A major scaffold collapse has a great potential for multiple fatalities and injuries. The Republic has been very fortunate not to have seen more deaths from scaffolding accidents in recent years, according to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

Mr Robert Roe, a senior HSA inspector and chair of the committee which drafted the new Code of Practice on Working and Access Scaffolds which came into effect on Tuesday, says 11 of the 29 construction-related fatalities last year involved falls from heights.

The need for a code of practice became apparent following a series of "fairly spectacular scaffolding collapses which happened in 1997", such as a significant collapse in Grafton Street and another off Mount Street in Dublin, he says.

The new code explains how to build scaffold in an Irish context because the British guidance applies to a type of scaffold that isn't in common use in the Republic Irish scaffolding tends to be system scaffolding (a proprietary system made by a particular manufacturer usually unique to that manufacturer).

In Britain, they use "tube and coupler" which effectively is gas pipe. "It requires a lot of skill to build it," he says. The most important area addressed by the code is the management and control of scaffolding. The key to safety on any site is to get the right scaffold up at the right time and in the right place. It is a question of scheduling, timing and planning jobs, Mr Roe says.

Many scaffolds are tied through windows, with bars wider than the width of the window. "But if a plasterer wants to plaster the inside of the wall, that tie is in his way. If you planned the job properly, you'd realise this and you would put in another tie before he gets there in a different location so it's not in his way. If you haven't planned the job properly, he gets there, it's in his way, he knows he has to get the job done, there's nobody around to take the tie out so he does it. And then everyone is surprised when the scaffold keels over and falls." Hence, the stress in the code on planning. The code is not a new statutory requirement. It doesn't require you to do anything that isn't already required by the law. For instance, the construction regulations say: "No scaffold shall be erected or shall be substantially added to or altered or be dismantled except under the immediate supervision of a competent person and by persons trained and experienced in the kind of work."

But the code gives practical guidance on what training and competence mean. For instance, the FAS Construction Skills Certification Scheme for scaffolders or an equivalent course is now deemed the minimum requirement.

In the event of a prosecution, the onus of proof will be on the contractor to show that any training was comparable to that given by FAS.

The new code "can be used as evidence as to whether or not you were or were not complying with the requirements or the prohibitions set out in the relevant statutory provisions", he says. Mr Fergus Whelan of the ICTU says the trade unions and the Construction Industry Federation worked very hard on the code of practice over most of last year. However, he was "disappointed it was only seeing the light of day now, given that the Minister adopted it in December of last year" and "particularly since during that unofficial scaffolders' dispute a lot of the scaffolders were very concerned about the issue of safety". "We started out down this road of the Code of Practice because of seven major scaffold collapses in the city centre of Dublin a few years ago. They were the ones we knew about because they came down in full public view. How many other scaffolds collapsed that we never got to hear about?"

He hopes the code ensures that situation does not arise again. "There's no excuse for a scaffold collapsing in this day and age," he says.

The Code of Practice on Working and Access Scaffolds costs £5 (€6.35) and is available from the HSA, 10, Hogan Place, Dublin 2. Telephone: 01 614 7000. [SBX]

There is also a new training video and resource pack on scaffolding safety, price £50 (€63.50), also available from the HSA.