WS 3 Scaffolds are work platforms installed around the perimeter of the exterior of a structure to allow workers to install joists and flooring without running the risks involved with being inadequately tied off in areas that don’t allow fall protection to work effectively.
There is nothing more important than safety in the workplace, all workers should be able to return home to their families at the end of each day regardless of the work being conducted. Unfortunately not all workers return home from work, year after year families are burdened with the loss of loved ones due to workplace accidents, which not only affects families emotionally, and mentally, but financially as well. Families affected by workplace fatalities are forced into prematurely having to say their final good-byes to loved ones lost.
In Canada approximately 664 workers lost their lives in the workplace between the years of 2012-2014 in the construction industry, in the United States 899 lives were lost in the construction industry in the year 2014 alone, each of these workers’ families lost a spouse, brother, sister, son, daughter or a parent as a result of a workplace accident.
The leading cause of fatalities in the statistics mentioned above is working at heights. In Canada more than 40,000 workers get injured annually due to fall accidents, this represents a massive amount of “lost-time injuries” approved by the workers compensation board or commissions across Canada, these injuries not only cause substantial economic loss, but also cause pain, suffering, and claim lives.
Nobody should have to go to work with the intentions of earning a living, to return home injured or even worse, not return home at all.
The use of scaffolding systems has facilitated construction work for thousands of years. Many trades take advantage of the benefits associated with working from scaffold systems to this day and will continue to do so for many years to come. Benefits associated with scaffolding systems are primarily safety, and efficiency. Workers are able to conduct their work on a stable platform, protected with guardrails.
It is feasible for employers for trades such as masonry to provide their workers with access to equipment such as a full scaffold, because for masons a full scaffold can be used from the beginning of a project all the way through until the end.
In construction today there are no partial scaffolding systems commonly used, partial scaffolding systems would greatly benefit a wide range of trades in the construction industry, not only economically but in terms of safety in the workplace as well.
For some trades a full scaffold setup is not feasible, take framers for example, a scaffold platform would greatly increase safety and speed up production for certain stages of framing a house but to buy/ rent a full scaffold and have workers erect, and dismantle it would not be feasible.
Therefore the next best option for framers is to tie off during joist spread and laying floor, which isn’t all that safe considering tying off while erecting floors which are typically 8ft-10ft in height doesn’t give fall protection (Harness, lanyard, lifeline) enough space to actually stop a worker from hitting the ground. A lanyard is about 2ft in length, and expands up to 6ft in total when absorbing shock/ deployed, that’s 6ft in the lanyard alone, not including the amount of slack in the lifeline it’s attached to and the height of the worker (average male height – 5’10).
Tying off while spreading floor joists and laying plywood floors is not only ineffective in preventing workers from hitting the ground in the event of a fall, but also slows down production significantly due to setting up tie off points, lifelines and constantly having to adjust rope grabs from lifeline to lifeline. Lifelines also become tripping hazards in areas that are already hazardous due to the minimal amount of walking space, with all that said, it’s safe to assume that tying off effectively isn’t always possible, especially during the framing of a house.
In order to greatly reduce injuries and fatalities caused by working at heights in the construction industry, specifically carpentry – Framing, something must be done, and employers must take action. The introduction of the WS 3 Scaffold – a partial scaffold that is attached to the exterior of walls during the framing stages of building a house; will give workers protected platforms to safely and efficiently conduct their most hazardous duties without being exposed to fall hazards.
The WS 3 Scaffold is what framing has been missing, workers using the WS 3 Scaffold are able to move freely around the perimeter of a house and are provided with enough space to store lumber and carry out tasks such as cutting lumber.
The WS 3 Scaffold if used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions is guaranteed to lower employer costs on man hours by accelerating production in a safe manner, and greatly reducing worker lost-time injuries related to fall accidents. The WS 3 Scaffold is not only a step forward increasing production on the jobsite, but most importantly it’s a leap forward in eliminating workplace fatalities in construction.
WS 3 Scaffolds attach to the top of the perimeter walls of a structure and are securely fastened with adjustable locking devices that are capable of attaching onto any standard lumber built home, each platform is held up by to 2 supporting steel brackets and platforms are made up of cleated wooden planks. Each bracket provides a tie off point for installation and dismantling purposes. WS 3 Scaffold brackets provide slots for guardrails to be adequately installed in accordance with the OHSA and construction regulations.
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Installation and dismantling of the WS 3 Scaffold is straight forward, the light weight brackets allow for a quick installation and dismantling process. Once lumber walls are erected and adequately braced on the structure that WS 3 Scaffold are intended to be installed on:
An adequate means of access to the top of a wall is installed and secured.
A worker is provided with the initial WS 3 Scaffold bracket to lock on to the exterior of the wall.
Worker is to repeat the installation of a WS 3 Scaffold bracket at least 8ft away from the initial bracket installed.
Once the WS 3 Scaffold brackets are adequately locked on to the top of the lumber wall at least 8ft from one another, cleated wooden planks can then be placed onto the brackets.
Worker can then tie off to the WS 3 Scaffold bracket using a CSA approved harness and lanyard, and proceed to access the Carpentry Wall Scaffold platform.
At this point the worker on the platform is supplied with the necessary amount of brackets and cleated wooden planks to continue the installation process with the desired amount of brackets install around the exterior perimeter of the structure.
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