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Inspection template in the LeanSuite app

Last reviewed

Scaffold inspection checklist

A scaffold inspection checks that a scaffold is still fit to stand on: firm base plates, ties and braces in place, fully boarded platforms, guardrails and toe boards fitted, a current tag and safe access. This template has 7 questions and one record per scaffold ID, so a scaffold that has been altered or left standing for weeks has a trail.

In the United States, OSHA 29 CFR 1926.451(f)(3) requires a competent person to inspect scaffolds for visible defects before each work shift and after anything that could affect their structural integrity. Use this weekly record for the plant's own review of scaffolds left up during a shutdown or a project, alongside those shift checks, not in place of them. The failure it is meant to stop is common during outages: a contractor removes a brace or two boards to get a pipe through, the tag still says safe, and the next crew climbs onto a platform with a gap in it.

What it is for, as built: Weekly inspection of scaffolding.

Use this template in LeanSuite

The full question list

The 7 questions in the inspection

Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.

Structure

  1. 1Base plates are firm
  2. 2Ties and braces are in place
  3. 3Platforms are fully boarded
  4. 4Guardrails and toe boards are fitted

Use

  1. 5Tag is current
  2. 6Access is safe
  3. 7Inspector signed

Worked example, illustrative

A filled-in example

One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the inspection answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the inspection reads and scores.

Result: fail, 71.4% against a pass mark of 90

  • 7 questions, all of them count.
  • 2 answered No, so 5 of 7 are Yes: 5 ÷ 7 = 71.4%.
  • 71.4% is under 90, so the inspection fails.

What happened next: Tag changed to do not use and the access ladder blocked. Scaffold contractor refitted the brace and boards before the afternoon shift.

Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.

Scaffold Inspection

Inspection, weekly

Scaffold ID
Scaffold SC-03, boiler house

Structure

  1. Base plates are firmYes
  2. Ties and braces are in placeNo
  3. Platforms are fully boardedNo

    Comment: One diagonal brace removed on the north face and two boards lifted off the second platform to pass a steam line through. Tag still shows safe.

    Photo attached to each No

  4. Guardrails and toe boards are fittedYes
Drawn from this template's own questions, not a screenshot of the app. Illustrative answers.

When to use it

  • Once a week.
  • The person responsible for the area or equipment answers each question on the spot.
  • Each record starts with: Scaffold ID.

How it is scored

The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 90. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted inspection shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.

Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.

Read and print

More in safety inspections and audits

All safety inspections and audits templates

FAQ

Scaffold inspection checklist: common questions

  1. Weekly for the plant's own review of any scaffold left standing through a shutdown or project, alongside the checks a competent person makes under OSHA 29 CFR 1926.451(f)(3) before each work shift and after anything that could affect its structural integrity. Add a check after a storm, after an alteration, after a vehicle strikes it, and before a new crew uses it.

  2. A competent person does it: someone trained to spot a missing tie, an overloaded platform or a base plate that has sunk, with the authority to stop its use. On many sites that is the scaffold contractor's supervisor or the plant's maintenance or EHS lead. A failed scaffold goes to the project lead or EHS lead, who holds it until the erector has corrected it.

  3. A fail means the scaffold is not safe to climb: a brace removed, a gap in the boarding, a guardrail missing or a tag out of date. Change the tag to do not use, block the ladder access and tell every crew on the job. Nobody goes back up until the erector has fixed it and re-tagged it. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an inspection that scores under its pass mark of 90 is a fail.

  4. Keep the scaffold ID, its location, the date and inspector, each defect with a photo, and the alteration or repair that closed it. Keep the tag history too, so an altered scaffold has a trail. During a long outage the record shows which contractors keep cutting braces for pipe runs, which is where the next near miss comes from. In LeanSuite each submitted inspection is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.

  5. 7 questions in 2 sections: structure and use. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.

Use this template in LeanSuite

It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Scaffold Inspection”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.

Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.

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