Edge protection is an important element in scaffolding structures, with guardrails to prevent individuals from falling off of platforms, and safety ladders making it easier to reach upper levels safely too.
The coming two years could prove to be a once in a generation opportunity to drive home the importance of edge protecting in the minds of a whole new intake of professionals into the scaffolding industry.
That is because Kevin Ward, the new president of the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation, has set the organisation’s members the target of creating at least 400 new apprenticeships during his two-year term of office.
For each one, £100 will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust, making a potential minimum donation of £40,000 if the target is reached.
More importantly though, it is a chance to truly instil in a generation of new scaffolders the importance of safety ladders and guardrails to protect the route to upper levels, and around the edges of fixed structures and roofs as well.
By doing so, this particular discipline could make its own valuable contribution towards building on already high safety standards, to ensure working at height continues to become safer in the years ahead.