July 9, 2008

Scaffold deaths prompt Australian safety blitz

QUEENSLAND, Australia

Master Builders Queensland (MBQ) has labelled a recent fatal scaffolding collapse a “catastrophic failure” and has called on all its members to undertake urgent safety checks.

MBQ Director of Construction Policy John Crittall says the deaths of two painters who fell from scaffolding on a Gold Coast construction site, is an “absolute tragedy,” reports the Queensland Business Review.

“There has been catastrophic failure here,” says Crittall. “The laws are quite specific in regards to installation procedures and engineering requirements. We are encouraging all of our companies that have a swinging stage scaffold to immediately do a complete check of the set and design and make sure it conforms with either the engineer and/or manufacturer specifications.”

Industrial Relations Minister John Mickel announced spot inspections on scaffolding setups would be carried out by Workplace Health and Safety.

Crittall says MBQ supports the announcements.

“We’re not all worried about the department coming on to our sites and conducting audits of the set ups, in fact we encourage it,” he says.

It has surfaced that Queensland is the only state where workers using scaffolding do not have to be anchored to buildings.

DCN News Services

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