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Health & Safety Alert No. 50: Defective Scaffold Board

A bricklayer was injured when a scaffold board broke under his weight. An investigation found the board had large knots running along its width, reducing its load bearing capacity below standards. The knots and previous damage from abrasion and weather made the board unsafe. To prevent future incidents, the summary outlines inspecting all boards, replacing damaged boards, and not cutting materials directly on boards.

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65 views1 page

Health & Safety Alert No. 50: Defective Scaffold Board

A bricklayer was injured when a scaffold board broke under his weight. An investigation found the board had large knots running along its width, reducing its load bearing capacity below standards. The knots and previous damage from abrasion and weather made the board unsafe. To prevent future incidents, the summary outlines inspecting all boards, replacing damaged boards, and not cutting materials directly on boards.

Uploaded by

suriya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Health & Safety Alert No.

50
Galliford Try Plc Group of Companies
February 2010

DEFECTIVE SCAFFOLD BOARD


What Happened
A bricklayer was walking from the inner birdcage onto the external top lift of scaffold at
8 metres above ground level. On stepping onto the inner most scaffold board of the
external scaffold lift it snapped in half, fortunately the bricklayer managed to stop
himself falling completely through the 225mm gap. He sustained bruising to his legs &
knee and was treated for mild shock. One half of the board fell to the ground but within
the scaffold structure.
Findings following investigation
The underside of scaffold board, had three large
knots running along the width of the board (see
photo left). The knots were not less than 50mm each in diameter giving a
total of not less than 150mm of the width of the board in a grouped knotted
area leaving no more than 75mm (33%) of grained timber providing load
bearing capacity. The board was 2000mm long, 225mm wide & 38mm
thick.
Grey coloured splinters were apparent & coloured differently to the more
recent lighter coloured splintered area. This suggested previous damage &
weakening around the area of the knots. The top of board didn’t clearly
show the line of knots as the board was covered in dry mortar mix. These
wouldn’t have been easily identifiable during routine inspection as the
critical area was on the underside of the working platform.
Knots were clearly visible on edges of the board & were both cracked along the thickness of the board. There
were gouged areas of timber along the length of the board on both sides. The board
showed signs of abrasion along its entire length with cut marks indicating they had been
caught by a rotating blade possibly by materials having been cut directly on the board. It
was also noted that recent weather conditions (ice, snow & rain) may have affected the
integrity of the board around the area of the knots despite allowable tolerances relating
to moisture content.
Lessons for the Group
British Standard 2482:2009 covers the Specification for Timber Scaffold Boards.
Paragraph 7.2.2.3c states “that the board shall be rejected if the sum of knot
measurements on both faces exceeds 150mm”. Despite other restrictions, the board
should not have been used for this reason alone. Further to this, the end straps were
not marked as indicated in section 9 of BS 2482:2009 as follows:
• The number & year of the British Standard;
• The manufacturers identification mark;
• The letter M or V denoting machine or visible grading;
• The word “support’” & the target span in metres up to which the board must be supported.
Preventative Actions
1. All scaffold boards are to be thoroughly inspected by the scaffolding contractor who erected the scaffold
to meet the specification as detailed in British Standard 2482:2009 ASAP;
2. Boards are not to be uses as part of a working platform if they are damaged, cracked or have notches cut
out of them. Site management are to record findings & ensure suspect boards are replaced;
3. Trades likely to use power tools, specifically abrasive wheels, on scaffold are instructed to use sacrificial
timber & not to cut directly onto scaffold boards.
Neil Boorman
Health, Safety & Environmental Advisor
Galliford Try Services

HS&E-FRM-C03-10 1

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