Working at height, particularly scaffolding, is always fraught with hazards and potential danger, but anyone in charge is always a trained professional, right? Well, they should be – but it’s not always the case and, in the UK, we’re seeing large numbers of cases where lack of competence in the planning and implementation period of scaffolding work is leading to injuries and even deaths.

With training readily available, what’s going on and what can be changed? This guest post, provided by UK firm Border Scaffolding, looks at what training is actually required, and whether enough is being done to ensure safety for construction workers.

The Training That’s Required

Work at height in general, which includes the planning, erection and use of scaffolding, is covered by the Work at Height Regulations Act 2005, which you can see in full here. The act specifies that no-one is allowed to engage in working at height, including the organisation, planning and supervision of the work, unless they’re competent to do so. Competency is a slightly ambiguous term, but there are plenty of ways in which you can be professionally trained to ensure you’re able to erect and work with scaffolding safely.

While there’s no specifics relating to training set out in the act, the only real sure fire way to ensure absolute safety through confidence is via the relevant professional industry channels – you can’t wing it and claim confidence because you ‘reckon’ you know what you’re doing!

One of the best UK avenues for training is through the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) – this is a widely recognised organisation, so qualifications, training and accreditation from them will guarantee the right levels of competency to carry out safe scaffolding work (ie. working at height).

Firms who have this accreditation and have staff with the correct competent training, such as UK-based Border Scaffolding, will display the CITB logo on their website, business cards or letterheads; this gives construction firms who contract work from companies like this confirmation of the workers’ competency.

Can More Preventative Action Be Taken?

Unfortunately, there can be plenty of avenues available for training and they’re readily available to those in the industry – avoiding incidents like those reported throughout the year in the press relies on whoever is in charge of a construction/building site, and who they allow to take charge of working at height asks like dealing with scaffolding. Consult a construction lawyer vancouver should you need any advice regarding construction or need guiance with construction laws.

Better education for both construction site managers and those working within the industry at a lower level is needed so everyone across the board knows who can and who can’t plan work at height – as well as ensuring they’re aware of the avenues available if more people need to be brought up to the right levels of competency.

The real question is who the responsibility for education lies with – is it industry groups like the CITB, or is it managers within individual forms in the industry as a whole? It’s difficult to say (in reality both sides can help by carrying out more advertising and awareness campaigns) – let us know what you thoughts and experiences are in the comments below!

This guest post was written by Tom McShane – industrial and construction blogger, writing on behalf of Border Scaffolding, who provide a variety of scaffolding erections for construction sites with full CITB training and HSE compliance.