Keeping the Public Safe: A Guide to NASC SG34 Public Protection
Protecting your project, your people, and the public.
When scaffolding operations take place in public areas—such as high streets, schools, or residential neighbourhoods—safety must be the top priority. The general public is largely unaware of the specific hazards associated with scaffolding. Because of this vulnerability, legislation like the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 demands that risks to the public are considered and controlled from the earliest planning stages.
13 May 2026
Here is a breakdown of the key hazards and the control measures required to keep pedestrians and vehicles safe.
Identifying the Interface and the Hazards
Scaffolding operations interface with the public in numerous environments, including public pavements, roads, domestic households, and care homes. When planning a project, contractors and clients must evaluate several primary hazards:
Work at Height (Scaffolders): The risk of falling scaffold tubes, fittings, or boards during the erection, alteration, or dismantling phases.
Work at Height (Other Trades): The risk of falling materials, such as bricks, from other workers using the completed scaffold.
Transport Accidents: The risk of scaffolding delivery vehicles injuring pedestrians.
Pedestrian Collisions: The risk of people physically walking into the scaffolding structure.
Essential Control Measures
To eliminate or reduce these risks, SG34 recommends a hierarchy of physical protection methods and management strategies.
1. Exclusion Zones
Ideally, the public should be entirely excluded from the work area.
Barriers should be installed to prevent access to hazardous zones.
High-hazard tasks, like hoisting materials, require a strict exclusion zone and sometimes a designated staff member to direct the public away from the lifting area.
Operations can be scheduled for out-of-hours or quiet times to reduce contact with the public.
2. Pavement Lifts and Gantries
When it is impossible to exclude the public, an adequately protected thoroughfare must be provided beneath the scaffold. Before erecting these structures on a highway or pavement, a temporary pavement licence must be secured.
Pavement Lifts: Ledger bracing is omitted to provide a clear headroom of 2.44 m to 2.7 m. All standards adjacent to public access must be fitted with foam padding or high-visibility tape up to a height of 2.0 m. The lift must also be completely free of trip hazards.
Protection Gantries: Often the best option, gantries are typically wider than the access scaffold above to provide a greater thoroughfare. The top lift is generally double-boarded with a polyethylene sheet sandwiched in between to prevent dust and fine materials from falling onto pedestrians.
3. Brickguards, Netting, and Fans
Brickguards and Sheeting: Working lifts should be clad with brickguards, debris netting, or sheeting to stop falling objects.
Protection Fans: If there is a risk of materials falling onto a footway or road, a protection fan must be provided. Fans protecting pedestrians must be at least 2.44 m above the pavement, while fans near roads must clear tall vehicles at a height of at least 5.05 m.
The Truth About Tethering
While tethering tools and materials (like tubes and boards) is sometimes necessary for extreme weather or high-risk overhead city projects, SG34 explicitly states it should not be a first option.
Tethering is highly labour-intensive and introduces elements of complacency.
It requires exceptionally high levels of supervision, and there are usually better ways to eliminate the risk of falling objects.
Tethering should never be used as an excuse to allow multiple trades to work directly below live scaffolding operations.
Strict Rules for Other Trades
A scaffold is only as safe as the people using it. Other contractors on site have a strict duty to maintain the safety features installed by the scaffolders.
There is a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorized alterations to the scaffolding by other trades.
Users must not remove public protection items, such as brickguards.
Users must not leave debris, bolts, or chunks of brick inside the ends of scaffold tubes, as these can fall out and cause injuries when the scaffold is eventually dismantled.
