PASMA Training
PASMA (Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association) has designed a number of courses designed for those who work at height and those who manage them. Training of all staff who are asked to work above ground level is an essential part of looking after the workforce and with the various courses available – Towers for Users; Towers for Managers; Low Level Access; Combined Towers & Low Level and Work at Height Essentials – it is easy to match everyone to a relevant course. Most courses are one day in length and can often be arranged in-house – this is particularly helpful if special conditions apply to a place of work which might not be addressed in a general course.
What the courses contain
Although the specific courses have slightly different content, their main aim is the same – keeping people safe when working above ground level. Scaffolding towers are by far the safest way of working at height but even so carry their own very specific risks which begin with the assembly process and don’t end until the tower has been successfully dismantled and stowed away. Checking on the condition of a tower both when assembled and in use or when in storage is a vital part of working with scaffolding towers and this in particular is given a lot of time in every course because anyone can spot a defect and knowing what is wrong and how to react to it can be a lifesaver.
Risk assessments
Many businesses take risk assessments to ridiculous lengths, issuing instructions on how to safely open a door or go upstairs but below this extreme example there are the many very necessary assessments which must be done. PASMA training shows how to do a risk assessment and, perhaps more importantly, to know when one is required. Risk assessments should always be team efforts but if a manager has undergone the Towers for Managers Training it is very helpful as they can then coordinate the construction of a team risk assessment record and make sure it is kept up to date and adhered to, adding any refinements as become necessary.
Why PASMA training?
Accidents when working at a height account for most of the deaths in the workplace in any one year and it is easy to see why. This doesn’t mean, however, that deaths and serious injury should just be ignored as a natural by-product of working with scaffolding towers. Although some accidents will always be simply that – a failure that cannot be foreseen – almost all of them could be prevented if everyone involved made sure that safe working practices were always followed and that anything that is not as it should be is reported to the proper person and acted upon quickly. Employees who pass a PASMA training course have a photocard which proves their competence and which is acceptable and welcomed all over the construction industry, as proof that their knowledge of scaffolding towers and their safe use is up to date and comprehensive.