Hi all, I am currently experiencing difficulties with residents accessing scaffold that has been errected against a high rise block of flats for cladding works. Although our contractor has done a pretty good job of restricting access from the ground, people can (and do) still get onto the scaffold via their own windows. Does anybody have any idea of the extent we or our PC should go to prevent this access? Or is there any industry standard relating to scaffold access in occupied high rise blocks? At the monent we are: 1 restricting access from the ground 2 engaing the community with safety talks and letter dropping 3 putting up safety signage 4 asking the PC to review their risk assessment. Any help is greatlyappreciated...

As the PC for similar works we have gone to the extent of restricting the windows opening by using either a butt tube off the scaffold or if sash windows are used fixing a restriction so the sash can only be opened say 100mm. The letter writing and door knock to each resident seems to work for the majority of the residents but there will always be some that ignore anything they are told regarding safety and scaffold. You will find it even more difficult with stopping other parties that have not had the information, so as long as you have done all that is reasonably practicable then there is not much more you can do, also we tried security guards but once they saw someone on the scaffold all they would do is dial 999. Alarms can be effective but once they have gone off a few times the locals seem to be more irritated by the noise and not what they are trying to control. Also if access via communal balconies is possible don't forget to protect these areas also, we also look at each resident individually and assess if we believe they are a risk do accessing the scaffold, but bear in mind that a lovely 85 year old granny can have some very unruly young grand children who can be a risk I also spoke to the HSE I regards to this matter and they were happy with what we had do e as we had reflected this in the site risk assessment for unauthorised access, we also took in to account previous knowledge and used this for further controls. Beyond this I am not sure what else is possible, but at least the BBQ season is over, roll on fireworks night and using scallod as an excellent launching area Regards PaulR

Thanks all for your responses. Paul, its especially interesting to hear from a PC with similar experience. We have had similar discussions regarding the usefulness of security guards and alarms and the likelihood of any police response if/when someone calls them. At the moment the residents are dong a pretty good job as a nieghbourhood watch and I think we can push this angle more. We have done lots of the 'engagement' activity and i'm inclined to think anything else that would physically reduce the ability for people to access via their own windows would be beyond SFAIRP. This means things like screwing the windows shut (this is the only real way of stopping this as they are tilt & turn and open inwards) which wold be a huge cost and inconvenience especially as we are replacing all the windows as part of the works and this would effectively ruin them, or de-canting the block which is just way beyond reasonably practicable. Having said all this, as the client we should be relying on our CDM-C and PC to give us the answer and I am intending to ask them for their revised risk assessments and see what they say... Thanks again for your comments. Any more PCs, CDMCs or Clients with similar experiences please get in touch!

I would not advocate restricting window openings. If there is criminal damage you can inform the Police. The nature of your Project may mean that there are occassional "hop-up" gaps between the lift and the building, it is imperative that all these gaps are closed at end of shift. For this task, netting or mesh on the inside face would be impractical. Your daily inspection before use will also require some significant rigour, & all operatives need to be aware that boards etc. may have been tampered with. In any event, you would do well to deny access to the roof. Tenants do need to be advised, not only to hopefully educate the idiots but also to warn of potential security issues for their own home.