At the start of the year the old British Standard BS 5973:1993 was withdrawn and the Health & Safety Executive said that it would only recognise the European Standard BS EN12811-1:2003 for the design of tube and fitting scaffolding structures.
Complying with the European Standard has presented challenges to the industry, however.
BS EN12811-1 is a performance document and does not give detailed advice on safe systems of work for erecting, altering or dismantling scaffolds when erected using tubes and fittings. To overcome this, the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) produced TG20:08 - Technical Guidance on the use of BS EN12811-1, which it published as a guide to good practice for scaffolding with tubes and fittings.
However, this has only led to more questions about what constitutes a ‘basic scaffold’ and what scaffolds require a design, the NASC admits.
NASC marketing manager Neil Tomlinson said there was a lack of clarity about the requirements. “Since the introduction of the scaffolding guidance TG20:08 some confusion and misunderstandings of the requirements on how to work have arisen in the industry,” he said.
To address this, the NASC has now launched an interactive guide software package that it hopes will add clarity to the requirements and enable scaffolding contractors, main contractors and clients to verify whether a proposed scaffold structure will comply with TG20:08 as a 'basic scaffold'.
The guide describes each TG20 topic with text, videos and graphics and leads the user step-by-step through the process. The interactive element provides a 3D environment for editing and adapting standard scaffolds. The customised scaffold can then be checked to see whether it passes or fails the criteria for a 'basic scaffold', identifying any particular parts of the scaffold that do not comply.
Priced at £250 plus VAT (for non-NASC members) the software (including a DVD and Dongle) can be ordered from the NASC website.
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