Six Essential Safety Items to Protect Workers Below Scaffolding

If you have employees who work on scaffolding, height safety is a huge part of keeping them safe. However, you don't just have to think of the safety of the people on the scaffold, you also have to think of the safety of the people down below. Here are six essential items that can help keep your workers on the ground safe:

1. Hard hats

Of course, in any construction zone, people should wear hard hats. These hats protect your ground workers from injury if anything is dropped from the scaffolding. However, you also have to take steps to reduce the chances of anything being dropped.

2. Equipment slings or supports

If possible, have all large equipment such as power tools supported by slings or bungee cords. If one of the workers on the scaffold drops one of these items, the sling or bungee cord will catch it and prevent it from injuring anyone on the ground.

3. Scale

An overloaded scaffold can easily tilt and fall, injuring of course the people who are working on it but also the people underneath it. To ensure you don't overload your scaffold, check the manufacturer's recommendations for maximum load capacity. If you fear that you are nearing the maximum weight capacity, pull out your scale and weigh everyone and everything before it goes onto the scaffold.

4. Scaffold anchors

Scaffolding can be anchored to the ground or to the walls of a building using scaffold anchoring. When setting up your scaffold, make sure that it is anchored as recommended by the manufacturer. Do not rest your scaffold on barrels, boxes or other unstable objects.

If you do, you threaten the structural integrity of the scaffold, risking that it will fall down on the people on the ground.

5. Strong fiber ropes

You need strong fiber ropes to secure your scaffolding as well as to support any equipment slings that you have. Ideally, look for the strongest rope possible. However, if your scaffold is hanging near an area with a lot of corrosives, the regular ropes you use on the scaffold may not work. It may become damaged by the corrosive materials and break. To avoid that, use a rope that has been treated.

6. Coffee cup lids

When thinking about height safety, you have to consider all of the elements above, but there are also surprising things that can help to keep your employees safe. For example, coffee cup lids can be useful at reducing falls and injuries at any height.

Require your employees who work at heights to have lids on their drinks. Without a lid, their drink could spill, creating a puddle that may cause your worker to slip, fall off the scaffolding and hit someone down below.

To learn more height safety tips for both the people working at heights and the people working below them, contact a height safety educator or expert, such as those at Australian Height Safety Services.