SIA assists in plank standards update

The Scaffold Industry Association (SIA) recently assisted in a Cal/OSHA Board Advisory Committee meeting about scaffold plank design requirement on behalf of a request from the California Research and Standards Safety Unit.

Members from the SIA's platform council and oversight committee along with various manufacturers, associations and labor unions came together to create draft text to update California OSHA standard 1637.

The issue lies in the current standard's lack of addressing laminated veneer lumber scaffold plank and proper labeling of solid sawn scaffold planks that have come into the market over the past few years, the SIA says. Also, standards currently focus on Douglas fir scaffold plank grade materials, where the industry as a whole is predominantly solid sawn Southern yellow Pine and laminated veneer lumber scaffold plank.

The committee came to a conclusion over a two-day period on the draft with updated definitions, design guidelines, labeling instructions and construction requirements for engineered wood, fabricated and solid sawn scaffold planks.

The proposal will be reviewed and approved by the Office of Administrative Law before changes go into affect, which could take up to a year, the SIA says.