Addressing Scaffold Management

Extract from the free document "Construction Engineering - A Guide to Temporary Works & BS 5975:2019" (Free Download link below)

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5.9       Addressing Scaffold Management

Scaffolding is Construction Engineering but is a specialised area of Construction Engineering that requires specific knowledge and experience.

From days gone by when the author undertook Construction Engineering Design, he would have been confident designing scaffold tube as bracing and structural supports, but he would never be confident or attempt to design scaffold for any access requirements. A competent Construction Engineering Designer is not necessarily competent to design scaffold for access unless they have spent time with a specialised scaffold designer to learn the nuances of this specialist design.

To be competent scaffold designer you must have a good knowledge of how scaffolders work and erect scaffold systems and which items and fixings they use and how they use them, without this knowledge a designer can design a scaffold access system that is not efficient and hard for the scaffolders to erect and dismantle so as a result increasing risk on site. You must also have in depth knowledge of all of the requirements of the Working at Height Regulations.

Once you have a suitably competent Scaffold Designer you need a suitable experienced and competent scaffold contractor to erect, inspect and dismantle your access scaffold in line with all the requirements of the Working at Height Regulations.

With all of this in place the next issue is how the Access Scaffold is recorded and managed on site with regards Construction Engineering and listing items on Construction Engineering Register.

As Access Scaffolding comes under the Working At Height Regulations (WAH) there is already a high level of control and inspection in place. Access Scaffold and any Working At Height platform has to be inspected every 7 days as required and highlighted in the WAH.

This 7 day inspection is recorded by the Scaffold Inspector on a Scaffold Register as required in the WAH and this register used to be referred to as the “F91” document.

If this is taking place and the access scaffold is being inspected and suitably maintained by suitably trained and competent individuals why would we repeat this information on the projects Construction Engineering Register?

In the past on previous projects, the author attempted to place all scaffold on the Construction Engineering Register and found he had low risk little hop-up scaffold and a range of other low risk items on his register making the register hard to manage as there was so much additional and quite frankly not needed items listed. By placing all these items on his register at the time he was not providing any more safety or better management as the Scaffold Inspector was managing this and he was copying the contents of the scaffold register.

So, the most practical and realistic way to manage scaffold is as follows and the author has used this through his career: -

o  Appoint the Scaffold Inspector as a Scaffold Construction Engineering Supervisor (CES) and within the appointment make it clear to the scope of the appointment covering the scaffold being inspected

o  Get this CES to send a copy of the Scaffold Register every week or month as required and this can be saved with the project Construction Engineering Register so items can be checked if required

o  Place a line item in the project Constructing Engineering Register highlighting and pointing to the Scaffold Register being supplied from this CES

o  If the scaffold contractor uses a company design manual, get copy of this document and ensure it is referenced in the project Construction Engineering Register as a line item for CAT 0 Scaffold designs. Highlight this can be used by advanced scaffolders from that company that have been trained and briefed how to use their company design manual and as a result it can be categorised as a CAT 0 design.

o  If the scaffold contractor uses TG20 Scaffold Design software to produce the required Scaffold Design Compliance Sheets for use on site. Highlight this is a CAT 1 Scaffold design, as a competent person must make some basic design decisions when choosing the suitable solution using this software. Again, highlight this a s a CAT 1 design in the project Construction Engineering Register provided the software is used by suitably competent and trained individuals.

o  From this for the use of the company design manual and the TG20 software there should be no further requirement to list anything more in the project Construction Engineering Register and these designs can be checked on the Scaffold Register supplied by the Scaffold CES if required.

o  After this any other designs can go through the standard Temporary Works Design process and be recorded and managed on the project Construction Engineering Register as required

o  The relevant contractors Construction Engineering procedure must highlight this approach to ensure clarity for all parties and avoid any issues if audited

Experience has shown this to be a very effective and sensible way to manage access scaffold utilising the expertise and skills of scaffold contractors and scaffold inspectors.

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