Following concerning increases in work-at-height incidents, the national federation of construction workers' trade associations described old, traditional scaffolds as a critical workforce hazard and called for urgent intervention by the National Standards Organization and labour inspectors.
The Workforce Health and Safety Supporters news outlet, citing ILNA, reported renewed concern over construction-site safety and noncompliance with technical protection regulations. Falls remain a leading cause of death and disabling injury in construction, with many associated with nonstandard scaffolds.
Meysam Zolghi, head of the national construction workers' federation, attributed a substantial share of fatal incidents to old scaffolds, corroded tubes and nonstandard couplers. Safe modular systems are available domestically, but weak mandatory oversight allows obsolete equipment to remain in projects of all sizes.
Key construction safety challenges
– Missing periodic inspection and scaffold tagging: many sites lack pre-erection risk assessment and competent weekly inspections or inspections after weather changes.
– Inadequate PPE integration: scaffolds are often not coordinated with lifelines and connected harnesses, increasing workers' vulnerability.
– Missing competency certificates: scaffolds are frequently erected and dismantled by workers without technical skill certification.
Regulatory responsibilities and demands
Zolghi called for cooperation among the Iran National Standards Organization, Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare, and Construction Engineering Organization:
– Mandatory manufacturing and material standards for couplers, uprights and steel bracing, with deteriorated structures removed from use;
– Updating Chapter 12 of the National Building Regulations to require replacement of traditional scaffolds with prefabricated modular systems;
– Stronger joint field inspections and unannounced HSE audits, with stop-work notices for projects failing scaffold requirements.
Conclusion
The federation head described construction workers as the most valuable resource in infrastructure development. Protecting their lives and health is a nonnegotiable principle of safety engineering and employer social responsibility. Immediate implementation of HSE requirements should be a priority for responsible authorities.
Source links: hsenk.ir
Original publication date (Solar Hijri): 1405/06/23
Author: Dibagostaran Sanat