Risk assessment
Scaffolding risk assessments for erection, alteration, and dismantle
A scaffold RAMS is about the sequence: ties, ledger bracing, and how tubes are passed up, not a generic “working at height” paragraph. Altering a live scaffold and striking one are different jobs from the first lift.
Scaffolders are still under the Work at Height Regulations 2005. TG20 and SG4 are industry guidance for tube-and-fitting scaffolds, not legislation. Overhead lines and the public pavement are site hazards that a yard induction will not catch. Lifting equipment, where a gin wheel or hoist is used, sits under LOLER rather than on every manual lift.
No law requires a document called a RAMS. The duty is to assess risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, and to plan the work safely.
What to decide before the job
- Ground, ties, and whether the building can take them.
- How the public is kept out while tubes are passed and while the scaffold is incomplete.
- Overhead lines and obstructions before the first standard goes up.
- The order for dismantle, so boards and guard rails are not removed early.
Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Use it as a starting list, then change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.
Worked example: Independent scaffold erection
Erect an independent tied scaffold on a low- or medium-rise building for other trades to use, including a handover certificate once the scaffold is complete.
Order of work
- Read the brief: duty, height, ties, pavement licence or exclusion, and proximity of power lines or railways.
- Inspect the ground. Set sole boards and base plates. Do not found a standard on a manhole or soft ground without a design.
- Erect progressively, with guard rails and a safe method for the erectors as the lift advances. Do not climb the standards as a means of access.
- Install ties or other designed restraint as the scaffold rises, not at the end.
- Board the working lifts fully, with toe boards and guard rails, and provide a safe ladder or stair access that is tied.
- A competent person inspects the finished scaffold. Hand it over with its duty and any limitations. Incomplete scaffolds are signed and blocked.
Fall of a scaffolder during erection, before guard rails exist
Who might be harmed: Scaffolders
Before controls: 20 High. After controls: 10 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Use a recognised erection method that protects the erector, such as an advanced guard rail system where the equipment provides it.
- Follow the Work at Height Regulations 2005 hierarchy. A harness is a last resort and only with anchors and rescue.
- Stop in high winds or ice.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Collapse from overloading, missing ties, or poor foundations
Who might be harmed: Operatives, other workers, occupiers and the public
Before controls: 15 High. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Erect to a recognised configuration or a design drawing. Do not remove ties to 'make room' for a window.
- Display the safe working load. Do not mix incompatible system components.
- Found standards on sole boards and base plates sized for the ground.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Falling tubes, fittings, and boards
Who might be harmed: People below
Before controls: 16 High. After controls: 8 Medium. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Create an exclusion zone or a protected gantry over a public route.
- Pass materials up inside the scaffold. Fit toe boards as soon as a lift is boarded.
- Wear helmets with chin straps.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992; Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
Contact between scaffold tube and an overhead electric line
Who might be harmed: Scaffolders and people nearby
Before controls: 10 Medium. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Survey for overhead lines before delivery. Keep tube and poles outside the exclusion zone the network operator specifies.
- If a line is within reach of a tube being handled, stop and get the line made dead or shrouded by the operator. Do not insulate a line with tape.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Work at Height Regulations 2005; Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981; Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Start this independent scaffold erection RAMS
Other scaffolder tasks in the library
Scaffold alteration
Alter an existing scaffold, for example to adapt a lift, move a tie, or add a loading bay, and return it to a state that can be inspected and used.
- Other trades working on a partly altered scaffold. Display incomplete notices and physically prevent access to the affected lifts.
- Fall while guard rails or boards are temporarily removed. Remove only the components required for the alteration, and replace protection as you go.
- Loss of stability when a tie is moved. Install the new tie before removing the old one, unless a competent design sets a different sequence.
- Falling fittings during the alteration. Keep the exclusion zone in place. Use a pouch or a bag for fittings.
Scaffold dismantle
Dismantle a scaffold progressively and lower the components, leaving the building and the public route safe.
- Fall during dismantle as protection is removed. Work from a boarded platform with guard rails until that lift is ready to be removed.
- Collapse because ties or bracing are removed too early. Remove ties only as the scaffold above them has been taken down.
- Falling scaffold components. Exclusion zone or gantry. Banksman where the public cannot be kept fully clear.
- Manual handling of tubes and boards, including from a lorry. Share the weight of long tubes. Use stillages rather than a loose pile.