Platforms: Each platform has to extend from the face of work to the guardrail system, leaving no more than 1 inch between planks. Most masons use solid sawn scaffold plank, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), of fabricated decks. Traditionally, the plank span no more than 7 feet. For solid sawn scaffold grade plank, the capacity is 500 pounds. Check with your manufacturer/supplier for LVL capacity, although for most LVL, 500 pounds is a reasonable load. Call the power company they will help you (to deal with the electricity, not lay brick). Even then, stay 10 feet away, if not further. Assume all lines are energized and stay at least 10 feet away unless you know how much electricity is in the line. Scaffold Capacity: There is a limit to how much a scaffold can hold. And that limit may be considerably less than what you think. Remember, overload is not the same as failure. Just because your scaffold is still supporting all that brick doesn’t mean it isn’t overloaded-since scaffolds are required to support 4 times the anticipated load, an overload means you are cheating. While the capacity of a frame scaffold varies significantly, depending on the frame style and manufacturer, a reasonable load per leg is 2,000 pounds, which means that if you have any more than one level of brick or block, you may very well be overloading the scaffold. (Lucky for you, most safety personnel and compliance officers have no idea if the scaffold is overloaded, so you may not get cited for infractions.)Įlectrocution: Don’t mess with electricity-you normally never get a second chance. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, OSHA, has specific regulations regarding scaffold training. For users, it is expected that these workers will be trained in fall, falling object, access, electrocution and overload hazards. For erectors, training must include additional requirements including proper erection techniques, design criteria, scaffold load-carrying capacity and the intended scaffold use. And finally, for those of you who forget your training, retraining in the hazards is required. Training: You can have the best equipment, the best construction, all the safety policies and methods, and still have problems if the employees are not properly trained. In fact, the U.S. Scaffolding is essential equipment for masons, as you well know. Masons cannot accomplish their work without some type of temporary elevated platform so that masonry structures can be constructed. In fact, masons have been successfully using scaffolding for centuries. Unfortunately, scaffolding has been used unsuccessfully on more than a few occasions, leading to injuries, deaths, bankruptcy, fines and lawsuits. So, what’s the problem? Is it due to poor equipment, improper scaffold installation, careless use, lousy attitudes, or-all the above? Statistics show that scaffold accidents are typically due to either poor construction or poor use. To avoid a calamity on your jobsite, here are a few things to look for. This could be a difficult question to answer, particularly if you don’t know scaffolding! It’s one of those classic situations of not knowing what you don’t know and thinking that you know what you know. Did you follow that? Words & Images: David H. Glabe, P.E., Director of SAIA
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