Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021

1 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 1 of 77 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 2 of 77 This Queensland code of Practice has been approved by the Minister for Education and Industrial Relations under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. This code commenced on 1 July 2021 with the exception of section of the code which has a delayed commencement. Section sets out that where there is a change in direction between landings, any difference in step height from the scaffold stair to an access or egress point should be minimised so that it is no more than 300mm. Section applies to stand-alone Scaffolding where erection commences 12 months after 1 July 2021. PN12684 ISBN Creative Commons This copyright work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial International licence.

2 To view a copy of this licence, visit In essence, you are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to Safe Work Australia and abide by the other licence terms. Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 3 of 77 Contents Foreword .. 6 Scope and application .. 6 1. Introduction .. 7 What is Scaffolding ? .. 7 What is construction work? .. 7 Who has health and safety duties in relation to Scaffolding work? .. 7 What is involved in managing risks associated with Scaffolding work? .. 8 Consulting workers .. 9 Consulting, cooperating and coordinating activities with other duty holders .. 9 Information, training, instruction and supervision .. 10 High risk work licences .. 11 Competency .. 11 2. Planning and design .. 12 Planning construction activities .. 12 WHS management plans.

3 12 Safe work method statements .. 12 Scaffold plans .. 13 Design .. 13 Foundations .. 16 Ground conditions .. 16 16 Soleboards and baseplates .. 19 Stability .. 20 Tying .. 20 Perimeter containment screening .. 21 Working platforms .. 22 The work environment .. 24 Access and egress .. 24 Lighting .. 26 Maintaining a safe work environment .. 26 3. Hazards .. 27 Working near energised overhead electric lines .. 27 Mobile plant and traffic .. 29 Fixed plant .. 29 Mixing scaffold components .. 29 Falls from height .. 30 Risk of a fall at any height .. 30 Risk of a fall when erecting scaffold .. 31 Risk of a fall when dismantling scaffold .. 31 Fall arresting platforms .. 31 Edge protection .. 32 Fall-arrest systems .. 32 Falling objects .. 33 Preventing objects from falling .. 34 Gaps .. 34 Scaffold collapse.

4 35 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 4 of 77 Unauthorised access, use or alteration .. 35 Scaffold quality .. 35 Ground conditions .. 36 Hazardous manual tasks .. 36 Examples of design controls .. 36 Examples of administrative controls .. 37 Fire and explosion .. 37 4. Erecting, altering or dismantling scaffold .. 38 Safe erection of scaffold .. 38 Scaffold alteration .. 39 Safe dismantling of scaffold .. 39 5. Types of scaffold .. 40 Independent scaffold .. 40 Birdcage scaffold .. 40 Tower scaffold .. 41 Mobile scaffold .. 41 Hung scaffold .. 42 Single pole scaffold .. 43 Suspended (swing-stage) scaffold .. 43 Design issues .. 44 Counterweight calculation .. 44 Method of fixing needles .. 44 Suspension systems .. 45 Scaffold hoists .. 45 Cradles .. 45 46 Fall-arrest and travel restraint harness systems.

5 46 Complex scaffolds .. 46 Cantilever scaffold .. 46 Hanging bracket scaffold .. 47 Spur scaffold .. 47 Scaffolding for demolition work .. 47 6. Inspection and maintenance procedures .. 49 Frequency of inspection of scaffold .. 49 Structural inspection of Scaffolding components .. 49 Hand over inspections .. 50 Appendix 1: Dictionary .. 51 Appendix 2: Inspection 55 Appendix 3: Published technical standards .. 57 Appendix 4: Scaffold handover certificate scaffold over four metres .. 58 Appendix 5: Compliance pack for suspended (swing-stage) scaffolds .. 59 Swing-stage advice .. 61 Equipment supply advice .. 61 Scaffold environment advice .. 62 Installation design advice .. 62 Scaffold erection advice .. 63 Electrical installation advice .. 64 Scaffold operation 65 Boatswain s chair operation advice .. 66 PCBU checklists .. 67 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 5 of 77 Swing-stage scaffold supplier checklist.

6 67 Swing-stage scaffold principal contractor / body corporate checklist .. 67 Swing-stage scaffold erection and installation checklist .. 68 Swing-stage scaffold electrical installation checklist .. 68 Swing-stage scaffold handover checklist .. 69 Swing-stage scaffold and boatswain s chair operation checklist .. 69 Unattended swing-stage scaffold checklist .. 70 Inspection, servicing and maintenance checklist .. 70 Verification forms .. 71 Principal contractor or building owner swing-stage statement .. 72 Competent person benchmarks for swing-stage set-up verification .. 73 Swing-stage suspension system verification statement .. 75 Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 6 of 77 Foreword This Scaffolding Code of Practice is an approved code of Practice under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (the WHS Act). An approved code of Practice is a practical guide to achieving the standards of health, safety and welfare required under the WHS Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (the WHS Regulation).

7 Under section 26A of the WHS Act duty holders must comply with an approved code of Practice or follow another method, such as a technical or industry standard, if it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than the standard required in this code. A code of Practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the code. In most cases, following an approved code of Practice would achieve compliance with the health and safety duties in the WHS Act, in relation to the subject matter of the code. Like regulations, codes of Practice deal with particular issues and do not cover all hazards or risks which may arise. The health and safety duties require duty holders to consider all risks associated with work, not only those for which regulations and codes of Practice exist. Codes of Practice are admissible in court proceedings under the WHS Act and WHS Regulation.

8 Courts may regard a code of Practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates. An inspector may refer to an approved code of Practice when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice. This may include issuing an improvement notice for failure to comply with a code of Practice where equivalent or higher standards of work health and safety have not been demonstrated. Scope and application This code provides practical guidance to persons conducting a business or undertaking on how to comply with their health and safety duties relating to scaffolds, Scaffolding and Scaffolding work. How to use this code of Practice In providing guidance, the word should is used in this code to indicate a recommended course of action, while may is used to indicate an optional course of action.

9 This code also includes various references to provisions of the WHS Act and WHS Regulation which set out the legal requirements. These references are not exhaustive. The words must , requires or mandatory indicate that a legal requirement exists and must be complied with. Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 Page 7 of 77 1. Introduction What is Scaffolding ? Scaffolding means: the individual components of plant ( tubes, couplers or frames and materials that when assembled form a scaffold) a temporary structure specifically erected to support access or working platforms. Scaffolding work means erecting, altering or dismantling a temporary structure that is or has been erected to support a platform and from which a person or object could fall more than four metres from the platform or the structure. What is construction work? WHS Regulation section 289: Construction work means any work carried out in connection with the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting-out, commissioning, renovation, repair, maintenance, refurbishment, demolition, decommissioning or dismantling of a structure.

10 Construction work includes: installation or testing carried out in connection with an activity referred to in the definition the removal from the workplace of any product or waste resulting from demolition the prefabrication or testing of elements at a place specifically established for the construction work, for use in construction work the assembly of prefabricated elements to form a structure, or the disassembly of prefabricated elements forming part of a structure the installation, testing or maintenance of an essential service for a structure work connected with an excavation work connected with any preparatory work or site preparation including landscaping as part of site preparation carried out in connection with an activity referred to in the definition above an activity referred to in the definition carried out on, under or near water including work on buoys and obstructions to navigation.