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Safety on scaffolding for the fall and winter season – what should you remember?
Autumn and winter last about six months in Poland. During this time, people working at heights are exposed to seasonal risks and problems at work. This is the time when all kinds of weather problems will occur. Here’s what you need to consider when entering the fall / winter season when there is little light, lots of wind and lots of moisture. What should you pay attention to during these colder months when working at heights and using scaffolding for your work?
Bad weather
The fall and winter season is characterized by more severe weather conditions than the spring and summer season. Of course, in summer there may be thunderstorms, but it is the autumn and winter season that there is a lot of rainfall, snow and very intense winds. In addition, the temperature drops close to or even below zero, which causes frost and even ice, which is also a hazardous for people working at heights. The truth is that in bad weather you should not climb the scaffolding as it can be really dangerous.
In order for the works to be continued regularly in the fall-winter season, it is worth introducing special safety procedures well in advance, thanks to which people working at heights will know how to behave in given situations. In addition, in bad weather, it is also worth introducing the marking in motion, so that all wet surfaces are marked and that everyone knows about their existence. It is also important to provide employees with appropriate work clothes that will protect them from the cold. We are talking about all kinds of sweatshirts, jackets and even caps. However, it should also be remembered that each employee also wears personal protective equipment, such as helmets or reflectors. Thanks to this, it will be visible in all conditions, even after dark.
No sunlight
In the autumn and winter season, the day is slowly shortened in favor of the night. There are fewer and fewer hours of sunlight , it gets dark faster and therefore also dangerous. This means that people on the scaffold will work in low light, so visibility may be limited to some extent. In such conditions, you need to be much more careful as you may trip over something and even slip.
Weather conditions affect the scaffolding
The weather conditions mentioned at the beginning are dangerous not only for people, but also for the scaffolding itself, on which people move. As in the case of train tracks, the scaffolding can react differently to cold or heat, which affects the safety of their use. In addition, even very stable scaffolding can collapse in very strong winds that happen from time to time. We are talking about winds which reach more than 60 km/h
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