Masonry Magazine March 2003 Page. 20
SCAFFOLDING
He continues, "Then there is a systems scaffold to the lay man it looks like tinker toys of verticals, horizontals and diagonals that can be connected in a lot of different configurations, so they can go around the interior of a boiler or the outside of a setup where a frame and brace type scaffold wouldn't work. That can give you multiple levels or it can be single-platform height. It is a very flexible system.
"The final type would be the European frame scaffold, a scaffold that is a multiple-level scaffold similar to the open-end frames, but because the walk boards are part of the system it doesn't take as many diagonal braces which opens the sides to freely pass materials much easier."
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Once the product is in the field, it's your responsibility to make sure it is maintained, erected and inspected properly.
Staying Safe
COMPANIES THAT BUILD and sell or rent scaffolding frames make every possible effort to provide design, material and construction methods that assure safety and long life for their products. McDonel notes, "With every shipment of scaffolding that we send to any customer, we supply a scaffold safety packet. In that packet are four pieces of literature. One is a piece that we've created with scaffold erection procedures. It's both text and line drawings of scaffolding and it explains how scaffolding is erected, referring to specific OSHA regulations on how to erect that scaffold properly.
"We also include the complete OSHA regulations with regard to scaffolding. Then there is a sheet from the Scaffold, Shoring and Forming Institute called 'Scaffold Erection Safety Tips' and another sheet from the same source, "Tips on Scaffold Safety. All manufacturers that we know of make pieces like that available to their dealers. Contractors can pick it up through the dealer where they purchased or rented the scaffold. Or, they can contact the scaffold manufacturer directly and find out what's available to them."
Contractors need to go beyond the literature provided by manufacturers, though. First and foremost, the contractor should designate a competent person in regard to scaffolding. That competent person is one who has either been trained completing a class in scaffold safety and proper erection procedures or who has good experience in scaffold erection procedures and has been given the ability to make decisions as to whether the scaffolding is safe for use for those persons on the job site.
OSHA's regulations on scaffolding have increased the importance of the competent person in scaffolding safety. According to Steve Storrer, Product Safety Manager for bil-jax, "When the OSHA regulations were rewritten in 1996, there was a much stronger emphasis put on this competent person requirement. The competent person is somebody at the job site that has the authority to shut the job down, and is knowledgeable in proper scaffold assembly and use. How they obtain that knowledge is open for discussion. Taking classes or having outside training is an option, but sometimes it's simply because you've built scaffolding for the last 20 years."
And while experience is acceptable, having knowledge of the rules is also important. Storrer continues, "We would say, as a minimum, that competent person should be very familiar with the OSHA regulations as they relate to scaffolding. They're also going to need to know things like capacities of the various components. That's one of the first things an OSHA inspector will ask when they step on a job site: "What's the capacity of those platforms you have up that have that palette of block on them. Some of those issues change from manufacturer to manufacturer."
Competent Person Training
EXPERIENCE COMES over time but training can be taken in short bursts. MCAA offers a video presentation titled "Putting