Scaffold Work In addition to the common risks from Andrew, it would be useful for the Scaffold Company to advise the user of some other Good Practice guidelines Scaffolding in NZ including;
- Repairs and alterations must only be done by a competent person (skills and knowledge acquired through training, knowledge or experience - or over 5 metres must be a ticketed scaffie)
- If a scaffolding becomes damaged (i.e high winds) or non-compliant - then ladder access should be removed, Scaff tag changed to Non-compliant and Company requested to attend to rectify.
Making their own changes to get the job done after scaffolding has been competently erected (i.e. removing gates, changing deck heights) is one of the biggest risks I have seen on sites. This can be eliminated by good communication prior, so that it can be designed to fit the work required with scheduled re-visits if required.
Your own company responsibility for Scaffold users comes down to: PCBUs have a primary duty of care under HSWA to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, all persons (workers and others) are provided with any information, training, instruction or supervision needed to protect from health and safety risks arising from their work. So some form of working at heights information/training and also your company policy on PPE - if hard hats will be required.