Australian swing platform failure findings awaited.
by Iain MacIntyre
A recent fatal 26-storey fall suffered by two men working from a swing platform on the Gold Coast does not appear to have caused a knee-jerk reaction among the New Zealand scaffolding industry.
The workers, Steve Sayer (52) and New Zealander Chris Gear (36), were patching concrete on a high-rise complex at Broadbeach on 21 June when the platform they were using reportedly collapsed.
Australian building union officials instantly demanded tougher penalties for employers responsible for serious workplace accidents, and an immediate ban was placed on the use of swing scaffolds in Queensland. Investigations were also launched by the state’s police and Workplace Health and Safety authority, and calls were raised to improve workplace health and safety regulations.
With the New Zealand industry yet to view the findings of those investigations, it is understood no relevant widespread changes have yet been recommended or enacted. Nonetheless, the issue is viewed very seriously, as PHASE1 height safety operations manager and National Certificate in Suspended Scaffolding registered assessor Thomas Croft expresses.
“Unfortunately yes, I could easily see it happening here,” he says.
“It’s something that is likely to be raised at our various industry body AGMs and considered at an executive level.”
Training and qualifications
Findings from the Australian investigations may also prove beneficial to current updates of relevant local training and qualifications, suggests Terry Jenkins, managing director of Pacific Scaffolding and senior executive with both Scaffolding, Rigging and Industrial Rope Access Industry Training Inc (SRIIT) and the industry’s training organisation.
“I researched swinging stages for the best-practice guidelines and will be writing the unit standards for our new scaffolding qualification which includes suspended scaffolding,” he says.
“We have [previously] introduced training for the users of the swinging stages which includes a visual inspection of the suspension points and a jump test, but have maintained that only a person with the correct class of certificate of competence can erect, shift, alter or dismantle a stage on a daily basis. We recommend the use of an additional tie-back system through the needle or parapet clamps, and also the tying of needles together if possible. These are additional safety steps that can be achieved on a daily basis to improve safety in the unlikely event of an incident.”
Guidelines and standards
“With the preference here in New Zealand for abseiling for the majority of light-duty external building facade maintenance – window cleaning, building wash and painting etc – there are only a handful of companies who now do this type of work. The main type of winching systems are Sky Climbers, Astros and the older William Cable stages. Because of our location and size of market we are probably a few years behind other places like Australia when it comes to swing stages,” adds Mr Croft.
Standards and guidelines currently governing the use of swing scaffolds in New Zealand include:
Best Practice Guidelines for Scaffolding in New Zealand 2003
Approved Code of Practice for the Safe Erection and Use of Scaffolding 1995 (Department of Labour)
AS/NZS 1576.4:1991 – specifies requirements for the materials, design, erection and dismantling of suspended scaffolding, including the supporting structure
AS/NZS 4576:1995 – guidelines for scaffolding
Industry and Department of Labour guidelines (currently being reviewed).
Continues Mr Croft: “The law states that only a person holding a certificate of competence can erect and dismantle a swing stage – you must hold an NZQA national certificate to be able to apply for and obtain a certifi cate of competence.”
Although praising the quality of relevant local industry training, he also believes further operational practice, training and regulation
developments will prove beneficial.
“Yes, there is always room for improvement. We have a very good scaffolding school here in New Zealand run by Tai Poutini Polytechnic. There is a campus in Auckland and Christchurch – all students training to become scaffolders go to those schools.”
No widespread changes have yet been recommended for the use of swing scaffolds in New Zealand, but the issue is likely to be raised amongst various industry bodies.
Photo courtesy of PHASE 1
Iain MacIntyre is an award-winning freelance journalist; he can be contacted at i [dot] macintyre [at] xtra [dot] co [dot] nz