Most common causes of injury in UK workplaces

According to the latest figures from the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, slips, trips and falls account for the single most common cause of major injury in UK workplaces today. Preventing slips, trips and falls is a challenge faced by employers around the globe and across all industries. One of the issues surrounding slips and trips are the injuries that can be sustained by employees falling into or against equipment as a result of slips and trips or working in confined environments.

Aberdeen based Scaffpad Europe Ltd has been addressing this issue since the late 1990s by providing worksites with a completely unique, simple and effective means of enclosing protruding objects such as scaffold joints, brackets and pipes. A simple foam pad with integral straps, Scaffpad® was created in direct response to the very problem of reducing impact injuries caused through slips and trips in the offshore working environment.

While working on an offshore platform in the North Sea, Michelle Sey was approached by one of the Scaffolding Foreman seeking a solution for a serious problem that they had encountered. An increasing number of personnel had sustained injuries, some requiring stitches, through contact with protruding scaffold coupling brackets and bolts. These were typically covered with old rags and barrier tape but a more substantial and permanent solution was deemed necessary. Scaffpad’s unique and effective design ensured it was a success from day one, providing a re-usable high visibility padded covering for scaffold bolts, joints and couplings.

Scaffpad® is an extremely durable, flame retardant covered foam pad that fixes easily over protruding joints and bolts without the need for additional parts or tools.  The integral strap design with hook and eye fasteners enables Scaffpad® to be reused time and time again, helping to reduce site waste while protecting employees.

Scaffpad Europe Ltd continues to work closely with its clients to understand product application on site. This close business to client relationship, together with interest from onshore construction companies, has recently resulted in the development of the next generation of Scaffpads. Scaffpad Eyelet can be secured using cable ties to address concerns raised over product safety on easily accessible worksites and Scaffpad Elastic has elasticated straps making application over large and bulky joints easier and more effective.

Today Scaffpad® is used offshore by leading companies including Shell, BP and Total and has met with equal success on onshore decommissioning sites with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Recent months have also seen interest from offshore operations as far a field as Angola and New Zealand, highlighting the importance of site safety the world over.