The National Access & Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) has taken a big step towards becoming a greener organisation by virtually running its Spring Regional Meetings. The five meetings, held over Zoom webinars, allowed 300 people to avoid journeys that would have increased carbon emissions, including the NASC staff travelling to locations across the UK. The move aligns with one of the new President, David Brown’s presidential objectives, sustainability.The virtual meetings also provided the opportunity for NASC’s President David Brown and Acting Managing Director Dave Mosley to attend all five meetings and engage with regional issues through live webinar Q&A sessions. In addition, the meetings included presentations on mental health awareness and support and the Chrysalis Programme, which aims to help prisoners change attitudes and consider a career in scaffolding.The meetings also included updates from the NASC Standing Committees, which cover areas including ASITO training, membership and compliance, health and safety, technical, marketing and current affairs, contracts, hire, sales and manufacturing and the ePortal. The standing committee reports also included the launch of the NASC SE1:22 ‘Becoming Net Zero Carbon’ guidance note on the ePortal, with more guidance set to follow in 2023.Member polls were also conducted during the meetings, and arrangements for the 2023 NASC Awards and Ball were discussed, along with plans for the next round of face-to-face regional meetings.Acting NASC Managing Director, Dave Mosley, said: “These virtual meetings have been a great success, saving our busy team and the members lots of time, as well as radically reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint. To strike a good balance, the NASC Autumn Regional meetings will remain on location and in person, but this is a good step in the right direction towards greater sustainability.”NASC President, David Brown, added: “The decision to hold the Spring regionals virtually is one of those small steps towards improving the organisation and membership’s sustainability. The carbon emissions saving has also contributed to a significant cost and time saving, for NASC staff and members alike. These are little wins in the big picture, but wins nonetheless. And it all helps in our mission towards net zero.”
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the risks of asbestos, with a particular focus on younger tradespeople, including those in the millennial and Gen Z generations. The campaign, called Asbestos and You, aims to highlight the dangers of the substance and its potential impact on people who work as scaffolders, electricians, plumbers, joiners, and in other trades.The HSE is concerned that younger workers may not take asbestos seriously, as they may believe that the risks only affect older people who worked before the ban on asbestos in 1999. However, five thousand people still die from asbestos-related illnesses every year, and asbestos can still be found in buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000.Asbestos was used extensively in the construction and maintenance of buildings in Great Britain from the 1950s until the ban. Construction workers of all ages could still be exposed to asbestos fibres today, making it essential for everyone in the construction industry to take the risk seriously.Asbestos exposure can cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and pleural thickening. If asbestos fibres are inhaled, they can cause significant harm, and symptoms may take 20 to 30 years to develop.HSE’s Chief Executive Sarah Albon stated that asbestos exposure is still the single most significant cause of work-related deaths in Great Britain. Therefore, it is crucial for all workers, regardless of age, to recognise the dangers and take appropriate measures to protect themselves and others from being exposed to asbestos fibres.The Asbestos and You campaign will target all tradespeople, particularly emphasising younger workers in trades such as plastering and joinery. HSE’s head of health and work policy Mike Calcutt said that it is essential for workers to know how to recognise the dangers and take the right actions to protect themselves and others from asbestos fibres.To learn more about the Asbestos and You campaign and for guidance on asbestos, visit the HSE’s website.
It is no secret that Cornish startup ScaffFloat has certainly made waves in the scaffolding industry since it launched its safe floating scaffold access system in 2020. For a Q&A, Scaffmag’s editor Daniel Norton catches up with Toby Budd, founder and managing director of ScaffFloat to find out how it all came to be
DN: Toby, thank you for taking the time to talk to our Scaffmag readers and for taking the time to answer our questions. What inspired you to come up with the idea for ScaffFloat in the first place?
TB: A few years ago we were working on a project to build a folding workboat that fits in a shipping container. We decided to make our own plastic floats for this and it was during the design process my father-in-law asked me to make a netting framework over his fruit bushes to keep the birds out. I figured scaffold and Key Clamps would be easy to use, so I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found a scaffolder down west selling up his business. I drove down and spent a couple of hours chatting with him about beams, tubes, and clips. I had never really looked at scaffolding components before and remember being impressed with the low, mass-produced cost and versatility of the components. I was towing the trailer load of scaffold back up the A30 when I joined the dots and had the idea to make pontoons with scaffold. We moved quickly and launched the first prototype, a 16m x 6.4m ScaffFloat, a few months later after filing a patent and trademark.
DN: Can you tell me about your first job with ScaffFloat?
TB: A local marine contractor, KML, was working in the Port of Felixstowe to demolish an old dolphin. This required access to the steel piles that supported it. Initially, they tried a modular plastic pontoon but it moved around too much in the waves and contractors felt it was unsafe to work from. We mobilised a horseshoe-shaped 4m x 4m ScaffFloat that could fit around the pile. With a dropdown deck section behind the pile, this gave them 365-degree access to the pile from a much more stable platform. It did a great job and stayed for several months. It was a really good first test in the real world.
DN: Since you started your business, how many projects have you been able to deliver?
TB: Well over 50 now. I think in total we have now delivered over 5,000 hours of safe floating access to contractors around the UK.
DN: The idea of ScaffFloat sounds awesome, but what is the business model for the company?
TB: Our floats are available only for hire, and we are very strict about this, even though people constantly ask if they can buy the floats. We do this to maintain control over how the system is used. We make sure that every project has a proper design and stability assessment, and that we have overseen or checked the RAMS. Safety is one of the things our customers like most about ScaffFloat. Therefore, it is vital that we maintain our track record, and to do this we need to retain some control.
DN: I noticed your ScaffFloats are equipped with engines. How did this come about?TB: Putting propulsion on ScaffFloat was a turning point in the business and now 80% of our ScaffFloats go on hire with outboard engine pods. This adds a huge amount of value to what ScaffFloat can do, and once onsite these workboats are incredibly useful.
We now use high thrust 60 hp Yamaha four strokes which meet all the latest emission standards and are very fuel efficient. We tend to run them as a pair for redundancy and manoeuvrability and can get just under a ton of bollard pull from them for towing and pushing. Like wind farm transfer boats, we also rely on ‘pushing on’ as a method of holding position while contractors work from ScaffFloat. This is normally much safer than using lines, particularly in any wave action.
DN: So, do you operate overseas as well?TB: Yes, but not properly. We have floats in Australia, Malta and Cyprus but we have not had the time or resources to develop our international offering properly. We get very regular enquiries from overseas, particularly from Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. At the moment we don’t have the framework to push ScaffFloat overseas, and this is one of my priorities this year because the demand is there for sure.
ScaffFloat in Perth, AustraliaDN: Can you tell me what kind of regulations you operate under?
TB: We operate under a range of regulations; for the marine side it is the MCA, PLA & IMO which cover manning, safety equipment, stability standards and minimum freeboards. Most of TG20:13 and other scaffold regulations are not relevant to what we do, but we do use elements of it for things like edge protection. For lifting, we use Lloyd’s Register Code for Lifting Appliances in a Marine Environment and all our cranes are LOLER tested. To assess the structure, if needed, we use EuroCode EN1993-1-1-2005 & DNVGL-T-0378 and also refer to BS5975:2019 for temporary works. On larger projects we can also offer customers an independent Cat 3 check by our partner Richter; this gives our customers reassurance that we have taken a safe and prudent approach to our design and planned method of works.
We have also always been able to satisfy any of our customers’ structural or safety questions. This includes the Royal Navy, BAE systems, Network Rail, Port of London Authority, MCA, numerous Harbour Authorities and Harbour Masters including QHM (Now KHM), Canal & River Trust, Environment Agency and numerous principal contractors like Volker, Dyer Butler, J Murphy, Amco Giffen, Laing O’Rourke, Balfour Beatty, Story & BAM.
DN: What is your approach to working with scaffolding contractors?
TB: We have a really good relationship with a number of scaffolding companies around the UK and over half of our jobs are delivered in partnership with them. Initially, we had the concept of ‘Approved Installers’ where scaffold companies could hire the floats from us and then build and hire on the pontoons. However, this did not work. We quickly realised customers wanted much more than just a pontoon. They wanted our marine experience to manage the floating element of their project. Now, most of the work we do includes personnel, extra equipment like engines and winches, and the management of that part of the project.
So now we work with scaffold firms in two ways. 1) Bridge Scaffold – We provide floating access, normally from a self-propelled ScaffFloat with a skipper, for them to install a suspended scaffold under the bridge. We can carry the scaffolders and a couple of tons of boards, fittings, beams and tubes onboard and position the ScaffFloat right under the bridge. This saves the scaffolders a significant amount of time compared to if they built from one end. 2) Your Customers – If a scaffolding company has a customer that needs a floating solution, we can work together with them to deliver a ScaffFloat. It is a great partnership because they have the relationship with the customer and also provide scaffolding and help assemble the ScaffFloat. We bring the floats, engines and other equipment and once on hire we can run the floating element of the project.
We are always keen to speak to scaffolding companies that would like to work with us.
DN: It seems to me that you have a pretty good handle on your marketing.
Yes. We get that a lot, which is nice. I have a strong background in simple marketing that works, but the reality is that we can and will do much better in this area going forward. Our website has not been updated for almost a year. We are in the process of setting up a CRM, newsletter, and sales process. We also run no SEO, PPC, or outreach. We have just been too busy. The only thing I have worked hard on is Linkedin, which has been invaluable for us, especially in lockdown. Luckily the product has done very well selling itself. We have grown as much through customers’ positive endorsements and referrals as anything else, which is really pleasing and encouraging. It is abundantly clear already that ScaffFloat is doing a great job of providing a long-needed solution to the well-known problems associated with floating-access works. The surprise so far is just how big the gap is in the market that we are addressing.
DN: Can you tell me how safe ScaffFloat is?
TB: Safety is the cornerstone of what we do. We provide a number of services but the core of what we do is getting contractors access to the work they need to do, and then keeping them safe while they do it. Whether it be cutting, drilling, welding, electricals, coring, surveying, scaffolding or painting, we want the workers that operate from ScaffFloat to be able to work efficiently and safely, and as they are normally used to working from land, a big part of what we do is taking care of them when they work afloat.
DN: What does the future hold for ScaffFloat?
In the medium term, the big focus is on developing processes with particular emphasis on developing our marketing, sales, project management systems and SOPs thus ensuring that the business is well-equipped and resourced to continue its scale-up. We have a great team of dedicated professionals that have enabled us to get this far in such a short period of time. However, in the near future, we plan to expand the team in all of these specialist areas to ensure that human capacity doesn’t become the limiting growth factor. We are also working towards various accreditations including ISO 45001.
Long-term is a very tough question because, given how busy we currently are, it’s proving difficult for me to lift my head up out of the day-to-day to really take a view of where we will be beyond this year’s growth. But if I am being honest with myself I suspect we will ‘outgrow the pot’ we are in within the next year or two. I really love innovation and solving problems, and in some ways, I have reluctantly learned to do the business bit. At the moment we are pumping in value with lots of exciting ‘firsts’ planned for this year, but after that, I suspect the business will shift, become less of a start-up and more of a mature business where it’s about photocopying services and designs and growing to the next level. We have some strong IP and patents and so the future commercial possibilities for our innovative business are clearly very significant.
DN: Last but not least, do you regret anything?
TB: That’s a good question. No. Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing and I am sure I would do some things differently but I am not one for regret. Mistakes are an inevitable and valuable part of the innovation process. You minimise them, fix them, learn from them and move on. Every day is a school day and we’re on a steep learning curve. I don’t know what this year will hold. However, if I look back in our wake and what we have done in the last 12 months, I suspect it’s going to be busy. January revenue is already up tenfold on last year.
This article was first published in the ScaffMag Magazine Issue 18
Engineering construction workers operating under the National Agreement for Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) have secured a significant cost of living increase by introducing a supplementary payment. Following a series of pay freezes and below-inflation pay rises, industrial tensions had increased across the workforce, but after detailed negotiations between Unite, the UK’s leading union, and the employers’ side of the NAECI agreement, workers will receive an extra £1 for every hour worked between now and 30 June.Unite general secretary Sharon Graham hailed the deal as “a significant increase in pay for workers, who have benefited from making a collective stand and forced their employers to take action on the cost of living crisis.” However, while its union members have accepted the supplementary payment, local disputes over bonus payments involving NAECI workers, including at Drax, Grangemouth, Torness, and Mossmoran, will continue as workers continue to seek further increases in bonus payments.The ongoing local action will put additional pressure on employers to resolve the enduring tensions with the agreement when talks begin later this year for a new pay agreement, which will come into effect in January 2024. Unite national officer Jason Poulter said: “employers must not be under any misapprehension that this will resolve the fundamental issues of fair pay, which underlines this dispute. Local disputes to increase bonus payments will continue and employers must understand that until a fair permanent wage deal is agreed, industrial tensions will remain.”
A former site foreman, Stephen Phillips, has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence after a man tragically died during a school refurb job in 2020. Air conditioning engineer, Gary Skelding, 56, fell from a six-metre-high scaffold when it collapsed at King William’s College on the Isle of Man. Phillips was acquitted of manslaughter in court last year but found guilty of breaching health and safety. Stuart Clague Services (SCS), which previously admitted failing to ensure its employees’ health, safety and welfare, was fined £200,000.Workers from SCS had been renovating the school’s science block.The court heard that a “number of failings” led to the fatality after Phillips chose to place up to 45 plaster fireboards, each weighing more than 35kg, on the scaffolding instead of transporting them into the building individually due to concerns over high winds. Mr Skelding had volunteered to help Phillips, ultimately leading to his fall from the scaffold structure as it collapsed under him. Gary Skelding tragically died aged 56 Judge Sandeep Kainth said that method of lifting the boards “should never have been attempted”.In sentencing SCS, he said the company did not have adequate health and safety systems in place at the time that may have identified the risks. The company has since introduced a digital risk assessment system to alert the site foreman to all potential dangers. Mr Skelding’s widow read a statement to the court, where she said the events of August 4, 2020, changed her life “irreversibly”. Judge Sandeep Kainth noted the “tragic accidents” had brought “grief and misery” to Mr Skelding’s family and friends.In sentencing Phillips, he said: “You have to live with the fact that on your watch a death occurred”, adding: “That’s going to be difficult”.
The Scaffolding Association has officially announced the date for the second annual ‘National Scaffolding Week’ (NSW).NSW will run from 9th – 13th October 2023 and will provide a platform to showcase the diverse range of career options available within the scaffolding and access industry. The campaign aims to inspire a new generation, whether school leavers or career changers, to take up a role within scaffolding.Robert Candy, Chief Executive of the Scaffolding Association, said, “It was fantastic to see the support that last year’s National Scaffolding Week attracted – with organisations and individuals from across the sector coming together to stand in support of a common goal. This year we hope to build on last year’s success and establish NSW as the annual celebration flying the flag for the scaffolding and access industry.”NSW promotes scaffolding as a viable and rewarding career option for everyone regardless of age, gender, or background. It provides the opportunity to celebrate some of the outstanding achievements of organisations and individuals already operating within the sector, showcasing best practices, innovation, and the dedication to quality and competence which already exists.The NSW website will host a range of resources to guide and support those looking to take up a role in scaffolding, including a blog, useful links, and insights into life in scaffolding. A digital campaign toolkit will also be available for download, comprising a range of digital assets to help show support online.NSW will once again open nominations to find the UK’s ‘Scaffolding Stars’ – an individual that has gone over and above in their role, demonstrating the determination and dedication of the scaffolding sector.
A company has been fined after a worker fractured his back and ribs following a fall from a house in Cheshire.Renka Limited, a company hired to supply and install windows, doors, and frames at a property in Frodsham, Cheshire, has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3863.25 in costs after one of its employees suffered fractures to his back and ribs following a fall from a house. The incident occurred on 31 August 2021 when the worker, who was 35 years old at the time, fell approximately five meters from a platform made by Renka workers using the boards from a tower scaffold that was too large to be positioned in the area where it was needed.“The incident could have been prevented by the adequate planning of the work and the provision of suitable equipment for work at height, together with relevant training and instructions,” said HSE inspector Sara Andrews. “It is fortunate that the injuries suffered by the employee were not far more serious, or even fatal.”According to an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Renka Limited failed to adequately plan the work at height and provide suitable work equipment to enable the work to be carried out safely. “Renka Limited failed to adequately plan the work at height and failed to provide suitable work equipment to enable the work to be carried out safely,” the HSE report stated.The investigation also found that the company’s employees had not been provided with any instruction on how the work should be carried out and had not been provided with adequate training for working at height. “The company’s employees had not been provided with adequate training for working at height,” the report stated.Renka Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 20 February 2023.
The Scaffolding Association has recently announced the date for its highly anticipated Scaffolding Conference 2023.
Scheduled to take place on the 12th of October 2023, the conference will return to the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre located in Warwickshire.
Following a successful event last year, the upcoming conference aims to draw a bigger crowd and is expected to feature more exhibitors, seminars, and discussions.
The first-ever dedicated scaffolding and access Conference, which took place last year, drew over 150 attendees from various sectors of the scaffolding and access industry. The conference was open to both members and non-members and provided a platform to address several industry-relevant subjects.
The conference was jam-packed with discussions on various topics, including a live contract review, National Scaffolding Week and awards, labour shortages, skills and training, scaffold insurance, and the HGV price-fixing scandal. Attendees also had the opportunity to engage in an interesting discussion on the future of scaffolding and how system scaffolding would play a crucial role.
As the scaffolding industry continues to grow, the Scaffolding Association’s upcoming conference aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote best practices for safe and efficient scaffolding operations.
The event is expected to draw a diverse group of industry professionals, allowing attendees to network, learn from experts, and stay up-to-date on industry trends and practices.
The Scaffolding Association is calling on all industry professionals to mark their calendars and ensure that they attend this critical event, which promises to be one of the highlights of the year. With the support of industry players, the conference will be a valuable resource for scaffolding and access professionals, promoting excellence and safety within the industry.
A brand new CISRS OSTS (Overseas Scaffolder Training Scheme) centre has opened in Doha, Qatar.
The new training facility results from a partnership between UK-based CISRS provider AIS/Survivex and Qatari-based Vibrant Consultancy. The move comes in response to an increasing demand for scaffolders in the region, driven by the expanding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) sector.
During a recent visit, CISRS Auditor Trevor Donoghue audited the new centre and granted it accreditation to deliver Level one and two Scaffolder CISRS courses and Basic Scaffold Inspection and Supervisor CISRS programmes.
CISRS Managing Director Dave Mosley expressed his delight at the new facility, now the fourth CISRS OSTS centre in the region, making it the most in any territory outside the UK. He noted this is excellent news for the area and the CISRS OSTS scheme.
Trevor Donoghue praised the centre’s excellent training facilities and its capacity to increase its CISRS-approved training portfolio in the future. He expressed confidence that the centre would be a valuable asset for further developing a skills base within the Qatari scaffolding industry.
Jithin Chakkooth, Operations Director of Vibrant Consultancy W.L.L, said that the project had been years in the planning and months in its execution and that the team was thrilled to see their vision and dreams come true. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with AIS/Survivex and looked forward to a successful partnership.
The opening of this new CISRS OSTS centre in Qatar is a significant development in the region’s scaffolding industry, providing the skills and training required for the growing LNG sector.
A company has been fined £120,000 after a worker fell to his death while working on a roof.
The victim, 36-year-old father-of-one Dennis Vincent, was working on a project to install a lightning protection system at an office block in Warrington. With another worker, Mr Vincent was using ropes to lower access equipment from the roof when he and the frame fell from the roof to the ground.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Mr Vincent’s employer, PTSG Electrical Services Limited, had failed to adequately assess the risks associated with the work, with little consideration given to the work at height hierarchy of control, and opting for personal protection measures over more suitable collective protection measures, such as scaffolding or a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP).
In addition, the company had not planned to safely get the rope access equipment on and off the roof, providing no instructions to the operatives.
PTSG Electrical Services Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 was fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £5,448.51 in costs.
HSE inspector Sara Andrews expressed condolences to Mr Vincent’s family and emphasized that the incident could easily have been avoided with better planning to ensure adequate controls were in place to prevent falls from the roof. While rope access techniques are appropriate in some circumstances, they should only be used if more appropriate measures, such as fixed scaffolding, cannot be.
Two more companies will appear in Liverpool Crown Court later this year concerning the incident, having pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing. The HSE warned companies that it would not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those who fall below the required standards.
DN: Can you tell me how safe ScaffFloat is?
TB: Safety is the cornerstone of what we do. We provide a number of services but the core of what we do is getting contractors access to the work they need to do, and then keeping them safe while they do it. Whether it be cutting, drilling, welding, electricals, coring, surveying, scaffolding or painting, we want the workers that operate from ScaffFloat to be able to work efficiently and safely, and as they are normally used to working from land, a big part of what we do is taking care of them when they work afloat.
DN: What does the future hold for ScaffFloat?
In the medium term, the big focus is on developing processes with particular emphasis on developing our marketing, sales, project management systems and SOPs thus ensuring that the business is well-equipped and resourced to continue its scale-up. We have a great team of dedicated professionals that have enabled us to get this far in such a short period of time. However, in the near future, we plan to expand the team in all of these specialist areas to ensure that human capacity doesn’t become the limiting growth factor. We are also working towards various accreditations including ISO 45001.
Long-term is a very tough question because, given how busy we currently are, it’s proving difficult for me to lift my head up out of the day-to-day to really take a view of where we will be beyond this year’s growth. But if I am being honest with myself I suspect we will ‘outgrow the pot’ we are in within the next year or two. I really love innovation and solving problems, and in some ways, I have reluctantly learned to do the business bit. At the moment we are pumping in value with lots of exciting ‘firsts’ planned for this year, but after that, I suspect the business will shift, become less of a start-up and more of a mature business where it’s about photocopying services and designs and growing to the next level. We have some strong IP and patents and so the future commercial possibilities for our innovative business are clearly very significant.
DN: Last but not least, do you regret anything?
TB: That’s a good question. No. Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing and I am sure I would do some things differently but I am not one for regret. Mistakes are an inevitable and valuable part of the innovation process. You minimise them, fix them, learn from them and move on. Every day is a school day and we’re on a steep learning curve. I don’t know what this year will hold. However, if I look back in our wake and what we have done in the last 12 months, I suspect it’s going to be busy. January revenue is already up tenfold on last year.
This article was first published in the ScaffMag Magazine Issue 18 
