Deck the scaffold and lock the wheels
Scaffolds 5 min 29 CFR 1926.451
Why it matters
A gap in the planks is a hole you can step through, and an open side is a fall. Get on by a ladder, a stair, or a ramp, not the cross-braces, unless the scaffold is designed for that. On a rolling scaffold, lock the wheels before anyone climbs, and do not ride it while someone moves it.
The talk
The bay has two planks where the work needs a full deck, because the rest of the boards were borrowed for a walkway below. The gap is wide enough for a boot. The end of the scaffold has no rail yet. A mason climbs the cross-braces with a mud board because the ladder is tied up on the next tower. On the rolling tower the wheels are unlocked so it was easy to push this morning. A worker is still on the platform while two people shove it along the wall to the next window. A wheel drops into a dent in the slab. The tower rocks. A platform that looks almost done can still put someone on the ground.
Platforms are planked or decked as fully as the work allows, with no gap you can step through. Leave only the opening the work itself needs. Do not leave a slot a foot can drop into. Use a ladder, a stair, or a ramp for access. Do not climb the cross-braces unless the scaffold is designed for that. The braces hold the frame. They are not your ladder. Guard the open sides. An open end is the same kind of fall as an open floor edge. On a rolling scaffold, lock the wheels before anyone climbs. Do not ride it while someone moves it. People get off, then the tower moves, then the wheels get locked again, then people get back on. A tower that rolls under your feet is not a place to lay block or set a board.
Before you go up today, look at the deck. It should be planked or decked as fully as this work allows. If you can step through a gap, fix the planks before you bring material up. Use the ladder, the stair, or the ramp. Leave the cross-braces alone unless this scaffold was designed to be climbed that way. Guard the open sides before you work there. On every rolling scaffold, lock the wheels before the first person climbs. If the tower has to move, everybody gets off first. Nobody rides. When it is in the new spot, lock the wheels again before anyone climbs back on. If a plank is missing or a wheel will not lock, tell the foreman and stay off that tower.
Key points
- Plank or deck the platform as fully as the work allows.
- Do not leave a gap you can step through.
- Use a ladder, a stair, or a ramp to get on.
- Do not climb the cross-braces unless the scaffold is designed for that.
- Guard the open sides.
- Lock the wheels on a rolling scaffold before anyone climbs.
- Do not ride a rolling scaffold while someone moves it.
Do this
- Deck the bay so a foot cannot drop through.
- Climb by a ladder, a stair, or a ramp.
- Guard open sides before you work there.
- Lock the wheels before anyone climbs a rolling scaffold.
- Get everyone off before the tower moves.
Do not do this
- Do not work over a gap you can step through.
- Do not climb the cross-braces unless this scaffold is designed for that.
- Do not leave an open side unguarded.
- Do not climb a rolling scaffold with the wheels unlocked.
- Do not stay on the platform while someone pushes the tower.
Talk about it
- Which bays are short on planks, and who fills those gaps before we load them?
- How does each scaffold get accessed today, and where are people tempted to climb the braces?
- Which rolling towers need the wheels locked before anyone climbs?
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