At height inspections to enhance safety

When working at height, scaffolding or ladder safety is essential. Inspections play a critical role in ensuring that every scaffold is fit for purpose and risk-free, but are you following the best practices?

For projects involving working at height, a risk assessment should be completed to determine the appropriate equipment and provide guidance on inspection. This risk assessment should also be provided to contractors before any work commences. Selection of the equipment should take into account a range of factors, such as ground conditions; duration and frequency of use; and additional risks posed by use, installation, and removal of the work equipment.

Brady offers essential visual tagging systems to help companies maintain compliance and safety on every site. Whether you’re a contractor, supervisor, or inspector, its tools can make a difference. Brady suggests the following recommended actions: 

Scaffolding must be inspected by a competent person:

• Before it is put into use.
• At seven-day intervals until it is dismantled.
• After bad or excessively wet weather, or high winds, or another event likely to have affected its strength or stability.
• After any substantial additions or other alterations.

In addition to scaffolding structure inspections, scaffolding tie tests should also be carried out prior to commencing work, by a suitably competent person other than the installer of the original fixings. In addition, a minimum of three anchors must be tested and at least 5% of the overall quantity (one in 20).

If any of the ties fail to meet the safety margin when using load test equipment, a full inspection is required and the rate of proofing should be doubled to one in 10. Each anchor should also be tested to at least 1.5 times the required tensile load with no significant movement of the fixing.

A competent person must carry out general access scaffolding inspections. Written proof of the competence of persons used to inspect scaffolding should always be obtained by the person responsible for the scaffolding and inspection work. A written report must be prepared by the competent person. The report should be written out at the time of the inspection, but if this is not possible it must be provided to the responsible person within 24 hours. A copy of the report should be kept on site and a further copy retained for a period of three months from the completion of the work by the person on whose behalf the inspection was carried out. If a scaffold fails inspection this must be reported as soon as possible by the person carrying out the inspection to the person responsible for the scaffolding.

Visit Brady’s website to discover the various visual tagging solutions it offers.

Optimise equipment safety

Qualitative inspections can prevent accidents related to the use of worn or faulty equipment. That makes inspecting equipment at regular intervals a good strategy to protect and increase workplace safety.

Visual tagging solutions help companies to keep track of inspections and communicate equipment inspection results to all employees. The solution supports compliance with EU directives and can further increase workplace safety and efficiency by avoiding the use of uninspected equipment.

Brady’s Visual Tagging guidebook offers a tool to support best practice equipment inspections, equipment status communication, and compliance with equipment-related legislation.

Download the free guide here.