In order to provide a competent safe working environment and to comply with government and local authorities Vivid Scaffolding set the following standards:

Labour Compliance

• All scaffolding is carried out by a competent work force who hold an appropriate and valid CISRS and CSCS card relevant to the work activities to be undertaken, and that such cards are produced as part of the on-site induction process and are available for inspection on request;;
• All employees, including delivery operatives, HIAB operators, etc, hold the relevant skill card, e.g. CPCS and CSCS and , if appropriate, current PTS or PASMA certificates;
• Those involved in the erection of recognised ‘system scaffolds’ are competent and have appropriate training given by the manufacturer or a recognised training body for that system, where available;
• All employees receive instruction in the requirements of the Work at Height Regulations;
• Up to date skills record will be made available, on request, including the training records of any individual employee working the contract;
• Once the labour resource, including number of operatives, required skills, etc, for a project have been agreed, the labour resource will be maintained on the project for the duration of the programmed works;
• The ‘erection crew’ (i.e. the gang of scaffolders involved in the erection, dismantle or significant alteration of a scaffold) has the correct proportion of qualified labour and, as a minimum, at least one qualified scaffolder in every gang and where required by the nature of the scaffold an advanced scaffolder; and,
• A charge hand, who must be a qualified scaffolder, is appointed for each erection crew.

Management Compliance

• All scaffolding works are planned, managed and supervised at all times, to ensure compliance with any main contractor and legislative requirements;
• Only nominated employees Vivid Scaffolding and the Main Contractor provide and receive work instructions and hand over certification. (Note: Under no circumstances is a verbal hand over instruction acceptable.);
• A risk assessment and a method statement specific to the project prior to commencement of on site work will be provided. The Risk Assessment and Method Statement are to include a rescue and recovery plan.. Copies of the risk assessment and method statement will be provided to the Main Contractor for review and comment, whenever possible at least four weeks prior to the start of work on site. A separate method statement should be generated for dismantling, including exclusion zones provided around
  the area. (Note: Under no circumstances is the ‘bombing’ of any scaffold materials permitted on any sites.);
• A site file to include as a minimum the risk assessments and method statements, ‘Scaffold inspection records’, records of any tie tests, updated design and drawings, the inspection records of any harnesses and other fall arrest equipment, machine inspection reports, and a full list of all employees working on site, including details of their CISRS and CSCS card, as appropriate

Minimum Scaffold Standards

In General

• Materials brought to a Main Contractor site are in good order such that it supports a professional appearance.
• Scaffold materials arriving on site are checked as to their suitability, fitness for purpose and are free from patent defects, and that any defective materials are removed from site.
• Specifically all materials are supplied to the following minimum requirements:
  (i) Scaffold tubing:
  All scaffold tubing must comply with EN39:2001 and be a Type 4 tube having a wall thickness of 4mm. Preferably, but not essential all tube to be high yield 3.2mm to BSEN10210-1:1994 S355JOH. Under no circumstances are tubes of differing wall thicknesses be mixed.
  (ii) Scaffold boards:
  All scaffold boards must comply with BS2482 ‘visually graded’. It is the intention that only boards that comply with BS2482 ‘machine graded’ will be sourced.
  (iii) Fittings:
  All load bearing scaffold fittings are to be drop forged and must comply with BS1139 and EN74. (Note: The use of ‘Oyster putlog clips’ is banned in all circumstances.)
  (iv) Sheeting:
  All sheeting must be flame retardant and to be provided to conform to BS7955:1999 and be certificated to LPS1215.
  (v) Debris nettings:
  All scaffold debris nettings must be fire retardant and comply with LPS1215.
  (vi) Loading bay areas:
  All scaffold loading bay gates are to be of proprietary ‘swing over type’ that prevent persons getting near the edge when in the open position and prevents falls of materials in the closed position. Loading bays will have clear signage that provides the user with adequate information regarding the appropriate Safe Working Load.
  (vii) Ladder accesses:
  Where ladder accesses are within the working lift, precautions must be in place to prevent falls. These include the use of:
  a staggered guardrail arrangement as detailed in SG25:06 [NASC];
  a proprietary hatch; or
  a safe closing guardrail coupler.
  For external ladder access up to a maximum of two lifts, a self-closing safety gate is appropriate. All scaffold ladders must be supplied to EN131/BS2037 for steel ladders and BS1129 for timber pole ladders. Preference is given to use of metal section ladders.
  (viii) External staircase and accesses:
  Use of proprietary staircases is to be favoured over ad-hoc ‘tube & fitting’ solutions. Unless supported by a risk assessment completed by Vivid Construction, all scaffolds over three lifts will be provided with a staircase where practical. All erection of external staircases must be undertaken by competent labour, i.e. CISRS qualified. Only genuine original equipment manufacturer materials are used with staircases.
  Proprietary system scaffold stairways must conform to BS EN 12811/12810.
  Note: Access to all Scaffolding must meet the requirements as specified in the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
  (ix) Aluminium towers:
  Aluminium towers can only be provided by an approved supplier and only erected by a person who is PASMA trained.
  (x) Stillages:
  All scaffold stillages are to be in good condition and fit for purpose. Stillages must be lifted as part of the load, i.e. double wrapped with the slings, and must not be treated as lifting accessory. All other bundling of scaffolding components must be lifted in the same manner, i.e. double wrapped with the slings.
  (xi) Transport, movement and storage of materials:
  Scaffold materials is delivered in a secure condition to allow safe transport to the place of work. Scaffold tubes and fittings will not be accepted for lifting unless they are banded or secured in a suitable stillage. Only trained and competent slingers will be allowed to sling loads, which must be carried out by using good slinging practices, such as double wrapping with chains or slings. At all times, materials used at the workplace during erection, must be stored safely, in particular whilst working at height where there is a risk of materials being displaced or falling.
  When moving materials along accommodation roads being used by vehicular traffic or pedestrians a banksman on foot will accompany the transport vehicle at all times. The driver of the transport vehicle will obey the signals of the banksman at all times, notwithstanding the driver’s statutory obligations to comply with the requirements of the Road Traffic Act
  (xii) Scaffolding tools:
  Pre-use visual inspection of scaffolding tools must be carried out by the user prior to the commencement of any scaffolding works. Where there is a potential risk of scaffolding tools falling and it proves impractical to reduce this risk (for example by exclusion or working out of hours) the use of tool lanyards will be used on all loose tools.
  (xiii) Scaffold ties:
  All scaffold ties must be physically identified on all scaffolds. Ties must be tested by a competent person with calibrated equipment , i.e. 5% of total or 3, whichever is the greater. The proof load applied will be a minimum of 1.5 times the required tensile load. Records of scaffold tie tests will be produced and maintained. Such records will be included, as a minimum, the make, size and details of the ties and their positions clearly specified on a drawing. The testing regime for scaffold ties will be clearly specified. Test results will be included and be cross-referenced to the location of the anchor. Ties will be clearly marked by the use of a tag to prevent accidental removal. If there is doubt about the suitability of the base material to which the anchors are to be fixed, then 5 No. anchors will be preliminary tested to a load twice the tensile load in accordance with NASC TG4. These anchor points will not be used to support the scaffolding.
  (xiv) Harnesses, lanyards and fall arrest equipment:
  These will have, as a minimum, a quarterly recorded examination undertaken by a competent person and be inspected visually each time before use. All harnesses must have a unique identification number that must be clearly visible. All harnesses shall be no older than 36 months.