The final report published by the Safety Investigation Authority on 28 February 2024 shows that the bridge that collapsed in Espoo last May was structurally deficient and dangerous. Yet accidents could be avoided by anticipating them.
Safe installation of scaffolding is an essential part of ensuring safe work on sites, and installation is regulated by DINs, including standards, scaffolding manufacturers’ operating instructions, Finnish legislation, EU legislation and AVI guidelines. It is important that the parties constructing scaffolding and the persons supervising the work are aware of all necessary instructions and regulations and that they have the appropriate training and orientation. According to laws, standards and the manufacturer’s operating instructions, scaffolding may only be installed by qualified persons with sufficient orientation for the work – why is this requirement not supervised?
– It is important to ensure that scaffolding is constructed correctly and that it meets the safety requirements laid down in law. The aim of these measures is to minimise risks and ensure that unfortunate accidents will not occur”, says Janne Parantainen, scaffolding safety expert at Patera.
Anticipation is important in safety
The training and orientation of scaffolders and commissioning inspectors are key factors in ensuring a safe working environment and should be provided in accordance with the law. Recently, there has been public discussion in the media about what is sufficient and what the responsibilities in the Espoo bridge accident are. [ Yle 28 February 2024, Iltalehti 28 February 2024, MTV Uutiset 28 February 2024, Helsingin Sanomat 28 February 2024]
– When a skilled inspector is used, scaffolding prone to accidents is not used for a single day. When it comes to safety, anticipation comes before reaction, which is why investing in it is particularly important. For many, it comes as a surprise that the client is always responsible for scaffolding safety – you can outsource the work, but you can never assign responsibility completely to someone else”, says Janne Parantainen from Patera.
The scaffolding client has a responsibility that surprises many
The scaffolding client is ultimately responsible for the safety and condition of the scaffolding throughout its use. The client must also supervise and ensure that the parties installing the scaffolding are qualified for their work. This places the client in a challenging position, especially if they do not have the necessary knowledge to require the necessary qualifications, or the training and competence to assess the scaffolding. In that case, the client must blindly rely on the professional expertise of the scaffolding supplier. Inadequate supervision and non-compliance can lead to poor quality and increase safety risks. Scaffolding suppliers, in turn, must ensure that their own scaffolders and the scaffolders of their subcontractors, regardless of nationality, are all qualified and familiar with their task.
There is a law to ensure safety – why is it ignored?
Finnish legislation specifies that if scaffolding construction instructions are not available or they deviate from the installation instructions, a structural plan must be drawn up. In addition, the standards specify requirements for structural plans. At construction sites, it is the responsibility of the main implementer to ensure that the structural plan and usage plan are prepared by a sufficiently qualified person, taking into account the characteristics of the scaffolding structure and the level of complexity of the design.
The provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act must be complied with elsewhere than on construction sites. This requires that the scaffolding plan includes all appropriate safety aspects and is suitable for the intended use in the area in question. Here, too, the responsibility for the commissioning inspection lies with the client.
For safety, it is important to ensure that commissioning and weekly inspections are carried out properly by a qualified, competent inspector. Any deficiencies detected will be repaired immediately to ensure the safety and appropriate use of the scaffolding.
–Unfortunately, weekly inspections are sometimes only superficial inspections, in which the scaffolding card is completed according to the obligation to do so, without a more in-depth examination. However, it should be noted that the weekly inspections are as extensive as the commissioning inspection, so they must also be carried out by a qualified person if the client does not do it themselves”, says Janne Parantainen.
Using the help of an expert in scaffolding safety
–Various services are available for verifying scaffolding safety, but they are usually not used because there is no understanding of responsibility. In practice, the inspection process is challenging and a fairly large responsibility for an inexperienced person”, says Janne Parantainen from Patera.
The use of scaffolding parts from different manufacturers in the same structure is not recommended and is not permitted unless a mixing permit exists for the parts. Such use is governed by law and the manufacturer’s instructions. It should be clear to scaffolding suppliers how the rules for mixing scaffolding parts actually work. Some scaffolding manufacturers do not allow parts from other manufacturers to be mixed in their own scaffolding system.
Installation instructions prepared in foreign languages are not legally valid in Finland. In operations performed in Finland, all documents, including the mixing permit, must be in Finnish and Swedish. In addition, the installation instructions valid in Finland must be translated into the language of foreign scaffolders.
– Managing the mixing of scaffolding parts and familiarising the scaffolders with the matter is challenging, and when the main implementer is also responsible for mixing the parts on their site, the most sensible solution is to use parts from only one manufacturer”, says Janne Parantainen.
How to ensure the safety of scaffolding:
- Require your scaffolding supplier to comply with current regulations
- Train your personnel’s scaffolding clients and parties responsible for scaffolding
- Ensure that scaffolders are qualified before they are allowed to enter the site
- Monitor and document scaffolding activities
- Use an external scaffolding safety expert to inspect and supervise scaffolding if your own expertise is insufficient or there is a lot to supervise
- If necessary, have the quality level of your scaffolding supplier assessed by an external expert
–We comply with the necessary regulations and have the knowledge and expertise to put scaffolding safety in order in Finland. There are too many warning examples of non-compliance. Accidents like that in Espoo should never happen, and we can now together decide that they will no longer occur. All parties must take a leap forward in good spirit and cooperation – let’s put scaffolding safety in order and make our society safe in this respect”, says Janne Parantainen.
Finally, Janne makes a request that we all act in accordance with the standards in the future: The purpose of working scaffolding is to provide a safe place of work with safe access, suitable for the work being done.
