Working at Heights Training: Prevent Scaffold Accidents on Your Construction Site

Construction sites and scaffolding go hand in hand. Scaffolding allows construction workers to gain accessibility to great heights and offers them a secure platform to perform their work at heights, but that does not mean that the scaffolds do not come without any risks. In this guide, we outline the common scaffold accidents on construction sites and the steps you can take to prevent any scaffold-related accidents on your construction site. When you need working at heights training for your construction workers and other scaffold safety courses, EMCARE is the affordable and high-quality training facility for you.

Common Scaffold Accidents on Construction Sites:

Construction sites are hazardous working environments, with the highest risk of injury or death being faced by construction workers who work at heights on scaffolds. Scaffolding accidents can result in serious injuries, such as broken bones or head wounds, or could even be fatal. To demonstrate the risks of scaffolding on construction sites, we have highlighted 4 of the most common scaffolding accidents.

1. Improper Scaffold Construction The main cause behind scaffolding accidents is an improperly erected scaffold. Improper scaffold construction can result in the scaffold collapsing while construction workers are working, pieces of the scaffold colliding with construction workers, or materials falling on construction workers below. This can all lead to serious injuries to the construction workers.
2. Overloaded Scaffolds: Scaffolds are designed to hold a certain maximum weight, and when this weight is exceeded, the integrity of the structure is placed in jeopardy. Without adequate management or sufficient training on scaffold safety, construction workers may bring excess materials or equipment onto the scaffold and cause it to collapse, resulting in injuries or death.
3. Ill-equipped Construction Workers: Construction workers who have not been trained to work at heights correctly can cause scaffolding accidents. Construction workers may push safety boundaries, drop equipment or materials off the scaffold, or continue working through wet conditions on the scaffold. These factors can all lead to slips and falls, injuries, or death.
4. Inadequate Access to Safety Equipment: When working at heights on scaffolding, there is certain personal safety equipment that needs to be used. This includes, but is not limited to, safety harnesses to prevent falls, tool safety lanyards to prevent dropped tools, and high-grip boots to prevent slipping. If these essential pieces of safety equipment are not supplied or they are not correctly maintained and an accident occurs on the scaffold, the construction workers will be placed at major risk.
   

How to Prevent Scaffold Accidents on Your Construction Site:

While there are risks to scaffolds on your construction site, that does not mean that accidents will always happen. There are certain steps that you can take on your construction site to prevent your construction workers from becoming injured from a scaffolding accident. We have outlined the 3 best ways to prevent scaffold accidents on your construction site.

1) Construction Worker Training:

Accredited working at heights training is imperative for the safety of your construction workers who work on scaffolds. Working at heights training will provide construction workers with an attitude for safety, ensuring that they always perform their work at heights in a safe and risk-free way. Working at heights training will provide your construction workers with the skills and knowledge to reduce their chances of injuries or death whilst working on a scaffold.

2) Erect Scaffold According to Guidelines:

Erecting your scaffolds correctly and according to South African safety codes is essential. This means that you need to have construction workers who are equipped and qualified to interpret the instructions from the drawing and construct the scaffold according to the design and safety regulations. Proper erection of the scaffolding will remove any risks of the scaffolding collapsing whilst your construction workers are performing their work at heights.

3) Inspect Scaffolding:

Once your scaffold has been properly erected, there is one final step you can take to further prevent the risks of scaffold accidents on your construction site. You should have a qualified supervisor inspect the quality of the scaffold construction. This inspection will provide you and your construction workers with peace of mind that the scaffold is hazard-free for working at heights.

EMCARE Working at Heights Training for Scaffold Safety:

EMCARE is a health and safety training facility that offers accredited, high-quality, and affordable working at heights training for construction workers. Our working at heights training courses are designed to enable construction workers to perform their work at heights safely and to equip supervisors to provide construction workers with a hazard-free working environment. We recommend these three EMCARE working at heights training courses for scaffold safety on your construction site.

1) Basic Working at Heights Course:

EMCARE offers a basic working at heights training course that will equip your construction workers to perform their work on the scaffolds safely. They will walk away with an attitude towards safety to ensure that they are always keeping themselves and their colleagues protected from injury. If a fall off the scaffold had to occur, this working at heights training will increase their chances of survival.

2) Scaffolding Erectors Course:

Correct erection of a scaffold is one of the best ways to ensure minimising scaffolding accidents on your construction site. The EMCARE scaffolding erectors course will enable your construction workers to safely and correctly erect and dismantle the scaffolding in a compliant way. This essential skill gained from this working at heights training course will further ensure safety on your construction site.

3) Scaffolding Inspector Course:

EMCARE scaffolding inspector course will enable your construction supervisor to inspect the quality of the erected scaffolding. If your scaffold is erected safely and to South African safe working condition standards, they will be authorised to sign the scaffold off for use. This accredited course will provide your construction supervisor will the credibility to reliably assess the safety and quality of the scaffolds on your construction site.

Enrol your construction workers in EMCARE working at heights training to ensure safety whilst using scaffolding on your construction site.