Industry News » Liverpool & Wirral Scaffolding Protocol

03-01-2006

On June 30th 2005 The City of Liverpool and the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral councils launched the above protocol. The aim of the protocol is to highlight the measures that should be taken to comply with the law during the erection and dismantling of scaffolding, with respect to protecting members of the public.

The protocol requires that before any scaffolding, that may come into contact with the public, can be erected, a scaffold permit needs to be obtained from the council. In order for the permit to be granted a number of requirements need to be satisfied.

One of the many requirements of the protocol is that the scaffold be inspected in accordance with the requirements of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Records of this inspection should be made available on site.

A system should also be in place to communicate (such as a scaffolding tag procedure) whether the scaffold is safe for use. 

This protocol is being monitored by other councils around the UK to measure it's success with a view to possibly being introduced in other regions.