Platform & edge protection
What is a debris netting?
Debris netting is mesh fixed to the outside of a scaffold to contain falling material. It is lighter than solid sheeting and increases wind loading less, but it still increases it.
Use this diagram+
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/debris-netting/diagram.svg" alt="debris netting — scaffold diagram from ScaffoldOptix" width="880" height="620" loading="lazy">
<figcaption>
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk/glossary/debris-netting">What is a debris netting?</a> — diagram by
<a href="https://scaffoldoptix.co.uk">ScaffoldOptix</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>Netting catches what people drop, which is its whole purpose: it protects whoever is below rather than whoever is on the scaffold.
It is not weatherproof and it is not a substitute for toe boards or brick guards — those stop material leaving the platform in the first place, where netting catches it afterwards.
Like sheeting, it changes the wind loading. Less than solid sheeting, but not negligibly, and the tie pattern has to account for it.
What goes wrong on site
- Treated as having no effect on wind loading.
- Used instead of toe boards rather than as well as.
- Torn or partially detached netting left in place, which neither contains debris nor sheds wind predictably.