The HSE has issued a safety alert to the construction industry, scaffolding companies and scaffolding suppliers, urging immediate measures to prevent unauthorised access onto scaffolding and other work platforms to be taken.

With the school summer holidays now here, it is essential for all companies to act upon HSE’s notice to prevent the risk of injury or death from unauthorised access to work platforms, as such accidents frequently involve children.

PASMA recommends preventing unauthorised access for any tower that will be left assembled for any length of time. PASMA’s pavement license guide states that in order to prevent unauthorised access/use “all lower access to the mobile tower should be removed or suitably and sufficiently covered.” For example: cordoning off the work-site with fencing or applying a guard to block people from climbing the tower.

A safe method of access (and preventing unauthorised access) needs to be considered in the risk assessment before any work at height is undertaken. You need to assess and record your risk assessment, paying attention to how you manage access to and from any work platform.

Please review the alert here and take the appropriate action required.