Just one month after the serious injury of a worker in Perth from a scaffold stair collapse, there was another incident with scaffold stairs on the Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd site at Lyell McEwin Hospital in north Adelaide on September 25.

‘The problem appears to have been the use of enclosed lifts on the stairs which were not adequately secured to the scaffold,’ says SA Safety Officer Darren Roberts.

‘A gust of wind seems to have picked up the top flight of stairs – like a sail – and sent it crashing on to the flight below and the two fell a further couple of flights.

‘Luckily, because of the wind, workers were off-site at the time.’

Union intervention has ensured the scaffolder has rectified the problem with doubles and clips to lock the stairs down on the hospital site. But the enclosed rises can’t be removed until Safe Work SA has completed their investigations.

The CFMEU is concerned, however, that the scaffolder hasn’t undertaken similar rectifications on their staircases on other jobs.

‘It’s also important to ensure that the stairs are supported by a stair transom, which has an extended lip at the bottom,’ Darren warns.

Any workers who are concerned about the safety of scaffold stairs on their jobs should contact the union.