geezers, salt of the earth” then sleep with their workmates wives, partners ,daughters and tell everyone on earth about it.
130,Can never just go out and have A Drink, has to get totally wasted and drink 20 pints of “Turbo nutter brew”
132,Will automatically critisise even the most tidy job in history by simply adding the phrase “I wouldn’t have braced it like that” or the ever popular “why did they base it out like that”
133 Will slag off the keenest labourer and insist they had it much harder and they could carry gear much further and so on.
134,Has used their scaffold ticket more for chopping up coke than scaffolding purposes.
135,Has brought tools cheaply off e-bay and then tried to sell them onto to their workmates at a ripping proffit.
136,Will as a matter of course knowingly lie about traffic incedents ,such as swearing at the public, even though the said members of the public have rung the number on the truck and given a brilliant description of the driver complete with what he was wearing.
137,,Shall be known or called “Geordie” if from north east no matter what.
138,,Has to listen to radio 1 full blast from the biggest radio at all times of the day or night
139, Will accept and enjoy copious amounts of the contract managers premium grade cocaine at the Xmas piss-up, but then revert to referring to him as “that tight c**t” on Monday January 3.
140, If a rival gang do a large or prestigious job then the phrase “we were supposed to go over and do that, but were busy on item 121” will be used whenever anyone else mentions what a good job they did.
141, Has had a fight (and won) with his girlfriends ex fella (who works on Trad) at least once.
142, A folded up, out of date William Hill football coupon will be kept in the side pocket of his tool bag.
143, Thinks that electricity is piped into scaffolding yards and offices, free of charge.
144, Regardless of that fact that the yard manager has 35 years experience in the scaffolding industry, and has worked 7 days a week for the last 18 months “we sorted the yard out for that fat c**t”.
145, Has gone down the yard, at least once ‘to beat up the supervisor’.
146, Has never, ever, beaten up the supervisor.
147, Does not have any idea, whatsoever, what tredda plates are actually designed for.
148, Thinks an ‘SK’ is an acronym for ‘steel klamp’.
149,Will happily go on his scaffold course rinsing you for every expense going, come back with a great big Portfolio,dump it on your desk,beg you to fill it in “cus I don’t do paperwork” then the minute ,no second,its complete ask for another £20 a day “cus now I’m qualified”
150,Is guarenteed to ask if they can borrow a tiny bit of gear to do a private job on “me old grans house”, then completley clean out the yard of every stick of scaffold, then promptly leave thinking you’ve forgotten all about it.
151,Will storm into the office when they see their wages are short claiming all the direct debits have bounced,and they can’t pay their mortgage or rent and you owe them big style, and then realise they were actualy on holiday the previous week but had used up all of their holiday days not coming in on the 30 or so Mondays because on of their various grandparents had died (see item 4 )or because they were on the p*ss drrrrrrrrrr
152,Will think nothing of actualy using the expletive as a heading for his post in a forum,where sensible people would change a vital letter to abide by the rules……snigger snigger
153…Cant start a well paid job until there court case is finished.
Written By Forum Members, Phil181 & Dangeruss
with contributions from Scaffman1 & Tufty
The following scaffolders rule book was produced by forum members and originally published in 2010 on the Scaffolders Forum. We thought after 5 years we would republish as it never fails to bring a smile to any UK scaffolder.. Enjoy.
Scaffolders Rule Book
So you have made the grades and achieved your CISRS card but to be defined as a true scaffolder you will need the following..
1, Tattoos on the forearm or neck.
2, A complete and utter lack of financial understanding and planning.
3, A mobile phone with a cracked screen.
4, At least a dozen Grandmothers (all of whom die on a sunday night/monday morning)
5, Has had a stint in prison.
6, The unique ability to talk a complex structure (up and down and on the wagon) from the comfort of a bar stool.
7, The CSA after him.
8, A brother/cousin who “is on Trad’s”
9, A surprisingly fit girlfriend.
10, Has at least one staffie.
11, Has kids by at least 2 different partners.
12, Had worked putting the roof on Canary wharf
13, Has been done for drink driving at least once.
14, Knows at least 1 person that worked with the Krays.
15, Smokes.
16, Drives a battered old car with no tax insurance or MOT.
17, Must be racist.
18, Wears joggers with holes where burned with disc cutter
19, Must have illegible handwriting, like a Doctor.
20, The ability to swear at least 3 times in every sentence and make it sound ok.
21, An inherent hatred of traffic wardens,the police,Judges,Magistrates,Site managers and most of all Bricklayers + their ex wives and their ex wives partners,families, families pets etc etc etc.
22, Has a stupid, childish ringtone on his mobile phone.
23, Gets the evening standard for the sole purpose of looking at the scaffolding jobs (regardless of whether looking for work or not)
24, Has chips with their breakfast (under 25’s only)
25, Spends every other night ‘up all night with the little one’ – even though their missus doesn’t work.
26, Have an amazing ability to keep a straight face when saying “what are we gonna get paid for saturday?'” – even though a complete moron could work out that absolutely nothing gets done on the saturday and they were clearly in the Wetherspoons at 11am.
27, Have tinned, not fried tomatoes with their breakfast (over 25’s only)
28, Own a ‘standard scaffolders issue phone’ that runs out of battery at 3.30pm, every day.
29, Takes a sh*t at least 4 times a day (daywork lads only)
30, Thinks Cancun is a good place to get married
31, Has a bacon roll for breakfast (over 50’s only)
32, Doesn’t realise that there is an echo when you ring your governor from a pub toilet.
33,Only ever does “drawing jobs mate” but can’t actually read one.
34, Works on a site with skips ,and waste bins everywhere but can’t put the crisp bags,coke cans,fag packets,old scratch cards,copies of the Sun,Sport etc into one of the said waste receptacles,preferring instead to leave it in the lorry so that its so dirty you need a tetanus jab to get in it.
35, Would walk miles to get to a cafe, but won’t walk 50 ft to get the gear because “I’m a f*ckin scaff not a Donkey mate”.
36, Will use any of the following items, Nail,bolt,old drill bit,bit of threaded rod,piece of wood or metal to knock in a hilti m16 insert EVEN IF THEY HAD THE DRIFT.
37, Would think nothing of carefully cutting out a patch of carefully erected monoflex
so as to be able to watch women below.
38, Will spend thousands on the latest flatscreen tv but won’t buy a new spanner ,preferring to fix it with an old nail or the like.
39, Will wear boots that Robinson Crusoe wouldn’t been seen in,unless on the cards and then DeWalt are the only boots acceptable.
40, Will ask endless stupid questions during a toolbox talk in your time to drag it out,but won’t even breathe during a toolbox talk ,at lets say 4 ish !
41, Has to have to have at least 6 red bulls a day.
42, Goes to the shop for food after coming to work, even if they pass the shop on the way in.
43, Must own an aquaphone:- rings the boss the instant a drop of rain hits it.
44, Be allergic to the fittings shed.
45, And paint.
46, Must have the ability to drive to the job and back at 40 mph (motorway or not )
47, And 90 mph if it’s a job and knock.
48, Be a proper chatterbox from 8am to 8:30 when they get into work and practically deaf and dumb at ten to five when its time to go home.
49, Must think that supplied work clothes are of the disposable type. Most of ours are behind seats of lorries and in the canteen.
50, Who’s next for a rant.
51, Will be able to text whilst carrying out any number of precarious tasks including,Driving,scaffolding,eating in the cafe,on the rope and wheel,talking on the landline
52, Will think nothing of bombing tonnes of gear into an area the size of a stamp rather than walking it 10 yards, so the whole area resembles a crows nest or giant game or Kerr-plunk with people everywhere dodging the tubes raining down from above,only to down tools should a speck of debris from another trade fall within 50ft of them.
53, Will take weeks to carry out a job whilst on daywork ,but hours if its job and knock.
54, Can do amazing calculations Stephen Hawkins would struggle with to work out the odds on a yankee at the bookies or work out what they have earned on a price, but can’t fill in a tacho.
55, Are able to park the lorry anywhere in london at any time for any reason “cus we’re scaffs mate,don’t need an exemption”
56, Can get a lorry into any area any where, if it means not walking the gear more than a metre.
57,Have or will work on “Buck ouse” (Buckingham Palace) at sometime between stints in Jail
58, Are “Friends” on Raol Moats facebook page
59, Went to Ronnie Krays funeral
60, Erect 20′ square each and every day regardless of where they are.
61, Insist you buy fruit of the loom sweatshirts for them ,and then after 1 day they wear crappy old sweatshirts from their old firm claiming the new one you gave them is in the wash,and they need another.
62, Utters the generic phrase “I could get a start on there tomorrow if I wanted to” (at intervals not exceeding 35 minutes.)
63, If a large, prestige job is mentioned by anyone, the words “yeah, I put that up” is muttered, following a pause not exceeding 0.015 seconds (even though it clearly took at crew of 12 blokes, 6 weeks to erect, during which time the scaffolder in question was doing house fronts for £80 a day, cash in hand.)
64, The supervisor was ALWAYS ‘useless on the tools’
65, Leaves a perfectly good, regular job for an extra fiver a day.
66, Thinks Sharm el Skeikh is a decent holiday resort.
67, Is a fully certified and paid up member of ‘The Monday Club’
68, Has a complete and utter lack of understanding of the difference between a half hitch and a clove hitch.
69, Surveys suggest that the average London scaffolder with 10 years in the game has said “Yeah, I know Hayden” at least 8 thousand times during his career….
70, Has a missus who works part time in a high street bank.
71, Whilst having a mandatory stella session in the local boozer on a Friday afternoon/evening, only multi lift hangars, apexed temporary roofs, flying shores, or jobs exceeding 600ft high will be mentioned.
72, Will always steal,borrow,filch,nick,take any building materials from site if carrying out a complex building job at home, claiming it a “right on the site”. I have personaly witnessed such items as ,Bricks and blocks,wood,tiles and slates the ever popular bags of cement (damp) sand, fridges and white goods a dog and even a small rowing boat with “Property of Grafham water” clearly written on it.
73,Will take every single item from the yard that the rival gang needed,even if its not needed by them,just for badness !
74, Will ring up the yardman at 4.30 with a massive list you couldn’t fit on the Titanic and utter the words “we need all that in the morning or we can’t get on”
75, Will send back the above loaded lorry with the mearest amount used proclaiming job done mate at 12.30 (usually fridays).
76, Will take “Colditz” style chances to steal the yardman’s gloves or tape measure.
77, Over-order gloves and then sell the surplus to a trader on Romford Market for 50p a pair.
78, Think that anyone is actually impressed or cares that you ‘did a flying shore on your advanced course’ – Er, so just like everyone else then?…
79, Arrive on site at 8.15 and declare to a stressed site manager “Don’t worry mate, we’re the A-Team”, and then promptly disappear to the cafe until 10am.
80, Think that the office girls over the road and the gang of bricklayers on site will be impressed when you ‘balance’ a 21 on your chin. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
81, Claim to be s**t hot at hemping and then when a lift with high scarfs comes along, either, 1 – go for a dump, or 2 – Jump down into the chain and let a real scaffolder whack em on.
82 Has at one time or another owned a ford granada
83 Worked on the Nat West tower under 25s
84 Thrown gear down so high it burst a gas pipe.
85 Fallen over 20′ but survived cause they were in the SAS/SBS
86 Flapped band and plate from 100ft without the pair parting
87 Dropped a 21 in Oxford street in rush hour miraculously missing everyone
88 Has a blimp on every job even if its not a street job!!
89 Thinks the dash for the lorry is where you place you’re feet
90 Thinks every bird must fancy me even when I have no hair and no teeth case i am a scaff so then says Morning Darling Fancy the Weekend on My Boat (Boat Race + Face for the uneducated)
91, Thinks that materials are issued to scaffolding companies free of charge…
92, Has a fondness for pathetic chunks of worthless yellow ‘jewellery’
93, Randomly says “I spent 2 years on the rope and wheel before I was allowed any spanners” (even though you can clearly remember him spending £302.77 in Leaches a day after he received his first wage packet)
94, Asks for a sub 2 days after he receives his first wage packet
95, Thinks that diesel is issued to scaffolding companies free of charge….
96, Has the top Sky TV subscription
97, Has a slate in his local boozer
98, Thinks that non-productive personnel are issued to scaffolding companies free of charge…
99, Is saving up to get married in Vegas
100, Has a forklift/mewp/first aid ticket “but it’s expired” – “so you don’t have a ticket then?” – “No, but I did have” – “That’s a no then!”
101, If given the choice and it was “FREE” would still rather fill their Astra, or Escort (ex bt) van up with red diesel.
102, Has considered/contemplated or tried to fit the 3.5 tonne lorry through the Mcdonalds drive through.
103, Has got really friendly with the site canteen lady, run up a massive bill on credit ,then knocked her and been heard laughing and muttering “fat old cow her sausages were tesco’s white label anyway, she deserved it”
104, Has braved the coldest,snow laden roads only to turn up in the yard,do a handbrake turn ,skimming the parked forklift being jump started,lept out of the car to a barrage of snow balls, put up a stowic defense of the fitting bins,then breezed into the office declaring “you can’t work out in this mate,its freezing and dangerous”
105, Used the forklift in the yard as a jack to change a wheel or bald tyre.
106, Has forgotten how to tie a dolly knot…..
107, Always,always has a ridiculous middle name!
108, Thinks the contracts manager doesn’t know anything about scaffolding…”That’s why he’s in the office!”
109, Has, at some stage in his career, rolled a spliff in the passenger seat of a Ford Cargo
110, Makes a 6 monthly pilgrimage to Lillywhites to buy cheap Umbro socks for work.
111, Doesn’t know what a dolly knot is
112, Thinks SG4:10 is “that new terminal at Heathrow Palmers are doing”
113, Never realised you’re supposed to read and sign the method statement.
114, Thinks the supervisors business cards are great for Roach’s but little else “Just like im”
115, Has knocked one out over the office girl,regardless of what she looks like
116 ,Has got drunk,lary and tried to tap you up for a pay rise at the Christmas drink and will definitely have used the phrase “But we do loads more than them wan*ers” before running off with the kitty.
117, Every gang in the country must, by law, contain one lanky scaffolder who has a goatee beard and wears army style camouflage combat trousers to work.
118, Thinks that Nando’s is an acceptable place to take the missus on their wedding anniversary.
119, Supplies overpriced £30 a wrap ‘pub standard’ ****** to the yard foreman, QS and design engineer.
120, Has ‘tubular artist’ in the employment section of their facebook profile.
121, Will never have enough knowledge to lie about a massive project they’ve never worked on – and wish they had of done, but will supplement it with the generic “Yeah, we just went over there for 3 days to do a hangar”
122, Item 121 will ALWAYS be a hangar.
123, Will have no idea that the fella they’re telling lies to about items 121/122, was the project manager on that job ‘they did the (imaginary) hangar on’.
124, Will over exaggerate by as much as 25% the gear used in the imaginary Hanger (121)
125, Will have struck the above imaginary hanger by simply undoing the top fittings and letting it fall to the ground, or even better into a river,lake or the sea narrowly missing some valuable piece of machinery or ship.
126, Will let you fill in ,post off ,wait for weeks for a response to that application to work on a Police station, military installation, sensitive government building etc, before letting you know that the reason its not been accepted is that they have been inside a couple of times but didn’t think it would matter if they forgot to put it in the box that said “Any previous convictions”
127, Has to be home by 3.00 pm as their wife’s a hairdresser and has a job on worth £75 cash that night and they need to look after Little Alfie and Chardonnay.
128, Will always drink and drive in the company van ,sit out in the beer garden on the pavement wearing the company clothing to advertise the fact, then when caught utter the phrase “sneaky bast*rds were waiting for me” with a shocked look on his face.
129, Would do anything for his work mates as they are “diamond geezers, salt of the earth” then sleep with their workmates wives, partners ,daughters and tell everyone on earth about it.
130, Can never just go out and have A Drink, has to get totally wasted and drink 20 pints of “Turbo nutter brew”
132, Will automatically criticize even the most tidy job in history by simply adding the phrase “I wouldn’t have braced it like that” or the ever popular “why did they base it out like that”
133, Will slag off the keenest labourer and insist they had it much harder and they could carry gear much further and so on.
134, Has used their scaffold ticket more for chopping up coke than scaffolding purposes.
135, Has brought tools cheaply off ebay and then tried to sell them onto to their workmates at a ripping proffit.
136, Will as a matter of course knowingly lie about traffic incidents ,such as swearing at the public, even though the said members of the public have rung the number on the truck and given a brilliant description of the driver complete with what he was wearing.
137, Shall be known or called “Geordie” if from north east no matter what.
138, Has to listen to radio 1 full blast from the biggest radio at all times of the day or night.
139, Will accept and enjoy copious amounts of the contract managers premium grade ******* at the Xmas piss-up, but then revert to referring to him as “that tight c**t” on Monday January 3.
140, If a rival gang do a large or prestigious job then the phrase “we were supposed to go over and do that, but were busy on item 121” will be used whenever anyone else mentions what a good job they did.
141, Has had a fight (and won) with his girlfriend’s ex fella (who works on Trad) at least once.
142, A folded up, out of date William Hill football coupon will be kept in the side pocket of his tool bag.
143, Thinks that electricity is piped into scaffolding yards and offices, free of charge.
144, Regardless of that fact that the yard manager has 35 years experience in the scaffolding industry, and has worked 7 days a week for the last 18 months “we sorted the yard out for that fat c**t”.
145, Has gone down the yard, at least once ‘to beat up the supervisor’.
146, Has never, ever, beaten up the supervisor.
147, Does not have any idea, whatsoever, what tredda plates are actually designed for.
148, Thinks an ‘SK’ is an acronym for ‘steel klamp’.
149, Will happily go on his scaffold course rinsing you for every expense going, come back with a great big Portfolio,dump it on your desk,beg you to fill it in “cus I don’t do paperwork” then the minute ,no second,its complete ask for another £20 a day “cus now I’m qualified”
150, Is guaranteed to ask if they can borrow a tiny bit of gear to do a private job on “me old grans house”, then completely clean out the yard of every stick of scaffold, then promptly leave thinking you’ve forgotten all about it.
151, Will storm into the office when they see their wages are short claiming all the direct debits have bounced,and they can’t pay their mortgage or rent and you owe them big style, and then realise they were actually on holiday the previous week but had used up all of their holiday days not coming in on the 30 or so Mondays because on of their various grandparents had died (see item 4 )or because they were on the p*ss drrrrrrrrrr
152, Will think nothing of actually using the expletive as a heading for his post in a forum,where sensible people would change a vital letter to abide by the rules……snigger snigger
153, Can’t start a well paid job until their court case is finished.
Written By Scaffolders Forum Members, Phil181 & Dangeruss
with contributions from Scaffman1 & Tufty
the major revision in 2000 (SG4:00) as it represented a significant change and challenge to the established methods of working that had been practiced for decades.
In 2000, the updated revision (SG4:00) saw the introduction of a new methodology that was christened the ‘tunnelling principle’, where the scaffolder’s priority on any working platform was to progressively create a safe working platform with guardrail protection and correctly supported working platforms, in the same manner a miner shores up a tunnel as it is excavated – thus minimising the time exposed to risk. This was also the first occasion where scaffolders were now expected to wear personal fall protection equipment (safety harnesses) at all times, as standard.
The priority now was to provide a ‘safe zone’ utilising collective measures before resorting to personal protection. However, it was still recognised that there was an inherent risk of a fall in scaffolding operations that could not be completely avoided therefore scaffolders would need to be clipped on whenever exposed to a risk of a fall and not traversing themselves and materials. The tunnelling principle made an allowance for scaffolders to traverse, unprotected, along a boarded lift for the maximum length of materials they were guardrailing with e.g. a maximum of 6.4m (21ft).
SG4 was again revised and updated in 2005 to reflect the requirements of the new Work at Height Regulations (WAHR), introduced that year, and included guidance on developments in technology in the intervening years. Innovations included amongst others; newcollective protection methods that could remove the unprotected traversing element of the tunnelling principle and new anchor devices that enabled scaffolders to attached their harnesses to higher points above the working platform, thereby reducing fall distances.
A change of emphasis in the new regulations for collective protection over personal was already supported by the SG4:05 guidance. However, to further promote innovations in collective protection equipment and methods an interim guidance note was issued in September 2008 (SG4:05 Appendix A). The aim was to raise the profile and promote collective measures available to scaffolders and employers. Many of these innovative new products and systems of work have been devised by scaffolders and contractors, which include a variety of cost effective solutions which is normally the major objection to change by many employers.
In agreement with the Health and Safety Executive SG4 is revised every 5 years and work on the next revision is well underway. The working party is aiming to complete revisions of both the management guide (SG4) and the user guide (SG4 You) for approval by the HSE, NASC Council and Membership for a launch before the end of the year (2010).
The new SG4:10 – ‘Preventing Falls in Scaffolding’ – will see more emphasis on the creation of a ‘Safe Zone’ by scaffolders covering a
variety of safe methods. This revision will also see the removal of the practice of the ‘unprotected traversing element’ from the tunnelling principle. The initial impact to the Industry to implement these new measures will be significant for those who have not yet embraced the systems of work promoted by SG4:05 and Appendix A. Interestingly the NASC’s analysis of the ‘unprotected traversing element’ shows that it represented only a small percentage of the scaffolder’s working day. The NASC accepts that in practice the ‘unprotected traverse’ fails to comply with current legislation. However at the time of the previous revisions, it was accepted by the HSE as areasonably practicable solution in the absence of other alternatives. It has to be recognised that the initial investment and increased future overheads is a major factor to be taken into consideration by Scaffolding Contractors, however, the guidance will help ensure scaffolders and their employers work safer and comply with the law.
“The HSE will no longer accept the unprotected traversing element of the tunnelling principle that featured in previous versions of the guide [SG4:10]”
Philip White, Head of Construction, HSE
The NASC and HSE acknowledge that there are scaffolders and contractors who still do not comply with the current guidance. This is evident in any town or city by the tell-tale signs scaffolders leave behind i.e. no Scaffolder’s guardrails or intermediate transoms. It is clear that you don’t have to actually see scaffolders working to know whether they have even attempted to work to SG4.
The NASC considers collective protection as passive protection, for example a guardrail will remain in place and provide protection should someone fall against it, whereas personal fall protection equipment (harnesses) is ‘personal’ or ‘active’ protection that must be attached to afford any benefit to the user. A number of NASC Members are already routinely working with collective protection measures and report increased demand from Principal Contractors and Clients for the same.
To order your copy of SG4:10 Preventing Falls from Scaffolding please click here
Source: The NASC 
103,Has got really friendly with the site canteen lady, run up a massive bill on credit ,then knokced her and been heard laughing and muttering “fat old cow her sausages were tescos white label anyway, she deserved it”
104, Has braved the coldest,snow laden roads only to turn up in the yard,do a handbrake turn ,skimming the parked forklift being jump started,lept out of the car to a barrage of snow balls, put up a stowic defense of the fitting bins,then breezed into the office declaring “you can’t work out in this mate,its freezing and dangerous”
105,Used the forklift in the yard as a jack to change a wheel or bald tyre.
106, Has forgotten how to tie a dolly knot…..
107, Always,always has a ridiculous middle name!
108, Thinks the contracts manger doesn’t know anything about scaffolding…”That’s why he’s in the office!”
109, Has, at some stage in his career, rolled a spliff in the passenger seat of a Ford Cargo
110, Makes a 6 monthly pilgrimage to Lillywhites to buy cheap Umbro socks for work.
111, Doesn’t know what a dolly knot is
112,Thinks SG4:05 is “that new terminal at Heathrow Palmers are doing”
113,Never realised your supposed to read and sign the method statement.
114, Thinks the supervisors business cards are great for Roach’s but little else “Just like im”
115,Has knocked one out over the office girl,regardless of what she looks like
116,Has got drunk,lary and tried to tap you up for a pay rise at the Christmas drink and will definatley have used the phrase “But we do loads more than them wan*ers” before running off with the kitty.
117, Every gang in the country must, by law, contain one lanky scaffolder who has a gaotee beard and wears army style camoflague combat trousers to work.
118, Thinks that Nando’s is an acceptable place to take the missus on their wedding anniversary.
119, Supplys overpriced £30 a wrap ‘pub standard’ cocaine to the yard foreman, QS and design engineer.
120, Has ‘tubular artist’ in the employement section of their facebook profile.
121, Will never have enough knowledge to lie about a massive project they’ve never worked on – and wish they had of done, but will suppliment it with the generic “Yeah, we just went over there for 3 days to do a hangar”
122, Item 121 will ALWAYS be a hangar.
123, Will have no idea that the fella they’re telling lies to about items 121/122, was the project manager on that job ‘they did the (imaginary) hangar on’.
124,Will over exagerate by as much as 25% the gear used in the imaginary Hanger (121)
125,Will have struck the above imaginary hanger by simply undoing the top fittings and letting it fall to the ground, or even better into a river,lake or the sea narrowly missing some valuable piece of machinery or ship.
126,Will let you fill in ,post off ,wait for weeks for a response to that application to work on a Police station, military installation, sensative government building etc, before letting you know that the reason its not been accepted is that they have been inside a couple of times but didn’t think it would matter if they forgot to put it in the box that said “Any previous convictions”
127,Has to be home by 3.00 pm as their wife’s a hairdresser and has a job on worth £75 cash that night and they need to look after Little Alfie and Chardonay.
128,Will always drink and drive in the company van ,sit out in the beer garden on the pavement wearing the company clothing to advertise the fact, then when caught utter the phrase “sneaky bast*rds were waiting for me” with a shocked look on his face.
129,Would do anything for his work mates as they are “diamond geezers, salt of the earth” then sleep with their workmates wives, partners ,daughters and tell everyone on earth about it.
130,Can never just go out and have A Drink, has to get totally wasted and drink 20 pints of “Turbo nutter brew”
132,Will automatically critisise even the most tidy job in history by simply adding the phrase “I wouldn’t have braced it like that” or the ever popular “why did they base it out like that”
133 Will slag off the keenest labourer and insist they had it much harder and they could carry gear much further and so on.
134,Has used their scaffold ticket more for chopping up coke than scaffolding purposes.
135,Has brought tools cheaply off e-bay and then tried to sell them onto to their workmates at a ripping proffit.
136,Will as a matter of course knowingly lie about traffic incedents ,such as swearing at the public, even though the said members of the public have rung the number on the truck and given a brilliant description of the driver complete with what he was wearing.
137,,Shall be known or called “Geordie” if from north east no matter what.
138,,Has to listen to radio 1 full blast from the biggest radio at all times of the day or night
139, Will accept and enjoy copious amounts of the contract managers premium grade cocaine at the Xmas piss-up, but then revert to referring to him as “that tight c**t” on Monday January 3.
140, If a rival gang do a large or prestigious job then the phrase “we were supposed to go over and do that, but were busy on item 121” will be used whenever anyone else mentions what a good job they did.
141, Has had a fight (and won) with his girlfriends ex fella (who works on Trad) at least once.
142, A folded up, out of date William Hill football coupon will be kept in the side pocket of his tool bag.
143, Thinks that electricity is piped into scaffolding yards and offices, free of charge.
144, Regardless of that fact that the yard manager has 35 years experience in the scaffolding industry, and has worked 7 days a week for the last 18 months “we sorted the yard out for that fat c**t”.
145, Has gone down the yard, at least once ‘to beat up the supervisor’.
146, Has never, ever, beaten up the supervisor.
147, Does not have any idea, whatsoever, what tredda plates are actually designed for.
148, Thinks an ‘SK’ is an acronym for ‘steel klamp’.
149,Will happily go on his scaffold course rinsing you for every expense going, come back with a great big Portfolio,dump it on your desk,beg you to fill it in “cus I don’t do paperwork” then the minute ,no second,its complete ask for another £20 a day “cus now I’m qualified”
150,Is guarenteed to ask if they can borrow a tiny bit of gear to do a private job on “me old grans house”, then completley clean out the yard of every stick of scaffold, then promptly leave thinking you’ve forgotten all about it.
151,Will storm into the office when they see their wages are short claiming all the direct debits have bounced,and they can’t pay their mortgage or rent and you owe them big style, and then realise they were actualy on holiday the previous week but had used up all of their holiday days not coming in on the 30 or so Mondays because on of their various grandparents had died (see item 4 )or because they were on the p*ss drrrrrrrrrr
152,Will think nothing of actualy using the expletive as a heading for his post in a forum,where sensible people would change a vital letter to abide by the rules……snigger snigger
153…Cant start a well paid job until there court case is finished.
clove hitch.
69, Surveys suggest that the average London scaffolder with 10 years in the game has said “Yeah, I know Hayden” at least 8 thousand times during his career….
70, Has a missus who works part time in a high street bank.
71, Whilst having a mandatory stella session in the local boozer on a Friday afternoon/evening, only multi lift hangars, apexed temporary roofs, flying shores, or jobs exceeding 600ft high will be mentioned.
72, Will always steal,borrow,filch,nick,take any building materials from site if carrying out a complex building job at home, claiming it a “right on the site”. I have personaly witnessed such items as ,Bricks and blocks,wood,tiles and slates the ever popular bags of cement (damp) sand, fridges and white goods a dog and even a small rowing boat with “Property of Grafham water” clearly written on it.
73,Will take every single item from the yard that the rival gang needed,even if its not needed by them,just for badness !
74, Will ring up the yardman at 4.30 with a massive list you couldn’t fit on the Titanic and utter the words “we need all that in the morning or we can’t get on”
75, Will send back the above loaded lorry with the mearest amount used proclaiming job done mate at 12.30 (usually fridays).
76, Will take “Colditz” style chances to steal the yardman’s gloves or tape measure.
77, Over-order gloves and then sell the surplus to a trader on Romford Market for 50p a pair.
78, Think that anyone is actually impressed or cares that you ‘did a flying shore on your advanced course’ – Er, so just like everyone else then?…
79, Arrive on site at 8.15 and declare to a stressed site manager “Don’t worry mate, we’re the A-Team”, and then promptly disappear to the cafe until 10am.
80, Think that the office girls over the road and the gang of bricklayers on site will be impressed when you ‘balance’ a 21 on your chin. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
81, Claim to be s**t hot at hemping and then when a lift with high scarfs comes along, either, 1 – go for a dump, or 2 – Jump down into the chain and let a real scaffolder whack em on.
82 Has at one time or another owned a ford granada
83 Worked on the Nat West tower under 25s
84 Thrown gear down so high it burst a gas pipe.
85 Fallen over 20′ but survived cause they were in the SAS/SBS
86 Flapped band and plate from 100ft without the pair parting
87 Dropped a 21 in Oxford street in rush hour miraculously missing everyone
88 Has a blimp on every job even if its not a street job!!
89 Thinks the dash for the lorry is where you place you’re feet
90 Thinks every bird must fancy me even when I have no hair and no teeth case i am a scaff so then says Morning Darling Fancy the Weekend on My Boat (Boat Race + Face for the uneducated)
91, Thinks that materials are issued to scaffolding companies free of charge…
92, Has a fondness for pathetic chunks of worthless yellow ‘jewellery’
93, Randomly says “I spent 2 years on the rope and wheel before I was allowed any spanners” (even though you can clearly remember him spending £302.77 in Leaches a day after he received his first wage packet)
94, Asks for a sub 2 days after he receives his first wage packet
95, Thinks that diesel is issued to scaffolding companies free of charge….
96, Has the top Sky TV subscription
97, Has a slate in his local boozer
98, Thinks that non-productive personnel are issued to scaffolding companies free of charge…
99, Is saving up to get married in Vegas
100, Has a forklift/mewp/first aid ticket “but it’s expired” – “so you don’t have a ticket then?” – “No, but I did have” – “That’s a no then!”
101, If given the choice and it was “FREE” would still rather fill their Astra, or Escort (ex bt) van up with red diesel.
102, Has considered/contemplated or tried to fit the 3.5 tonne lorry through the Mcdonalds drive through.