Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Scaffolding Used in Polish Cities: Focus on Safety

Abstract

Despite strict safety regulations and general awareness of risks related with work at height, scaffoldings are associated with many accidents. The scale of the problem of unsafe scaffolding can be indirectly analysed on the basis of individual accident reports and statistics. However, the total number, types, purposes, sizes, and condition of scaffoldings used in the practice of Polish construction sites have not been assessed do far. The authors intend to fill this gap by conducting regular observation of scaffoldings erected in selected Polish urban areas. This paper presents the methodology of data collection and compares scaffoldings observed in two big cities, Warsaw and Poznań. Although the method misses scaffoldings out of sight of the assessor and, due to urban locations, focuses on building and not industrial or infrastructure projects, it gives a good idea of the qualities of scaffoldings in use, and enables estimating changes in the number of scaffoldings over the year. As comes from the analysis, frame scaffoldings are the most popular type used in Polish construction. Users commonly choose the narrowest option (less than 70 cm of usable width of the platform) and apply them to a variety of works, be it placing concrete, cladding walls with ETICS or even heavy stone elements, or providing access to roofs. Modular scaffoldings are second most popular, whereas the tube and fitting type is used in extremely rare cases. Small projects (individual housing, small-scale repairs) frequently rely on combination of elements of systems scaffoldings and are often incomplete. Interestingly, "bad scaffoldings" do not appear only in remote suburbs. As for the changes of the number of scaffoldings over the year, the pattern is not as clear as could be expected in the case of a cold climate country. The findings indicate that occupational safety culture is still low.