Overseas Versus Local Manufacturing: Industrial and Manufacturing Blogs

Scaffolds are an elemental part of the construction industry. Contractors and workers use them when working at great heights that they wouldn't reach when standing on the ground. You can put up tall buildings and skyscrapers without scaffolds. As you would expect, any equipment used to provide an elevated work platform come with lots of associated risks. You need to take the necessary steps at every stage to ensure that none of your workers suffers injuries when setting up or using the scaffolds. Here is what all first-time users need to stay safe with scaffolds:

Portable Scaffolds

Portable scaffolds have found lots of use in modern construction sites that need agile work platforms that can be moved from one place to another. Staying safe with portable scaffolds requires you to understand where the inherent risks lie. To begin with, these scaffolds come with casters and wheels. The wheels and casters are made in such that they should lock in place and keep the scaffold still whenever it is in use. It causes rapid wear pf the bolts and screws used to hold the wheels in place. Therefore, it is important to inspect and maintain the casters, wheels and the accessories used for their structural integrity. Worn out bolts and screws should be replaced with new ones otherwise the results could be devastating.

External Falls

External falls are another safety hazard you might encounter when using scaffolds. Poorly guarded sides on the outer section of the scaffolds elevate the risk of a person tipping over and falling resulting in serious injuries or eve death. To prevent this, adopt a sequential technique when erecting the scaffold while setting up guardrails at regular distances all over the cross-section of the scaffold. Ideally, the open section of the working platform should not be greater than the distances between the guardrails.

Internal Fails

Falls can also occur in the inner section of the scaffold. When putting the planks, keep an eye on your workers and make sure that they set up a deck of planks along every lift before they can move higher to the next one. This ensures that the workers will put up the succeeding set pf planks while standing on the one they have already set up. All lifts should be decked fully up to the time you want to dismantle the whole structure.

Safety Harnesses

Safety harnesses can be used as an additional safety mechanism. Workers can hold onto ropes attached to a fixed structure or use strong belts. However, this is not advisable if the harnesses will be entangled with the scaffold's components.