Compliance & standards
What is a scaffold tag?
A scaffold tag is the notice fixed at the access point of a scaffold showing whether it may be used. It carries the status of the structure and the date it was last inspected.
The tag is the only one of a scaffold's records that is actually at the scaffold. A certificate in the office and an inspection report in a filing system are no use to somebody standing at the foot of a ladder deciding whether to climb it.
Tag systems vary between firms and clients, but the substance is consistent: a clear indication of whether the scaffold is complete and safe to use, incomplete, or not to be used, along with the date of the last inspection and who carried it out.
Tags are practice rather than a statutory requirement in themselves, but they are how the inspection duty becomes visible on site. A scaffold with a current inspection and an out-of-date tag is a scaffold nobody can rely on.
What goes wrong on site
- The tag not updated after an inspection, so a compliant scaffold looks overdue.
- The tag not changed when a scaffold is altered mid-hire, so it still says safe to use for a structure that has changed.
- Tags removed or damaged and not replaced, leaving the access point with no status at all.