Video of scaffolder ‘bombing’ materials causes outrage

The video has been shared 1.8k times on the Daily Mail website and was a very prominent feature of Twitter and Facebook for several days. The short clip has generated quite a debate from outrage to those claiming this is being done in a controlled manner and is normal practice. Clearly, there’s a way to go for those that believe these sorts of practices to be anywhere near acceptable.

The video appears to have been taken by a concerned member of the public and was shot on a busy, central London street during normal daytime hours.

The Director of the scaffolding company involved responded to the furore and said that he doesn’t condone this method of working. He responded to the footage saying how disappointed he was to see his staff working in this way. He provided a statement to the press stating that this was ‘completely unacceptable’ and ‘in no way representative of our working methods’.

Thankfully no one was hurt on this occasion but working in this way in a busy location will inevitably attract the attention of members of the public concerned for their own safety. There are several pieces of industry guidance that apply to work of this nature, most notably the HSE Guidance, HSG151 ‘Protection of the Public’  and SG34:11 ‘Guidance on Protection of the Public from NASC. Whilst these documents both provide some sensible suggestions for ensuring safety during works involving public interface, a simple risk assessment will usually identify some of the control measures required. Typically, these would include segregation of the work area, exclusion zones and in some instances, road or carriageway closures.

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