Storm Brendan Results in Toppled Scaffold
15th January 2020
Storm Brendan, the UK’s second significant storm of 2020, has left parts of the UK counting the cost of damage.
In Orpington, London, a ten-lift-high scaffold erected for tower block maintenance works overturned, resulting in a road blockage and vehicle damage, but fortunately there were no reported injuries.
The scaffolding industry news website, Scaffmag, reports that the scaffold was anchored to the adjacent structure and also that weekly inspections had been undertaken, but this has yet to be confirmed.
It is likely that HSE will investigate the incident.
The UK’s scaffolding trade body, NASC produces a whole raft of performance standards for scaffolding and this includes TG4:19 ‘Anchorage Systems for Scaffolding’, which can be downloaded here and TG20:13, ‘A guide to Good Practice for Tube and Fitting Scaffolding’. Both of these documents contain a very high level of detail, which, in the overwhelming majority of circumstances, will ensure that scaffolds withstand the very worst conditions that the UK weather can throw at them.
SIMIAN clients requiring further advice on scaffold stability, or indeed any other scaffolding safety matter, are free to contact us for advice. Tel: 0345 6022 418. Email: hello@simian-risk.com