The Scaffolding Association

The Scaffolding Association Launches in the UK

This month has seen the formal launch of the newest UK scaffolding trade association 'The Scaffolding Association'.

Their first formal meeting was on Wednesday 1st February 2012 at the Arden Hotel in Birmingham and was attended by Joy Jones and Jim Grieve from the Health and Safety Executive, Richard Habgood from The Association of Project Safety (APS), John Carpenter from the Temporary Works Forum (TWf), Julie Cooper from Business Education Support and Training and various Scaffolding Design and Temporary Works Engineers from around the UK including 48.3 Scaffold Design.

The meeting included a formal presentation of the aims and objectives of the Scaffolding Association which was provided by Robert Candy. The attendee's were asked to provide their views and feedback on the presentation and give their opinions on how the aims could best be achieved.

Many points were discussed and debated including the procurement of scaffold design within the industry, the definition of corporate and individual competency, compliance with The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and the importance of quality control. It was very interesting for us to hear everyone's opinions and see how different people viewed the issues discussed. There was general agreement that should The Scaffolding Association be successful in achieving their objectives they would prove to be a very useful and influential body within the industry.

In addition to the presentation given by Robert Candy a brief presentation was given by Richard Habgood regarding the role of the APS in providing construction health and safety risk management and John Carpenter regarding the objectives of the TWf and their ongoing projects.

The Scaffolding Association provide a clear Mission Statement:

We strive to continuously improve competence and minimise risk across the scaffolding industry, by:

• Supporting the whole of the industry through a competence-based accreditation scheme, in line with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
• Working with procurement partners and other interested parties to ensure the right information is available to enable the safe commissioning of scaffolding projects.
• Providing accessible, robust technical guidance for scaffolders and their clients.
• Encouraging high standards of training and competence across the industry.

Related Links:
The Scaffolding Association The Temporary Works Forum (TWf) (48.3 Scaffold Design Ltd is a member of the Temporary Works Forum)