Health & safety bulletin
Safe access & egress of a tower scaffold
29th March 2005
An incident occurred recently when a worker climbed a scaffold tower, assuming his co-worker was directly behind him he courteously left the trap door open for him, however his colleague did not climb the tower. Shortly afterwards, the worker (forgetting he had left the trap door open) unknowingly stepped into the opening himself.
The person involved was lucky to escape with only a fright as he managed to stop himself from falling to the ground by holding onto the floor decking.
- All engineers working on scaffold towers must never leave trap doors open when climbing onto, or down, a tower unit.
- It is the responsibility of each individual to ensure the safety of himself and of other persons that may be directly involved by his actions.
- The risks associated with tower scaffolds are collapsing, overturning, falls of tools / persons and overhead services.
Please Be Aware When Using This Equipment.