Scaffold accidents relative to South African construction

The aim of this research is to highlight the types, frequency and causes of accident experienced by the scaffold workers on construction sites. As a result, provide recommendations on how to prevent or reduce accidents of scaffolding contractors on construction sites A review of related literature was conducted, primarily to avoid repeating existing research, to generate new findings. The quantitative research approach was adopted, and a non-experimental research design was used for this research which prompted the use of questionnaires for scaffold site management and scaffold workers. The sampling included site scaffold management, supervisors, health and safety practitioners, scaffold labourers, scaffold fixers/erectors, scaffold team leaders/ charge hands and scaffold inspectors in the South African construction industry in all nine provinces. The research findings revealed that slips, trips and falls accidents, struck by accidents and caught in/between accidents were the common accidents affecting scaffold workers on construction sites. The results further revealed that unsafe acts and conditions were the main causes of scaffold accidents. The empirical findings also revealed that most scaffold accidents occur during dismantling, manual handling and erection of scaffolding. The respondents are mostly working in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. The research is vitally important for construction industry, scaffold contractors, clients and South African Department of Labour. It is recommended that a national accident register system be developed where accidents are captured and analysed to prevent possible accidents relative to scaffold contractors