Scaffold Safety

29/11/2025

🧱 Week 7 – Scaffold Tampering

Across construction sites, the same issues keep popping up:

• Hop-ups moved… then reinstalled without tie-bars
• Ties removed and left sitting loose on the deck
• Containment mesh pulled back beside stacked material

Scaffold structures are often used daily and need to be managed as such.

🔹 Before use – Scaffolds must be checked as fit for service during initial handover stages and following any alterations
🔹 During use – Consult directly with workers at scaffold areas in use regularly to ensure scaffolds remain safe and that unplanned alterations are identified and managed appropriately
🔹 After use – Inspect completed areas and ensure scaffolds remain in safe working condition ready for future use

If scaffolds aren’t controlled before, during, and after use, you’re leaving a major risk on site.

13/11/2025

🧱 Week 6 – The Method Behind Scaffold Inspections

Did you know 85% of construction managers surveyed said their scaffolds were NOT adequately inspected? 😲

Don’t leave it to chance – grab our FREE scaffold inspection checklist and make sure every scaffold is safe, every time. ✅

📥 Download here: https://www.scaffoldsafety.au/comprehensive-scaffold-inspection-checklist

05/11/2025

Week 5 – What 300 Scaffold Inspections Told Us

500+ workers. 300+ sites.
The numbers speak for themselves 👇

🔹 87 % couldn’t interpret key design info — load duties, tie spacing, engineering certification.
🔹 88 % had no effective monitoring of SWMS controls or supervision.
🔹 90 % of 1 m lifts were exposed to a live edge.
🔹 Six hop-up incidents in six months — all preventable.

These aren’t freak accidents — they’re gaps in coordination, consultation & competency.
That’s what we need to fix.

05/11/2025

WEEK 5 — What 300 Scaffold Inspections Told Us

Over the last two years we’ve surveyed more than 500 workers and scaffolders and carried out inspections across 300+ sites throughout ACT and NSW.

Here’s what really stood out 👇
🔸 87 % of scaffolders couldn’t interpret key design information — load duties, tie spacing or engineering certification requirements.
🔸 88 % had no effective monitoring of SWMS controls or supervision.
🔸 90 % of typical scaffolding activities observed (1 m lifts) were exposed to a live edge.
🔸 And in just six months, six hop-up-related incidents were recorded — all preventable.

These aren’t freak accidents.
They come from gaps in coordination, consultation and competency between the people building the scaffold and those using it.

This week’s video looks at what’s really happening on site — and the actions we can take to stop these patterns repeating.

Real competency. Real coordination. Real consultation.
That’s what lifts scaffold safety.

🎥 Watch Week 5 below and let’s keep the conversation going.

30/10/2025

🚧 Inspected 3 days earlier — still unsafe. Red tape isn’t control.

30/10/2025

🚧 Week 4 – Access Control & Reg 225

A 19-year-old worker fell from an incomplete scaffold in 2022 — even though it had been inspected just three days earlier.
The only thing stopping access? A bit of red tape.

This is why scaffold access needs to be managed daily or as it’s being used, not just every 30 days.

Under WHS Regulation 225, if you’re the person with management or control of a scaffold, you must:
✅ Inspect it after incidents, after repairs, and at least every 30 days
✅ Prevent unauthorised access while incomplete or unattended
✅ Barricade · Signpost · Monitor any unsafe areas

Inspections alone don’t keep people safe — active management does.

🎥 Watch the full video below and visit scaffoldsafety.au for more training and resources to help your team stay compliant and safe on every site.

28/10/2025

Proud to share what our clients have to say.
At Scaffold Safety, we’re committed to helping teams build safer systems and stronger competency across every level of scaffolding and work-at-height activity.

Thank you to all our clients who continue to invest in improving their people, systems, and safety culture — there’s always room for growth and we’re proud to be part of that journey.
www.scaffoldsafety.au

22/10/2025

22/10/2025

https://www.scaffoldsafety.au/swms-monitoring-checklist

09/10/2025

09/10/2025

20/11/2024

This applies to scaffolders who are drilling into concrete etc. Alwys check the SDS of the product to check silica levels, anything over 1% and the laws apply.

Make sure you business has given you the right controls such as extraction drills and they have conducted air monitoring of the tasks to ensure the controls are working. The testing may determine the need to complete the mandatory training. VERY IMPORTANT.

10 lives have tragically been lost and a further 138 people have received the fatal diagnosis of silicosis disease since July 2023.

We’re determined to reduce these numbers. That’s why we’ve established a Silica Compliance Team to enforce the national ban on the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone.

Since September 2024, our team has:
📊 Conducted 118 inspections
📊 Issued 125 improvement notices
📊 Enforced 7 prohibition notices

Prevention is key.

If you’ve been exposed to hazardous dust while working in NSW, you can request a free lung screening service here: https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/injured-or-ill-people/work-related-dust-disease/services-and-support/lung-screening-service/