Working at Height Safely

Every year, many people are injured when they fall from towers or when the tower overturns. According to the annual stats on ill health and injury released by the HSE on 2 November 2016, 137 workers were killed in 2016 of which 20 were while working at height. A tower scaffold is one way to prevent a fall when working at height.

A scaffold tower on construction sites is a very helpful piece of equipment. When one needs to operate for a long period of at a height, these towers provide an efficient way to do so. They are comparatively simple to assemble in the right hands, can be shifted from one place to another and can provide much more accessibility on the building site than you would otherwise have. Working from a height does pose some hazards, and if the scaffold tower has not been properly assembled or is not being used properly, the likelihood of these hazards will increase.

Szerelmey is fully committed to providing a safe working environment and we are constantly looking at ways to maintain and improve on this. As part of our Health, Safety and Wellbeing campaign we produce targeted, informational posters in 4 different languages for use on our sites. Our poster on Mobile Scaffold towers includes the following:

How to move a mobile scaffold tower safely?

If you are using any item of work at height equipment in the workplace including a scaffold tower, you will be subject to the Work at Height (2005) Regulations. One needs to be cautious while choosing a scaffold tower to avoid severe injury. The type of tower selected must be suitable for the work, and only people who have been trained and are competent to do so should erect and dismantle it. Provision and use of tower scaffolds must be correctly managed and must include strict inspection arrangements on construction sites.

Checklist for moving a tower:

• Use the utmost caution
• Check the suitability of the intended route
• Make sure there are no obstructions
• Check particularly for overhead cables
• Get all workers, tools and material off the tower
• If using stabilisers, reduce height of tower to not more than 4.0 m
• Raise stabilisers no more than 25mm off ground
• Apply manual force at or near the base only
• Control movement with sufficient manpower
• Check for structural integrity once moved

Get Help

If you are in any doubt about your competence and ability to comply with the regulations, then please contact PASMA for further advice.

Mobile Scaffold Tower poster for Szerelmey sites and office, available in 4 languages.