Platform & edge protection
What is a scaffold board?
A scaffold board is the timber or steel decking that forms the working platform. Boards sit on the transoms and are what everyone actually stands on, so their span, support and condition are a safety matter rather than a detail.
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Free to use on your own site, in training material or in a course handout, as long as the credit link stays on it. Paste this where you want the diagram to appear.
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<img src="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/board/diagram.svg" alt="scaffold board — scaffold diagram from ScaffoldOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
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<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/board">What is a scaffold board?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk">ScaffoldOptix</a>
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</figure>Timber boards are the traditional decking and are still the most common on tube-and-fitting scaffolds in the UK. They are graded, and the ends are usually banded with a steel hoop to stop them splitting. System scaffolds more often use steel or aluminium decks that hook directly onto the ledgers or transoms.
A board has to be supported at close enough centres that it does not deflect under load — which is why transom spacing and board span are the same conversation. It also has to be supported close enough to its end that it cannot tip: a board overhanging its last support by too much is a trap door.
Boards should be butted or properly lapped, with no gaps a foot or a tool can go through, and the platform should be fully boarded out to the width the scaffold was designed for.
What goes wrong on site
- Boards overhanging the end transom too far, so stepping on the overhang lifts the other end — the classic trap-end.
- Split, warped or heavily worn boards left in a platform because they were what was on the wagon.
- Gaps left in the platform where a board was lifted to pass material through and not replaced.