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SECTION 2: Platforms & Walkways
Except when used only as a walkway, the platform is the work area
of scaffold. All scaffolds must be fully planked or decked between
front uprights and guardrails supports. Scaffold and scaffold components,
including platforms, must be capable of supporting, without failure,
its own weight and at least 4 times the maximum intended load applied
or transmitted to it.
Planking (top)
No gaps greater than 1 inch are permitted between adjacent planks
or deck units, or between the platform and the uprights,
unless the comp etent
person can demonstrate that the wider space is
necessary. On those occasions, the gap needs to be as
small as possible and
must not exceed 9½ inches.
Wooden planking must not be covered with opaque finishes, except
for edges marked for identification. Platforms may be coated periodically
with wood preservatives, fire retardants, and slip-resistant finishes,
provided they do not obscure the top or bottom wood surfaces.
Scaffold platforms and walkways must be at least 18-inches wide,
unless they are used in areas the competent person deems to narrow
and smaller planking must be used. On those occasions, the platforms
must be as wide as feasible, and fall protection must be provided.
Nothing
that could cause a slip, trip or fall (i.e. tools, scrap material,
chemicals, snow, ice, etc.) is allowed to accumulate on
the work platform.
Working Distance (top)
No gaps greater than 14-inches are permitted between the structure
being worked on and the scaffold platform, except when lathing
and plastering.
The gap may be 18 inches wide.
Overlaps (top)
Platforms must be cleated, nailed or otherwise restrained at each
end, or else overlap the centerline support at least 6-inches.
Unless it is designed and installed to support employees and materials
without tipping, or designed to block employee access, each end of
a platform must not extend over its support more than 12-inches,
for platforms 10 feet or shorter in length. Platforms 10 feet or
longer must not extend over supports more than 18 inches.
On scaffolds where platforms are overlapped to create a long platform,
the overlap may only occur over supports, and may not be less than
12 inches, unless the platforms are restrained (i.e., nailed together)
to prevent movement.
On scaffolds where platforms are abutted to create a long platform,
each abutted end must rest on a separate support surface, with
the exception of the use of shared support members such as "T" sections,
and hook-on platforms that rest on common supports, etc.
When platforms must overlap because of changes in direction, such
as turning a corner, platforms that rest on a bearer at an angle
other than a right angle shall be laid first, and platforms that
rest at right angles over the same bearer shall be laid second,
on top of the first platform.
Brackets (top)
When brackets are used to support cantilevered platforms, they must:
- Be seated with side-brackets parallel to the frames, and end-brackets
at 90 degrees to the frame
- Be used only to support personnel, unless the scaffold has
been designed for other loads by a qualified engineer and built
to withstand
the tipping forces caused by other loads.
Capacity (top)
Scaffolds or their components must not be loaded beyond their maximum
capacity, which is their own weight and 4:1 the maximum intended
load. Some common ways scaffolds are overloaded include:
- Too many people being on the platform
- Too much material being stored on the platform
- Point loading, or concentrating too much of the load in one
area
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