Near-miss: Scaffolding collapse
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority of Australia (NOPSEMA) has published the following report regarding an incident in which a vertical scaffolding tube (a ‘dropper’) supporting a scaffolder began to slip under his weight. The scaffolder alerted other workers in the vicinity but they could not reach the connection in time to tighten the coupler. The tube continued to slip through the coupler until the scaffolder fell. Fortunately, the inertia reel harness he was wearing arrested his fall. The scaffolder managed to keep hold of the dropper so that it did not fall into the sea, and was suspended over water for approximately seven minutes.
The report can be downloaded from nopsema.gov.au/assets/publications/Safety-Alert-54-Scaffolding-Safety.pdf
Safety Event
Published: 15 February 2013
Download: 
IMCA SF 04/13
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