The appropriate question is perhaps not: "What is the cost of implementing (compulsory) health and safety standards to my business?" but "What are the risks and costs of not taking health and safety seriously in my business?"

We believe you should regard the legislation as a bare minimum and rather approach the subject of health and safety from a risk management, employee satisfaction and even a social responsibility point of view.

This approach requires you to recognise that your employees are your most important asset. It follows logically that you need to do your utmost to protect those assets, particularly your key and skilled members of staff. Put otherwise, your employees sell you their services and you, in turn, have a moral duty to protect them from potential dangers while at work.

Direct costs associated with poor health and safety practices are obvious and include lost-time injuries and insurance costs. Indirect costs, however, are less obvious but just as important and include reduced productivity due to minor injuries or discomfort due to non-use of protective equipment.

Industrial Safety Products is the only safety company that is a member of the MBA in the Eastern Cape. We have supplied industry in Port Elizabeth with a comprehensive range of personal protective equipment for over 20 years and are well placed to offer you expert advice, together with your MBA Health and Safety Advisers.

In future weeks and months we will contribute articles covering each area of PPE in more detail, to help you identify hazards in your workplace as well as the most appropriate form of protection for the job. We hope you will find our contributions informative.

a) In the case of solid timber boards, consist of boards of thickness at least 50 mm and, in the case of boards made from a material other than solid timber, of a thickness such that the boards have a strength at least equal to solid timber boards;

b) Have boards closely fixed to form a plane surface of clear width at least 675 mm where only workers use the ramp, and at least 900 mm where barrows are used on the ramp;

c) Have a slope not exceeding 1:5 where workers use the ramp, and 1:12 where the general public uses the ramp;

d) When the slope is steeper than 1:7, have cross-battens fitted across the full width of the top surface of the ramp at centres of approximately 450 mm, except that a clear passage of width not exceeding 230 mm may be provided where necessary to facilitate the movement of barrows; and

e) In the case of a ramp of height exceeding 2 meters above the ground, be provided with toeboards and guard-rails as follows:

• In the case of platforms from which a person could fall a distance of more than 2 meters, toeboards and guard-rails placed on the outer edge and at both ends;

• Have, when relevant, toeboards in close contact, of height at least 150 mm and, in the case of timber, of thickness at least 25 mm;

• Have a guard-rail so fixed that its centre line is at a height of 900 mm to 1000 mm above the platform, the gap between the rail and the toeboard being not more than 765 mm and, in the case of tube-and-fitting scaffolding, inside the standards. (This requirement applies equally to frame scaffolds, as cross-braces are not considered to be an adequate guard-rail. The guard-rail tube shall be fixed outside the frames);

• Have, if specified, a knee rail.

(JN)

The surface on which scaffolding is to be erected shall be approved by a Scaffolding Supervisor. Where doubt exists regarding the bearing capacity of the surface, a detailed investigation shall be carried out and, if necessary, the approval of a professional engineer obtained.

The following possible problems should be considered:

• Soft in-situ material;

• Poorly compacted fill material;

• Underground cavities;

• Expansive clays;

• Collapsing sand;

• Sloping ground;

• Shallow pipelines or cables; and

• Any othe rproblem that may be apparent.

Where scaffolding is to erected on an existing structure (including the structure which is being constructed), care shall be taken that:

• The structure is capable of carrying the local loads imposed (e.g. cantilevers, thin slabs, etc);

• The existing work is not damaged by the scaffolding (e.g. floor finishes, waterproofing, etc).

Where good founding material exists, the following provisions shall apply:

• Unless founded on adequate concrete foundations at least 75mm thick, every scaffolding shall be erected on sole boards that are continuously supported;

• The material under the sole boards shall be well compacted;

• For very hard or rocky ground conditions not subject to erosion, the length of the sole board shall be at least 450mm per standard;

• For good hard soils, the sole board shall be continuous under at least two standards and shall project at least 500mm beyond the last standard or 200mm in the case of scaffolds of height not exceeding 15meters;

• For soft soils, double sole boards, one on top of the other, should be used to obtain better load distribution.

 

4) No employer or user of machinery shall require or permit welding, flame cutting, grinding, soldering or similar work to be undertaken in respect of any tube, tank, drum, vessel or similar object or container where such object or container:

a) is completely closed, unless a rise in internal pressure cannot render it dangerous; or

b) contains any substance which, under the action of heat, may:

• Ignite or explode; or

• React to form dangerous or poisonous substances unless a person who is competent to pronounce on the safety thereof has, after examination, certified in writing that any such danger has been removed by opening, ventilating or purging with water or steam, or by any other effective means.

5) Where hot work involving welding, cutting, brazing or soldering operations is carried out at places, other than workplaces which have been specifically designed and equipped for such work, the employer shall take steps to ensure that proper and adequate fire precautions are taken.

(JN)

1. Ledgers shall be horizontal and secured at right angles to each standard, except the lowest ledgers shall be fixed parallel to sloping ground;

2. The lowest level of ledgers or foot ties shall be fixed not more than 300 mm above the bottom of the standards;

3. Joints in the ledgers shall be staggered by at least one bay in the length and shall be located not more than 900 mm from a standard;

4. Joints in the ledgers in successive lift heights shall also be staggered;

5. Ledgers shall be fixed at vertical spacings not exceeding 2.1 meters. Where access underneath is required, and the scaffolding has been specifically designed, the maximum initial height might be increased to 2.7 meters;

6. The top ledger shall be fixed at least 1 meter below the top of the standard.

1.1 Scaffolding shall be erected, altered or dismantled under the supervision of a competent person who has been appointed in writing for this purpose.

1.2 It is essential that, during erection, alteration or dismantling, there is sufficient bracing in position (including temporary bracing if necessary) and ties to the structure to ensure the stability of the scaffold.

1.3 All scaffolding shall have a safe means of access to each working platform.

1.4 The maximum deviations for scaffolding shall be as follows:

• Plumbness of standards: within 1:133 but a maximum offset of 50 mm;

• Level of ledgers and transoms: 1:100 but a maximum offset of 50 mm;

NOTE: On sloping ground, the lowest ledger, called a foot tie, is fixed with swivel couplers and follows the slope of the ground;

• Spacing of standards, both length and width: 1:20 (reduced width may affect board placing).

• Vertical spacing of ledgers (lift height): 1:20;

• Coupler spacing at nodes (tube intersections): 300 mm, centre to centre;

Level of sole boards: within 1:50 both along and across.

(BH)

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL STANDARD 10085 - 1 : ERECTION OF SCAFFOLDING: PART ONE

GENERAL SAFETY REGULATION 9: Welding, flame cutting, soldering and similar operations

ASBESTOS REGULATION 11: Control of exposure to asbestos

(Methods for the Determination of Hazardous Substances 39/4 of the Health and Safety of the United Kingdom). 

(BH)

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT NO. 85 OF 1993 : ASBESTOS REGULATION 20:

An employer or self-employed person shall as far as is reasonably practicable ensure that:

a) all asbestos waste is placed in containers that will prevent the likelihood of exposure during handling;

b) all vehicles, re-usable containers or any other similar articles which have been in contact with asbestos waste are cleaned and decontaminated after use, in such a way that such vehicles, containers or similar articles do not cause a hazard inside or outside the workplace concerned;

c) all asbestos waste which can cause exposure, is disposed of only on sites specifically designated for this purpose in terms of the Environment Management Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989), and the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), and in such a manner that it does not cause a hazard inside or outside of the site concerned.

d) all persons occupied in the collection, transport and disposal of asbestos waste, who may be exposed to that waste, are provided with suitable personal protective equipment; and

e) where the services of a contractor for the disposal of asbestos waste are used, a provision is incorporated into the contract stating that the contractor shall also comply with the provisions of these Regulations.

(BH)