Risk Assessment for Scaffold Erection and Dismantling Activities

Assessment Date: [DATE]

Assessor: [ASSESSOR NAME]

Department/Area: [DEPARTMENT/AREA]

Review Date: [REVIEW DATE]

1. Assessment Scope

This risk assessment covers scaffold erection, alteration, inspection, use during erection and dismantling, and dismantling of supported scaffolds for construction activities. It includes work at height hazards, scaffold stability, access and egress, load capacity, falling object hazards, electrical exposure, weather-related conditions, and the use of fall protection and PPE. The assessment applies to scaffold erectors, dismantlers, competent persons, supervisors, and other workers who may be exposed to scaffold-related hazards in the work area. It excludes detailed design engineering calculations for non-standard scaffolds, which must be completed by a qualified designer or manufacturer where required, and it excludes unrelated construction activities not directly associated with scaffold erection or dismantling. [1] [1]

2. Risk Assessment Methodology

This assessment uses a structured hazard identification and risk evaluation approach based on a 5x5 matrix. Each hazard is evaluated for likelihood and severity before controls are applied, then reassessed for residual risk after controls. Controls are selected using the hierarchy of controls, prioritizing elimination and substitution where practicable, followed by engineering controls, administrative controls, and PPE. The assessment also incorporates competent person oversight, inspection requirements, safe erection and dismantling sequencing, and emergency preparedness measures. [8] [1]

3. Risk Matrix Reference

The following matrix is used to evaluate risk levels based on likelihood and severity:

		Likelihood
Rare	Unlikely	Possible	Likely	Almost Certain
Severity	Catastrophic	Low	Low	Low	Medium	Medium
Major	Low	Low	Medium	Medium	High
Moderate	Low	Medium	Medium	High	High
Minor	Medium	Medium	High	High	Extreme
Negligible	Medium	High	High	Extreme	Extreme

4. Hazard Identification and Risk Evaluation

1. Falls from unprotected scaffold edges, incomplete platforms, or during erection and dismantling when guardrails, ladders, and full decking are not yet installed.

Potential Consequences: A fall from height can result in fractures, spinal injury, traumatic brain injury, permanent disability, or fatality. Erectors and dismantlers are especially exposed because they work on partially completed structures. [1] [1]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, supervisors, nearby workers, and any person entering the scaffold work zone.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Likely	Catastrophic	Extreme

Control Measures

• Eliminate exposure by assembling as much scaffold as possible from the ground before workers access elevated levels.
• Use engineering controls such as guardrails, fully planked platforms, and approved personal fall arrest systems where feasible and where they do not create a greater hazard.
• Establish a competent-person-approved erection and dismantling sequence that limits time spent on unprotected edges.
• Restrict access to authorized erectors and dismantlers only until the scaffold is completed and inspected.
• Provide and enforce use of appropriate fall protection PPE, including full-body harnesses, connectors, and compatible anchorage systems.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Catastrophic	High

2. Scaffold collapse or instability caused by improper footing, missing base plates, inadequate bracing, out-of-plumb assembly, or failure to tie or brace the scaffold to the structure.

Potential Consequences: Collapse can cause multiple falls, crushing injuries, struck-by injuries, and fatality. Instability may also damage adjacent structures or equipment. [2] [3]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, workers on the scaffold, workers below, and nearby public or site personnel.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Possible	Catastrophic	Extreme

Control Measures

• Eliminate unstable support conditions by selecting firm, level, and capable footing before erection begins.
• Use engineering controls including base plates, mudsills, screw jacks, plumb and level assembly, and proper ties, guys, and braces.
• Follow manufacturer instructions and engineered specifications for scaffold configuration and load limits.
• Require competent-person inspection of footing, bracing, plumbness, and tie-in points before use and after any change in condition.
• Remove from service any scaffold with missing, loose, damaged, or incompatible components.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Catastrophic	High

3. Overloading of scaffold platforms beyond intended load capacity due to excessive materials, concentrated loads, or improper storage of tools and equipment.

Potential Consequences: Overloading can lead to platform failure, collapse, falling objects, and serious injury or death to workers on or below the scaffold. [2] [5]

Affected Persons: Workers on the scaffold, workers below, and anyone in the drop zone.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Possible	Major	High

Control Measures

• Eliminate unnecessary materials from the platform and stage materials only as needed for the task.
• Use engineering controls by ensuring the scaffold is designed to support its own weight and four times the maximum intended load.
• Mark and communicate maximum load limits and prohibit makeshift load increases such as using ladders, blocks, or buckets.
• Assign a competent person to verify loading conditions during erection, use, and dismantling.
• Train workers to distribute loads near bearers and supports rather than concentrating weight in the center of planks.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Major	Medium

4. Falling objects such as tools, fasteners, scaffold components, or materials striking workers below or nearby persons.

Potential Consequences: Falling objects can cause head injury, eye injury, lacerations, fractures, or fatality. They may also damage equipment or create secondary incidents. [9] [7]

Affected Persons: Workers on the scaffold, workers below, visitors, contractors, and the public near the work zone.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Likely	Major	High

Control Measures

• Eliminate loose items from elevated work areas where practicable and secure tools and materials before work begins.
• Install toe boards, screens, debris nets, catch platforms, or canopy structures where falling object exposure exists.
• Barricade the area beneath the scaffold to keep personnel and vehicles out of the drop zone.
• Require hard hats for exposed personnel and maintain housekeeping to prevent items from being kicked or dislodged.
• Use tool lanyards or tethering systems for hand tools when working at height.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Major	Medium

5. Unsafe access and egress, including climbing cross braces, missing ladders, or using unstable means to reach scaffold platforms.

Potential Consequences: Workers may fall while accessing the scaffold, suffer sprains, fractures, or fatal injuries, or lose balance while carrying materials. [1] [3]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, and workers using the scaffold.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Likely	Major	High

Control Measures

• Eliminate climbing on cross braces by providing proper access before workers are required to reach elevated levels.
• Install ladders, stair towers, ramps, or other safe access as soon as practicable during erection.
• Use engineering controls such as attachable or hook-on ladders where appropriate and ensure access points are stable and unobstructed.
• Train workers to use designated access routes only and prohibit improvised access methods.
• Inspect access equipment daily and remove damaged ladders or access components from service.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Major	Medium

6. Electrical contact with overhead power lines or energized equipment during erection, use, or dismantling.

Potential Consequences: Contact or arcing can cause electrocution, burns, arc flash injury, secondary falls, fire, or equipment damage. [5] [4]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, workers on the scaffold, nearby workers, and the public.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Possible	Catastrophic	Extreme

Control Measures

• Eliminate exposure by relocating the scaffold or de-energizing and isolating electrical hazards where feasible.
• Maintain required clearance distances from overhead power lines and energized equipment.
• Use engineering controls such as physical barriers, warning lines, and non-conductive materials where appropriate.
• Conduct a pre-job hazard assessment to identify power line locations and site-specific electrical hazards.
• Train workers to recognize electrical hazards and prohibit scaffold assembly in unsafe proximity to energized conductors.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Catastrophic	High

7. Unsafe dismantling due to structural alteration, loss of stability, or removal of components in the wrong sequence.

Potential Consequences: Improper dismantling can cause collapse, falls, struck-by incidents, and serious injury or death. [4] [1]

Affected Persons: Scaffold dismantlers, nearby workers, and anyone below the scaffold.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Possible	Catastrophic	Extreme

Control Measures

• Eliminate unnecessary dismantling exposure by planning the sequence before work starts and removing components in a controlled order.
• Stabilize or reconstruct the scaffold before dismantling if it has been altered or damaged.
• Use competent-person supervision throughout dismantling and prohibit unauthorized personnel from the scaffold.
• Maintain fall protection and safe access until the scaffold is reduced to a safe height.
• Inspect components as they are removed and segregate damaged parts for repair or disposal.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Catastrophic	High

8. Slips, trips, and loss of footing caused by wet, icy, snowy, muddy, cluttered, or uneven scaffold platforms and work areas.

Potential Consequences: Workers may fall from the platform or strike scaffold components, resulting in sprains, fractures, head injury, or fatality. [4] [7]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, and workers using the scaffold.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Likely	Major	High

Control Measures

• Eliminate slippery conditions by stopping work when surfaces cannot be made safe.
• Use housekeeping controls to keep platforms free of debris, loose materials, and trip hazards.
• Provide slip-resistant footwear and maintain fully planked, level working surfaces.
• Suspend work during severe weather, ice, snow, or high winds when conditions increase risk.
• Inspect platforms before each shift and after weather changes.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Major	Medium

9. Use of defective, incompatible, or damaged scaffold components, planks, couplers, or locking pins.

Potential Consequences: Component failure can cause instability, collapse, falls, or falling object incidents. [3] [5]

Affected Persons: Scaffold erectors, dismantlers, workers on the scaffold, and workers below.

Initial Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Possible	Major	High

Control Measures

• Eliminate defective components from service immediately and replace them with compliant parts.
• Use only compatible scaffold components from the same system or manufacturer unless structural integrity is maintained by design.
• Inspect all parts before erection, during use, and during dismantling for cracks, splits, missing pins, loose connections, or damage.
• Store and transport components to prevent bending, corrosion, or impact damage.
• Require competent-person verification of planks, frames, braces, and couplers before the scaffold is released for use.

Residual Risk Assessment

Likelihood	Severity	Risk Rating
Unlikely	Major	Medium

5. General Control Measures

• Assign a competent person to supervise erection, alteration, inspection, and dismantling of all scaffold work.

The competent person should verify footing, bracing, access, fall protection feasibility, load limits, and overall scaffold condition before work proceeds. [1]

• Implement a pre-task hazard assessment and job-specific erection and dismantling plan before scaffold work begins.

The plan should address site conditions, access, fall protection, load limits, weather, power lines, and the sequence of assembly and disassembly. [5]

• Inspect scaffolds before each work shift and after any event that could affect stability or safety.

Inspections should cover footing, plumbness, ties, braces, platforms, access, guardrails, planks, and signs of damage or alteration. Defective scaffolds must be tagged out and removed from service. [5]

• Provide and enforce fall protection and falling object protection appropriate to the scaffold type and task.

Use guardrails, PFAS, toe boards, screens, debris nets, or barricades as required by the scaffold configuration and work conditions. [9]

• Restrict scaffold access to trained and authorized personnel only until erection is complete and the scaffold has been inspected.

Barricade the area and prevent unauthorized entry beneath or onto partially completed scaffolds. [1]

6. Emergency Preparedness

• Establish a fall rescue plan before work begins, including prompt rescue of suspended workers, communication methods, and access for emergency responders. Workers must know how to summon help and how rescue will be initiated if a fall arrest system is deployed.
• Provide first aid and emergency response arrangements for fall injuries, struck-by incidents, electrical contact, and scaffold collapse. Emergency procedures should include site isolation, medical notification, and control of secondary hazards such as unstable scaffold sections or fallen materials.
• If scaffold instability, severe weather, or electrical hazards are identified, stop work immediately, evacuate the scaffold, and secure the area until the competent person confirms it is safe to resume.
• Maintain clear access routes for emergency services and keep the scaffold drop zone and surrounding area free of obstructions so responders can reach injured workers quickly.
• After any incident, preserve the scene where possible, report the event through site procedures, and conduct a competent-person review before restarting scaffold work.

7. Training Requirements

• Competent Person and Authorized Worker Training: All scaffold erection and dismantling activities must be performed by experienced, trained, and authorized workers under the direction of a competent person. Training should cover hazard recognition, corrective actions, inspection authority, and stop-work expectations. [1]
  • Authority and responsibilities of the competent person
  • Recognition of unstable conditions and defective components
  • Authorization limits for scaffold access during erection and dismantling
• Fall Protection Training: Workers must be trained in the correct use, limitations, inspection, and anchorage requirements of guardrails, personal fall arrest systems, and other fall protection methods used during scaffold erection and dismantling. [6]
  • Proper donning and inspection of full-body harnesses
  • Compatibility of connectors and anchorage points
  • When fall protection is required and when a greater-hazard evaluation is needed
• Scaffold Inspection and Tagging Training: Inspectors and supervisors must be trained to identify defects, determine when a scaffold must be tagged out, and verify that the scaffold is safe before each shift and after changes in condition. [5]
  • Inspection of footing, plumbness, bracing, ties, and access
  • Recognition of damaged planks, pins, couplers, and frames
  • Use of red-tag/green-tag or equivalent control systems
• Load Capacity and Materials Handling Training: Workers must understand scaffold load limits, safe material placement, and the consequences of overloading or uneven loading. Training should emphasize keeping loads within rated capacity and placing materials near supports. [5]
  • Maximum intended load and rated capacity
  • Safe distribution of materials and tools
  • Prohibition on makeshift height increases
• Access, Erection, and Dismantling Procedure Training: Workers must be trained on the approved sequence for erection and dismantling, safe access methods, and the prohibition on climbing braces or using improvised access devices. [1] [4]
  • Safe installation of ladders, stair towers, or ramps
  • Sequence of assembly and disassembly
  • Safe handling of scaffold components during movement and removal

8. Monitoring and Review

Review Frequency: Annually and after any incident, near miss, significant scaffold modification, change in site conditions, or change in applicable regulations or work methods.

Monitoring Type	Frequency	Responsible Party	Description
Competent Person Inspection	Before each work shift and after any event that may affect scaffold integrity	Competent person	Inspect scaffold footing, plumbness, ties, braces, platforms, access, guardrails, planking, and signs of damage or alteration. Remove defective scaffolds from service immediately. [5]
Load and Housekeeping Check	Daily during use and continuously during erection/dismantling	Foreman or competent person	Verify that materials are distributed safely, platforms remain free of debris and slip/trip hazards, and no scaffold is loaded beyond its intended capacity. [5]
Fall Protection Verification	Before elevated work begins and whenever scaffold configuration changes	Competent person and supervisor	Confirm that guardrails, PFAS, anchorage, and access arrangements are in place and appropriate for the scaffold type and erection stage. [1]
Weather and Environmental Monitoring	Continuously during work and before resuming after weather changes	Supervisor	Monitor wind, rain, snow, ice, lightning, and visibility conditions. Stop work when conditions increase the likelihood of slips, loss of balance, or scaffold instability. [7]
Access and Exclusion Zone Monitoring	Continuous while scaffold erection or dismantling is in progress	Supervisor and competent person	Ensure only authorized workers are on the scaffold, access routes remain unobstructed, and the area below the scaffold remains barricaded to protect others from falling objects and unauthorized entry. [1]

9. Special Circumstances

• Weather conditions such as high winds, rain, snow, ice, lightning, or poor visibility can significantly increase the risk of falls, loss of footing, and scaffold instability. Work should be paused or rescheduled when conditions cannot be controlled safely.
• Night work or low-light conditions increase the likelihood of missteps, missed defects, and poor communication. Additional lighting, supervision, and access control are required if work must continue after dark.
• Lone work on scaffold erection or dismantling is not recommended because rescue and emergency response may be delayed. Where lone work cannot be avoided, enhanced communication and check-in procedures are required.
• Work near overhead power lines, adjacent structures, public walkways, or active vehicle routes requires additional exclusion zones, spotters, and coordination to prevent contact or struck-by incidents.
• Irregular building geometry, limited access, or constrained footing may require a more detailed feasibility review for fall protection and scaffold stability before erection begins.

Approval and Sign-off

This risk assessment has been reviewed and approved by:

Assessor: _________________________ Date: __________

Manager/Supervisor: _________________________ Date: __________

Safety Representative: _________________________ Date: __________

This risk assessment must be reviewed annually and after any incident, near miss, significant scaffold modification, change in site conditions, or change in applicable regulations or work methods. or when significant changes occur.

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