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🏗️ Saudi Aramco Scaffold Safety Handbook – Key Safety Guidelines
Issued by: Loss Prevention Department
Published by: Training and Career Development
Latest Revision: July 2020
Saudi Aramco’s Scaffold Safety Handbook outlines critical safety requirements for scaffolding operations across all company project sites—onshore and offshore. It sets a high standard for temporary elevated work areas, ensuring protection for workers and safe execution of tasks involving scaffolds, ladders, and elevated platforms.
🔍 1. Purpose & Scope
- Establishes minimum safety and technical requirements.
- Applies to all operational, maintenance, and construction activities involving temporary elevated work areas at Saudi Aramco sites.
- Includes tube & coupler, system, mobile, underhung, bracket, and frame scaffolds.
- Excludes sky climbers, boatswain’s chairs, catenary and float scaffolds, pump jacks, and others (for these, refer to GS 217/1994 or OSHA 1926.450).
📐 2. Standards & References
Mandatory Standards Include:
- Saudi Aramco GI & SAES Standards
- GI 8.001: Scaffold safety requirements
- SAES-A-204: Structural calculations
- ANSI, OSHA, ASTM, BS, and EN Standards
- OSHA 1926.450–454 (scaffolding regulations)
- BS 1139, EN 39 for tube specs
- ASTM A53, A123 for scaffold materials
🪜 3. Scaffold Safety Requirements
🔹 Fall Protection (Section 9.5.1)
- Required when fall risk > 1.8m (6 feet).
- Prefer guardrails; otherwise, use Personal Fall Arrest Systems (PFAS).
- Scaffold craftsmen must wear full body harness with a shock-absorbing lanyard during erection, alteration, or dismantling.
🔹 Guardrail Systems (9.5.2)
- Installed on all sides where fall > 1.8m.
- Toprail: 0.95m–1.15m above platform.
- Midrail halfway between platform and toprail.
- Toeboards mandatory if platform >1.8m above lower level.
🔹 Personal Fall Arrest Systems (9.5.3)
- Full body harness, lanyard, anchorage, and lifelines rated for 5,000 lbs.
- Must not use body belts.
- Lifelines made of 3/8″ wire rope minimum.
🔹 Falling Object Protection (9.5.4)
- Use toeboards and screens to prevent falling tools/materials.
- Debris nets or canopies for added protection.
🛠️ 4. Ladder Safety (Section 9.6)
- Ladders must conform to ANSI A14 standards.
- Must not be used horizontally or for scaffold support.
- Ladders must be inspected before use, not painted, and free of defects.
- Extension ladders must extend at least 3 feet above the landing.
- Only one person per ladder; tools carried in belts or lifted with ropes.
🧱 5. Scaffold Types and Components (Sections 9.7–9.15)
- Types Covered:
- Tube and coupler
- System scaffolds
- Mobile & tower
- Bracket
- Underhung
- Components:
- Tubes: 48.3 mm OD steel (ASTM A500, A53)
- Couplers: Must meet BS/EN specs
- Planks: Solid sawn or LVL wood, no paint or coating
- Load ratings: Light (120 kg/m²), Medium (240 kg/m²), Special (>240 kg/m²)
⚠️ 6. Additional Safety Points
🚫 Prohibited:
- Using forklifts as scaffold platforms
- Working during high winds (>65 kph)
- Scaffolds near electrical hazards without precautions
✅ Required:
- Proper foundation using timber sills
- Inspection of all scaffold parts
- Adequate lighting (per SAES-P-123)
- Safe means of access (ladders, stairways)
📊 Conclusion & 📚⬇️
Saudi Aramco’s Scaffold Safety Handbook sets out detailed, enforceable, and clear safety protocols to reduce the risks associated with scaffold-related work. It aligns with international standards (OSHA, ANSI, BS, EN) while enforcing stricter internal practices, particularly for fall protection, structural integrity, and worker training.
