The SASO scaffold guide in 6 points

Updated 29 Oct 2026

1. Everyone has a named role

The employer carries the first responsibility for workers' safety: it appoints qualified supervisors, assesses the risk before work, provides emergency plans and protective equipment, and stops work in unsafe weather.

The safety officer assesses risks, prepares the emergency plan, keeps the inspection checklists and can stop work. The safety inspector checks equipment and erection and confirms training and protective equipment. The site supervisor obtains the work permit, checks the scaffold before work and stays until the work is finished. Workers use their protective equipment, follow instructions and report anything unsafe.

For the contractor: write the names down for every site: who supervises, who inspects, who can stop work.

2. Inspect at set times, by a competent person, in writing

The guide asks for an inspection before first use and after erection, before each shift, and again after a break in use, severe weather, an incident or any modification. The inspection is done by a competent person, with a checklist and a written record.

A scaffold found unsafe is stopped from use, not only tagged.

For the contractor: tie the inspection to the start of the shift and to the work permit, and keep the checklist in the scaffold's record.

3. Tags in three colours

Green: safe to use. Yellow: use only after the conditions written on the tag are met and recorded. Red: do not use until it is repaired; the tag says why.

Every tag shows the date, the inspector's name and the party responsible for the scaffold.

For the contractor: one tag system on every site, and a daily look at every yellow tag.

4. Assess the risk and follow the hierarchy of controls

The hazards the guide names include falls from height, falling objects, manual handling, collapse, weather, nearby traffic and electricity.

Controls go in order: remove the hazard, replace it with something safer, engineering controls, procedures, and personal protective equipment as the last line of defence. Avoid work at height where you can, and prefer collective protection such as guardrails to personal protection such as a harness.

For the contractor: a written risk assessment per scaffold or task, reviewed when the scope changes.

5. Design by a qualified person

Scaffolds are designed by a qualified specialist, with calculations. The guide asks for an engineer's design for suspended scaffolds, for mobile scaffolds that carry workers, and for fixed and metal scaffolds above the heights it sets. It also covers load classes, guardrails, toe boards, access and ties.

For the contractor: keep the design or calculation with the scaffold record, and send anything outside a standard configuration to a designer. The heights and values are in the original guide; read them there.

6. Train people and keep the records

Workers must be trained and medically fit for the type of scaffold and the task. Fall-protection training is recorded with names and signatures.

The guide asks you to keep inspection checklists, fall-protection equipment inspections, maintenance and replacement logs and handover certificates, on site, for the periods it sets.

For the contractor: one folder or app record per scaffold: design, handover, inspections, changes, and the people who signed.