Hi everyone, i posted this question in another part of the forum and it was reccomended i post it in the public forum to get more insight, my question was: I’d be interested to hear views from fellow IOSH members on this.Following a recent incident at one of our sites (bitumen spill), scaffolding was erected around a storage tank to enable remedial works. The scaffold was proprietary system scaffold, fully boarded with guard rails and toe boards, and inspected/tagged before use.Here’s the point of debate:My position is that once the scaffold was being accessed for work, aWork at Height (WAH) permit[/b]should have been raised.My reasoning is based on HSG250, which listswork at height[/i]as an example of a high-risk activity requiring a permit-to-work system, and the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which require work at height to be properly planned, supervised, and carried out safely.In my view, the physical compliance of the scaffold does not remove the need for a WAH permit, because the permit is what demonstrates planning, authorisation, and consideration of factors such as: competence of users, exclusion zones, weather conditions, and crucially, rescue/escape arrangements.However, I wasstronglychallenged on this by another manager, stating that in theirexperience a WAH permit is not required for proprietary scaffolding, and that the controls built into the scaffold (guardrails, toe boards, etc.) are sufficient without the permit.My concern is that if the HSE reviewed this case, we’d be missing documented assurance that these checks were made, and they may well expect to see a WAH permit in place.It should also be noted that there were no references made in the open permit for the location of the leak that the work would be carried out at height, the area they were working on is approximately 5 to 6 meters above ground level.So, my question to the forum is:In this situation, wouldyou require a Work at Height permit for proprietary scaffold access during remedial or maintenance works? Or do you consider the scaffold and inspection/tagging regime sufficient on its own?[/b]Interested to hear how others are approaching this.

Edited by user 14 October 2025 19:17:18(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified