How to choose the right scaffolding
26/02/2015
When buying access equipment, it’s important to shop for the right piece of kit for the job – not just a budget buy or something that will do. Purchasing equipment that’s considerably cheaper than the rest of the market is not a great investment if it doesn’t provide the safety and durability you need.
There are a lot of factors that need to be considered when choosing your access equipment. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at how to choose the right scaffolding for your needs…
Safety comes first
There’s no doubt about it, scaffolding may be one of the priciest bits of kit you’ll invest in. But there’s a reason for that; there are a lot of materials, features and thought that go into creating reliable, durable and safe scaffolding structures and this costs.
We always recommend that you buy a scaffold that meets all European safety requirements – such as an EN1004 tower – as the wrong choice, with no safety accreditations could cost you your life.
EN1004 towers, like those stocked at Browns Ladders, offer:
- Proper purpose designed platforms supplied with the tower and at the right quantity.
- Stabilisers supplied as part of the towers. Stabilisers should never be considered as an add-on accessory.
- Built in safe access with safe distances between the rungs and slip resistance surfaces.
- Safe guardrails included in the design.
- Comprehensive user instructions and information.
While picking a safe scaffold tower is important, it’s also key that you’re trained to use the product safely. In fact, you may like to consider some of our safety training courses, such as our In House Ladders, Steps & Towers and Nationally Recognised Accredited Scaffold Towers course.
Identify your requirements
Having a clear idea why you need scaffolding and what you need it for will help you to find the right type of scaffolding for your requirements. Building, rendering and roofing all have very different requirements and there are a number of scaffolding options available for each of these types of jobs.
It’s also important to pick scaffolding that’s sturdy enough to support not only your weight, but also the weight of any helpers and equipment that you may have with you.
You’ll also need to consider whether your job requires you to move the scaffold from one area to another, or if you’ll be able to work from fixed scaffold for some time.
Consider the heights you’ll be working at
All our scaffold towers clearly highlight their dimensions – which you can use to assess which tower will give you the working height you need.
Most accidents are caused by user error, rather than defects in the tower. So it’s important to make sure you choose the right height tower to prevent you overstretching and potentially falling from a height.
Product recommendations
At Browns Ladders we have a large range of safe and sturdy scaffold towers and make it easy to find the right one for your needs.
We’d recommend:
The Lyte LIFT Tower Scaffold – A 3T compatible tower that contains extra horizontal braces, hatch decks and diagonal braces to conform to the latest regulations. It fits into most small vans or estate cars and is quick and easy to erect.
The Sigmadeck Low Level Access Tower – One of the best moveable towers you’ll find at Browns Ladders. It offers a six-rung frame for more choice in working heights, has compact folded dimensions, is weather proof and offers anti-skid decking.
The Lyte HiLyte Leader GRP 500 Mobile Access Tower – available in both single width and double width, this 1.8m tower has non-conductive/sparking, non-corroding / non-oxidising properties and is ideal for working with electrics.
To find out any more about our recommended towers, or any other Browns Ladders towers, visit out Tower Scaffold page.