Are you the supervisor of a construction site? Or, are you at the helm of an agency that provides cleaning and maintenance services? In both cases, you are likely to need the right scaffold that your workers can use to perform their tasks efficiently.
The Australian Government requires you to follow the Scaffolding General Requirements so that you can guarantee optimum safety to your workers.
However, before you can get down to that, you need to zero in on the scaffolding that can serve your needs the best. To help you in this regard, we’ve put together a tell-all guide to the various scaffolds you can choose from.
The A-Z of Scaffolds and Their Types
While you might be familiar with aerial, suspended, and supported scaffolds, there are also other scaffold types that you might find useful. They are as follows:
1. Suspended Scaffolding
Generally, the structure of suspended scaffolds comprises of the following components:
- A workers’ platform.
- Sturdy wires, ropes, or chains can support the platform’s weight.
- A mechanism to assist the movement of the platform.
Owing to its structure, the suspended scaffolding is ideal for workers involved in tasks like window cleaning, painting, maintenance and repair operations – anything that requires them to work on the buildings’ exteriors.
2. Cantilever Scaffolding
Per the general rule of thumb, you can erect safe scaffolds only if the surface is even and levelled. So, how do you meet your scaffolding needs on uneven terrains? This is where the cantilever scaffolding comes in handy.
Cantilever scaffolds don’t use frames or posts. Instead, they utilize sturdy, long needles to raise the support structure several metres above the ground. In this way, you won’t have to compromise on the safety of your workers.
3. Trestle Scaffolding
This scaffolding is perfect for when you don’t have to scale immense heights to get your job done. With a trestle scaffold, you can easily carry out your repair or maintenance operations at altitudes up to 5 m.
What’s more, you’ll find that the portable ladder feature can come in handy at various times.
4. Access Scaffolding
Let’s say that you’re dealing with a task that requires you to reach the roof or terrace area of a building. If the suspended scaffolds cannot provide you with sufficient reach, then you can opt for access scaffolding.
The access scaffolds are designed to reach immense heights, and it’s a helpful tool you can use to carry out maintenance, painting, or repair works in high-risk areas.
5. Steel Scaffolding
Due to mounting concerns regarding workplace safety, many construction site owners and service agencies are switching to steel scaffolding. This is primarily for two reasons. First, given the tensile strength of steel, the scaffolds are bound to be extremely sturdy.
Second, if made of steel, the scaffolds can also protect the workers from unforeseen workplace accidents like fire, inclement weather conditions, etc.
6. Patented Scaffolding
Patented scaffolds are very similar to steel ones. That said, they usually bring an extra feature to the table – you can calibrate the scaffolds to fit your height requirements, and you can also wholly disassemble them when not needed.
The flexibility of patented scaffolds has made them a hit amongst workers and employers alike.
That’s all we have on scaffolds and their types. Once you’ve determined what you need the scaffold for, you can do your homework about the different kinds of scaffolds to find the one that suits your needs.
If the ones discussed in the post don’t make the cut, you can also check out Double Scaffolding and Putlog Scaffolding.
