Safety Question

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longman

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Have small problem on the site i am working on with gap between the face of the brickwork and the inside board . Scaffolding has been erected as instructed by the main contractor, ie standards set x distance from the steel frame of building but this leaves the inside board of scaffold between 6 and 8 inches away from the face of the the brickwork . I feel this is unsafe as i am the Brickie who has to work on this scaffold

So far i have been unable to resolve this with the site manager as they dont want to pay the scaffolder to rectify this problem

manager is saying this scaffold is safe and can have a gap of up to 300mm i think he is talking out of his ass.........

the only information i can find on the net is the working at height regs 2005

there are no measurments on there


I know i am a BRICKIE but PLEASE HELP..........

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I may be wrong but i think it comes down to the risk assessment done for the job the scaffolding has been erected for.
 
You are right Longman, he is talking out his ass. The regulations actually states as small as practicable, which as you know is open to interpretation. Some will argue that this means no gap allowed at all whilst others will tell you that any gap is allowed as long as nothing can fall down it, therefore it depends on what material is lightly to be used on the scaffold. I prefer the slightly older more common sense approach that is if a board fits in the gap put a board in the gap, so a 6-8" gap whilst a bit on the side of larger than ideal should be serviceable bearing in mind that a board is 9".

That said, there is another old saying that you are your own safety officer and if you don't like it don't do it until a proper check is done but I think you will find that somewhere there will be rams written to include the service gap,ask to see them. Also, depending on how large this structure is, it is more than likely a major alteration or even a strip and re-erect to close the gap.

All in all I would say 6" should be perfectly fine.

---------- Post added at 11:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 PM ----------

Can't quite make out the tape but that looks like a 10" gap to me.:eek:
 
The scaffold has been put up for mainly brickwork some rendered blockwork and a small amount of cladding, My view is my foot is no more than 4" wide and will fall through that gap easily
 
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I can see why they did it, 3 inside boards require a design.

---------- Post added at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 PM ----------

Is it the same distance all the way up?

---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:55 PM ----------

Is it just me or does it always look worse on the photo's?

---------- Post added 8th November 2010 at 12:04 AM ---------- Previous post was 7th November 2010 at 11:57 PM ----------
longman said:
The scaffold has been put up for mainly brickwork some rendered blockwork and a small amount of cladding, My view is my foot is no more than 4" wide and will fall through that gap easily
Click to expand...

Anyone that falls down a 4" gap deserves what they get in my humble opinion, however that picture is definitely verging on large.

---------- Post added at 12:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 AM ----------

This should cover it.



We are working on scaffold at three different levels 3, 6 and 9 metres. The scaffold is constructed for bricklayers, so it is away from the precast concrete wall. We have to fit windows off this scaffold. It is erected with a gap from the wall, approx 250mm, then three scaffold boards, hand rail then five standard boards then hand rail again. What procedures need to be adopted?

ANSWER:

Your question is specific to working from scaffold and we have sought advice from the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC). “Where there is a likelihood of persons or materials falling, causing injury at the internal edge of the scaffold nearest to the structure, the law requires a physical barrier of double guardrails and toe boards.

However, it is recognised that the installation of internal edge protection can prevent or make work difficult when installing mullions, windows, cladding and brickwork etc.

In certain circumstances enforcement agencies will generally be both pragmatic and practical about strict compliance, in terms of what is acceptable, provided a safe system of work is put in place following a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the work activity being carried out.

Generally where the service gap is less than the width of a scaffold board and there are no door or window openings, the likelihood of someone falling through that gap is remote, and guard railing would not normally be required.

However, a risk assessment would still be necessary to determine if there is any other risk of injury.ie to persons working below the working platform who could be at risk should any material fall through the gap.”

In relation to the service gap, there are now several products on the market designed to work with scaffold boards and make sure there are no gaps that a worker or equipment can fall through.

> Return to full list.
 
was under the illusion there should never be more than a 150mm gap without putting in inside handrails etc , have had this problem in the past usually on timber frame jobs
 
Hi Scaffy,

That answer was cut and pasted from the hse web site so they are being a bit more leniant in that regard as alot of people think, but it's the old story that the gap is perfectly acceptable untill someone trips on it then you are for the high jump.
 
They could drop a board in but like aom says 3 inside boards in a no no unless designed.
either way doubt they would want to pay for that either, otherwise strip and re erect then your talking big £££'s. I suppose if you don't work of it then someone else will. Or wear a harness
 
if you're foot can fall through it then its a hazard.......before ive seen guys push tubes through and put tube on top x 2 cuts the gap to 4 in

denne sites ply is used then adapted for the next trades so no gaps

good luck...speak to your boss ....maybe create an incident to be written in the accident book.

i have seen probs like this before and it should be dealt with
 
its not your problem longman tell your boss you want it sorted otherwise your not going to lay the bricks too many site agents cutting corners get the scaffolders in for some modifications.
 
i have cut boards longways before to loose small gaps even 1 board cut in half will give you an extra 4.5 inchs of cover , its not ideal but it does reduce the gap
 
in one way the site manager is actually right , but on this occaision he is wrong.

maximum allowable gap is 300mm this though is for stone masonary type work , the idea is the mason can actually sit on the boards with his feet actually dangling through the gap while pointing up or hacking out etc etc

if it is brickwork as already said earlier the gap is to be kept to a minimum generally 50mm for brickwork to allow for both A) a level to be dropped down for plumbing of brickwork B) all the cement you chaps throw about to fall free so as not to stain the wall

basically if your foot can go thru it and twist an ankle or worse it wants sorting , and like also already mentioned risk assessments and method statements should explain what is or is not acceptable for safe operations of work
 
I usually do 2 inside boards with a two inch gap as said above for the level and the sh1t drop.

there is no way id do that size gap unless it was stated by the client for cladding or render in which case the inside board would be removed then replaced after the work has been done.

I dont like the lapped boards on the lift above or the 5' board on two trannies, it doesnt look clipped, always prefer a scaffold with no laps, less trip hazard.
 
I noticed that as well Tomp, but then I thought it looked more like a tranny, then I thought....get an effin life.:D:D
 
ha ha, back in the day it was normal practice to do that instead of cutting the boards down to fit, now you get your hands slapped for everything!

i sometimes miss the good old days!

i was tellin my labourer the other night from my nice warm bar stool how i won the scaffold olympics when i put the roof on canar................

LOL!!!
 
it's a wonder I didn't bump in to you.:rolleyes:
 
to be truthful when i was tellin the story (a tre one at that!) i did hear some pink bagpipes playing in the background!
 
Gaps in the working platform

The Working at Height Regulations 2005 state the following: Regulation 8(b) - Schedule3 - Part 1 - REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL WORKING PLATFORMS - Section5 - subparagragh (b) A working platform shall possess a suitable surface and, in particular, be so constructed that the surface of the working platform has no gap - (i) through which a person could fall;
(ii) through which any materials or object could fall and injure a person; or (iii) giving rise to other risk of injury to any person, unless measures have been taken to protect persons against such risk.

You can tell the site manager that they are in breach of the working at height regulations and as such they are committing a criminal offence in allowing anyone to work on the scaffold.

However there are other recommendations for gaps in a working platform as follows:

BS EN 12811-1:2003 Clause 5.4 Working areas -Subparagraph (c) The gaps between platform units (boards and between the boards and the wall) shall be as small as possible but not exceeding 25mm.

TG20:08 - Clause 11.4 (page 53) Gaps in decking.
Platforms with inside boards, for instance a 4+2 arrangement, will normally have a gap of 50mm between the main platform and the inside boards. Such a gap is acceptable in tube and fitting scaffolding providing a proper risk assessment has been made and, where necessary, suitable measures put into place to protect persons from injury. If such measures are not practicable, then the gaps shall be reduced accordingly.
Scaffolds built in accordance with the requirements of BS EN 12811-1:2003 shall normally have no gaps in the platform more than 25mm wide. However, if a suitable risk based approach is taken, larger gaps may be deemed acceptable.

I have included this link to scaffgap which you may find useful: ScaffGap - Uses

Good luck - Ken Cain
 
haha this is so funny as when i first read this post by longman the first thing that popped into my head was a conversation on here a short while ago which involved scaffgap, but it wasnt you ken it was possibly your boss his name was on the website , 2 mins , John Houlihan(Director) ScaffGap Ltd thats the chap :D
 
Hi Longman,

I think you have had your answer in regard to your question, admittedly there are two schools of thought in this matter. I would suggest you know take your complaint to the site manager instead of posting pictures on this site of scaffolders work as we have worked out by know they only tell half the story.

The window gap is pretty shocking though.
 
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