Earlier this spring, the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) pulled off a real coup when its Guide for Appointing and Managing Scaffolding Contractors was officially endorsed by the UK Contractors Group (UKCG).
It means the UKCG, which represents the country's biggest contractors, will co-brand the document with the NASC.
This is recognition, according to NASC president Rob Lynch, of how much work the trade body does to keep its house 鈥� and the wider scaffolding industry 鈥� in order.
鈥淭he UKCG were surprised how stringently we assess our members, and that we kick people for not complying with the rules,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e've had to kick a few members out recently.
鈥淔or example, we insist that 75% of a member's workforce are direct employees, and also that 90% are fully trained.鈥�
Lynch, who is also managing director of Lyndon Scaffolding, acknowledges that the recession has put a lot of companies under pressure. In recent years, a clear divide has emerged between those who follow best practice guidance and 鈥渢hose who stick two fingers up鈥�, he says.
鈥淵ou can walk past any site in London and see scaffolders in trainers and t-shirts, but every NASC member will now insist on uniform PPE, harnesses, and working behind guardrails.
鈥淪caffolding isn't always taken seriously, because it doesn't stay on the building. But the job can't be done safely without it, so it surely makes sense that any client should want best practice from any scaffolding firm it employs.鈥�
The arrangement with the UKCG should help ensure the NASC's standards 鈥� and members 鈥� are used more widely on the nation's biggest construction jobs.
UKCG endorsement
UKCG director Stephen Ratcliffe says: 鈥淯KCG鈥檚 aim is to aspire to world class standards of best practice for UK construction. We recognise that NASC sets the standards for scaffolding in the UK and this guidance makes sound logical sense for all construction contractors to adhere to.鈥�
The NASC has now set its sights even higher. It is trying to persuade the government that more tighter regulation of the scaffolding sector is needed; it wants the Work At Height Regulations, which are likely to be reviewed next year, to be changed so that scaffolders would have to be not just 鈥榗ompetent鈥�, as at present, but 鈥榪ualified鈥�.
The NASC says that the use of the word 鈥榗ompetent鈥� at the heart of the Work at Height Regulations has resulted in different interpretations and hence different standards of safety protocol.
鈥淐ompetency is a 'weasly' word,鈥� says Lynch. 鈥淗istorically a scaffolder was viewed as competent merely if they'd been doing it a long time. Now, we're probably the most regulated construction trade after gas fitters. There are 13,000 fully qualified scaffolders employed by NASC members, and they have been through a huge amount of training.
鈥淪o we argue 鈥� why not make it law that you have to use someone fully qualified?鈥�
The NASC, which sees the Gas Safe register as a model for its own sector, has submitted its recommendation in response to the recent government report by Professor L枚fstedt reviewing workplace health and safety legislation. L枚fstedt鈥檚 report recommended that the Work at Height Regulations be reviewed by 2013 鈥� although the report was commissioned with a view to relaxing laws.
Revamp of EN 12811
Meanwhile, the NASC is busy trying to improve the safety 鈥� and general efficiency 鈥� of the whole scaffolding sector with a rewrite of the European design standard for scaffold erection, EN 12811. Introduced in 2010, and replacing the tube-and-fittings oriented British standard BS 5973, EN 12811 has caused a few headaches, says Lynch.
鈥淚t's full of Greek symbols and has no diagrams,鈥� he explains. 鈥� So the NASC is funding a 'reinterpretation' of the document, which will put things into layman terms.
鈥淚t is costing us literally hundreds of thousands of pounds to do this, but it will help UK scaffolders and the construction industry generally.鈥�
It's further evidence of the important but largely unsung role of the NASC in UK construction.
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