Scaffold Safety

NCI Hosts Hands-On Workshop

by Joe Wheeler

From The Construction Zone: August 2000

Nothing can be as useful as scaffolding. Without a scaffold in place, half the trades on a residential construction jobsite wouldn’t be able to work.

Yet nothing can be more dangerous.

Nevada Contractors Insurance hosted an informative, hands-on scaffold safety class in June at the offices of Risk Services-Nevada in Las Vegas.

The course was developed by the Scaffold Industry Association and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and was taught by Ron Landram, director of Risk Services-Nevada and Jerry Peck, owner of Nevada Scaffold & Equipment.

Citing the OSHA standard for scaffold erection and use, Landram said that the dictionary defined a scaffold two ways: First, as a platform or framework for raising workers and materials during the erection, repair or maintenance of a building and secondly, as an elevated platform on which a criminal is executed, usually by hanging.

"Now, you don’t want the one to become the other," Landram said. "But it can happen, believe me." Landram said that one of the reasons scaffolds are so dangerous is that when a scaffold goes down, it usually takes more than one person down with it. Add to that the possibility of a collapsing scaffold crushing workers on the ground, and the benefits of erecting solid, secure scaffolding that stays where it is placed become very clear.

The training course was geared to help workers to recognize the hazards associated with scaffolds and be able to describe the methods to control or minimize those hazards.

Participants earned Scaffold Industry Association’s certificates of completion.

Scaffold Expert says, "Safety Shouldn’t Cost."

By Joe Wheeler

He started his career in construction at age 14 working for in his father’s successful lath and plaster company during the summer. But not as your typical owner’s "kid," hanging around the office and getting in the way.

Jerry Peck lathed houses, walking scaffold all day, rolling out wire.

After high school, he went into it full time and continued lathing houses for another seven years. Constantly working on scaffolds taught him the importance of safety.

"You’re rolling out wire and not watching where you’re going, you depend on the scaffold to be there," Peck said. He said that people casually remove material from scaffolds, maybe never realizing the danger.

"The drywallers may take a brace off and say, ‘What’s the big deal?’ Well, that brace could be holding the scaffolding above it together," Peck said. "I got tired of seeing stuff like that on a daily basis. Half the time I was fixing stuff so I could work on the scaffold safely."

Peck became more interested in safety. "Safety started to become more and more of an issue, and I slowly learned about inspecting scaffold," he said.

Peck took classes through the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, and completed the Scaffold Industry Association’s class that earned him a national certification. Peck is one of only three Nevadans certified by the SIA to teach scaffold safety.

He followed his interest and started Nevada Scaffold & Equipment with his brother, Mike Peck, and together they began renting and selling state of the art scaffolding.

Peck taught the hands-on portion of the Nevada Contractors Insurance safety seminar on scaffold safety, and believes that safety comes first. "We highly encourage that all scaffolds have ladders and guardrails, and charge lower than market rates on ladders and guardrails because, in my book, safety shouldn’t cost."

Nevada Scaffold & Equipment is partnered with Waco, a national manufacturer of scaffolding. Peck has toured their plant, and designed specialized scaffold to meet particular needs.

"We created a stairwell scaffold for drywallers," Peck said. "We made it accessible for people to use the stairs while the drywallers did their work." Peck said he added to one of Waco’s existing designs, which the manufacturer then constructed. "Waco built the scaffold, and we had something that no one else had."

He teaches safety because he feels that if more people are setting scaffold the right way, it makes it easier on everybody. "It’s an educational thing more than anything else," Peck said. "Anyone can put frames up, but it’s another thing to put it up right."

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