I had a situation on a construction site where a worker was using a scaff step, attached to the scaffold handrail, to stand on and work from using a 9" grinder in a vertical operation in front of him. The worker was wearing a harness with fall arrest and clipped on above him. I personally found this to be a suitable and adequate means of working as if he would only be there for no more than 30 mins, a full scaffold platform would have taken approximately 3hrs to erect, a portable scaffold would not be able to get close enough due to access constraints. A member of the client H&S team stated this was incorrect and is adament that it has to be done another way. Your opinions would be appreciated

OK, This one has any number of answers. The short version is that you tell your client ehs team member that he/she is 'of course' correct and that the scaffold is now being altered by a team of experts so that the job can be done in a safer way. On the other hand, you may be setting a precedent for the rest of your project that could be very costly indeed. I have come accross this many times and the first thing that you have to realise is that there are some battles that you can never win. It all depends on the individual in question. You may never see that person again in which case your action has gained you a good reputation that you may later need to rely on in incident investigations. Additionally, you never know when you may need to seek help or assistance from that same person. I suggest that you discuss this with your construction/project manager. It's better to not create waves even though you may feel like defending your position. In my experience there was nothing wrong with the picture you drew in your post. There is nothing reasonably practicable in performing 3hrs work on the scaffold to produce a marginally safer working platform. As I have already stated, discuss with your managment and voice your concerns. Mick

Working at bp many moons, ago scaffolders made hop ups, 1 scaffold board high, just enough to get the job done, safe enough to work off all day, small hand rail. No steps allowed.

There was a scaffold handrail along the works area, he placed the scaff step (working platform) onto the scaffold handrail - the step is designed for this. He was anchored above him to a fixed point.

The stance I always take is the one of asking the question 'is the person safe' and if they are safe I then look at how they are safe as a secondary question. So yes H&S is not black and white and its all down to real competence and nothing else I have personally tied a person to a transit van using rope so as they could work - no harnesses just rope -so yes there are horses for courses. I personally only advise the strict use of Brit standards /Building regs and the like where those standards are logical and safe in the given situation Recently a scaffold was erected and the outside inspector rejected it because it did not comply to the scaffold standard for hand rails. I over rode him because the scaffold had been erected so as small school children and midgets could use it and the official standard does not account for this as if it was erected to the standard then the users would have fallen through the gaps!!! In this case the external inspector had no experience of dealing with people other than those of average height. NB: The scaffolders were great So we all must think outside the box whilst making sure that our thinking is correct! However thinking outside the box exposes you and most people like to keep below the parapet even where illogical situations are present Best of luck

Bob Y Did you not have a design drawing then to wave in his face?:-) If not then he was absolutely correct in that the standard drawings only can be used without formal design. Bob

Bob L TA! Yep there was a suitable design drawing but the chap had not consulted it nor enquired about what the scaffold was to be used for bob Y

handrail are fixed to standards with load bearing 90 degree couplings.

Even if load bearing, perhaps, as the use of double couplers is no guarantee or torque, then it is poor practice to use hop ups and then rely on harnesses. The need should have been identified earlier and fall protection properly planned. I am with the client person on this.

Would that it were so... Mick

Very difficult, Ron. I was tempted to ask how he climbed up onto the scaff step at 950 as the handrails set at 470ish are not suitable steps, distance wise or non slip wise. I also looked at the 1.7m extension of the fall arrest lanyard but assumed it was placed at a correct height so the person didn't land on the scaffolding should he fall. Like you said, lot's of assumptions without the full picture.

allanwood Competent scaffolders using a standard scaffold wrench are pretty good at knowing when they have achieved the required torque without the precision of a torque wrench-they also know when it is just nipped up. If they cannot do so then they are not competent Bob

No idea on scaffold nor thankfully Lily the Pink... However, 30 mins using a grinder? Hope a HAVS asessment ensured he wasn't using it for too long ;) (dependant on the grinder and other Health Surveillance etc)

Recently saw a guy working on a roof, didn't look right, so I called him down for a chat. He got onto the scaffold, down the ladder, and came for the chat, still attached to his fall arrest lanyard!