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OSHA: The Importance of Scaffolding Safety

There are many unsung heroes in the construction industry, and it’s safe to say that the less visible their skills are in terms of the finished product, the more essential they are likely to be. Perhaps the most important function in terms of site safety and success of the finished project is that of the scaffolding contractor. Highly-trained and rigorously tested, the scaffolder is the guy that enables other trades to get the job done on time, and on budget.
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The job might be a relatively straightforward residential or commercial build, or something larger-scale, such as Georgia Power’s new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle. The extra capacity will produce enough electricity to cover the needs of approximately one million homes and businesses in the state. The company providing the industrial scaffolding for this build were South Eastern Carpenters, and their impressive 2.6 million man hours for the main contractor, and an additional one million for the sub-contractor resulted in no serious injuries; an excellent record for such a build.
Not every job goes quite so smoothly in terms of its safety record, however. Workplace safety is an ongoing concern in the US construction industry, and the Department of Labor’s list of the ten most frequent health and safety violations published last October served only to underline that the list never really changes. Year on year, inspectors report the same workplace hazards, and whilst the figure of 4,500 people who die at work every year might be sobering enough, the figure for those injured at work – some 3 million – is staggering.
Considering that scaffolding projects usually involve working at a height, it’s no surprise that the top three offenders on that list are fall protection (including poorly-positioned and secured ladders), hazard communication (including inadequate training and hand-off), and scaffolding safety issues. The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps a record of deaths at work – the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) shows 54 deaths from scaffolding and staging falls in 2009. The accidents occur most commonly when planks or supports give way, or through worker error or disregard for safe working practices. Slips and falls are easy if workers are tired, or are not concentrating on the job. Failure to alert workers at a lower level when dropping materials to the ground can also result in strike injuries.
However, by following OSHA guidelines, it’s simple enough to take the maximum precautions necessary to minimize the risk of workplace accidents. Following platform construction instructions to the letter, and securing planking are the basics, and additional considerations such as instructions – and regular checks – to avoid unnecessary clutter on the platforms, and guardrails where appropriate on open sides further lessens the risk of trip hazards resulting in falls from the structure.
Key for everything within the building industry is training – in addition to updating and learning new skills, workplace safety qualifications are more than just another certificate to add to a portfolio to impress an employer; one day, they could save not just your life, but those of your colleagues too.

 

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Renovating History: Louisiana’s Capitol Building

Louisiana’s art deco capitol building isn’t just the tallest building in Baton Rouge, it’s the tallest capitol building in the United States of America. ‘Huey Long’s Monument’, as it is often called, was started in 1930, and inaugurated two years later, and was made a National Historic Landmark in 1982.
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 However, after 80 years, the building was beginning to show its age, and in 2013, the year-long project to carry out essential renovation works was completed. Part of a bigger overall project, this phase was concerned with the heating and air-conditioning systems, and cost in the region of $8 million.
Although the majority of this stage of the renovation project was out of sight, Duane Meeks, a Stuart and Co. contractor, said that “everything is basically maintained with the original style”. The job involved installing two 10 inch steel pipes through the Senate and House chambers on each side of the building, from the basement out to the rotunda.
Inspired partly by the unexpected discovery of “dirty magazines from the 1980s” hidden inside a basement bathroom wall, his contractors decided on a slightly less colorful selection of time capsules for future crews to find when they too were carrying out renovation works in years to come – amongst the items in their time capsules were newspapers and magazines, in particular the copy of the Times-Picayune from the day after President Barack Obama’s re-election.
The same Baton Rouge based company also carried out a program of security renovations, with a budget of just under $5 million. The bill of quantities included 500 steel pipe bollards, and 450 feet of pre-cast concrete walls to extend around the perimeter of the Capitol building. The art deco aesthetics were kept to, as the surrounding gardens were extensively landscaped. They also installed a new parking lot, with more retractable steel bollards for ease of access, and with a guard hut at the entrance points. This didn’t just look good – it won the ABC Excellence in Construction award for perimeter security.
The Old State Capitol hasn’t been neglected either – overlooking the Mississippi River, the building is a twice the age of its newer replacement. James H. Dakin’s Gothic Revival-style building was finished in 1852, and was built in preparation for the state capitol’s move from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Falling into considerable disrepair from the 1930s when it ceased to be the capitol building, the building was threatened with demolition in 1991. The architects that oversaw the painstaking renovation – E. Eean McNaughton – removed the unsightly layer of cement that was around the exterior, and restored the cast iron fence dating from 1855. Now the Museum of Political History, the old capitol building is now something of an exhibit in its own right.
Renovation works are some of the most painstaking and specialist construction projects out there, requiring specialist materials as well as specialist skills. However, enabling historic buildings to share their stories with new generations makes the cost worth it.