This document defines 33 terms related to scaffolding and fall protection. Some key terms defined include: - Access platform - A platform only used to access work areas, not a working platform. - Catch platform - A temporary platform below a work area to catch a falling worker or debris. - Competent person - Someone trained and qualified to carry out scaffolding tasks. - Scaffold plank - A decking component used to construct platforms, other than prefabricated platforms. - Supporting structure - Any structure or foundation that supports a scaffold.

1. DEFINITION OF TERMS 2

2. Definition of Terms
1.Access platform - A platform that is only used or
intended to be used to provide access for people,
or for people and materials going to or from
places of work but does not include a working
platform.
2. Catch platform - A temporary platform located
below a work area to catch a worker in the event of
a fall and/or to contain debris falling from a work
area/platform.

3. 4. Competent person - A person who has
acquired through training, qualification or
experience the knowledge and skills to carry
out the task.
5. Counterweight - A weight or series of
weights that counterbalance a scaffold from
overturning.
3. Chute - An inclined or vertical trough or
tube through which articles are passed from a
higher to a lower level.

4. 6. Cradle - The portion of a suspended scaffold
that incorporates a suspended platform.
7. Dead Load - A permanent inert load on a
building or other structure due to the weight
of its structural members and the fixed loads
they carry, which impose definite stresses and
strains upon the structure.
8. Edge protection - A barrier to prevent
a person or thing falling from the edge.

5. 10. Guy rope - A rope used to help stabilize a vertical member
11. Hazard - A situation or thing that has the potential to harm a person.
12. Landing - A level area used to provide access to a stairway or ladder,
or located at an intermediate level in a system of stairways or ladders.
9. Fall arrest platform - See ‘catch platform’.
13. Loading bay - A platform on a scaffold for the storage of materials
and equipment.
14. Member - Anything that forms part of the scaffold assembly.
15. Minor scaffold - A scaffold from which a person or object could fall 4
meters or less.

6. 17. Outrigger - Component or components that
increase the effectiveness of base dimensions of a
scaffold to increase its stability.
16. Needle - A cantilevered structural member that
forms part of the scaffold assembly.

7. 19. Perimeter containment screening - A screen:
a.designed to stop objects falling on people from a level of a building
b.to redirect a falling object onto a catch platform.
20. Platform - A surface on a scaffold to support people, materials or
both.
21. Platform bracket - A bracket attached to the scaffold to enable a
platform to be placed between the scaffold and the building or
structure.
22. Prefabricated scaffolding - An integrated system of prefabricated components
manufactured in such a way that the geometry of assembled scaffolds is pre-
determined.
18. Parapet - A vertical element usually located at the edge of a balcony,
roof, bridge or similar structure.

8. 23. Scaffold plank - A decking component, other
than a prefabricated platform, that is used or
intended to be used when constructing a platform
supported by a scaffold.
24. Soleboard - A board that is able to distribute
the load from a load-bearing member to a
supporting surface and is intended for use
underneath baseplates.
25. Spur - An inclined load-bearing member that
transmits a load to the supporting structure.

9. 29. Suspension rope - A rope carrying the weight of a cradle and supporting an
imposed load.
30. Transom - A horizontal structural member of a scaffold that is used to connect
adjacent standards, normally in the direction of the smaller dimension of a bay.
26. Standard - A vertical structural member that transmits a load to the
supporting structure.
27. Strut - A scaffold member subject to a compressive force.
28. Supporting structure - Any structure, structural member or
foundation that supports a scaffold.

10. 31. Travel restraint system - A system that:
a.consists of a harness or belt, attached to one or more lanyards,
each of which is attached to a static line or anchorage point; and
b. is designed to restrict the travelling range of a person wearing
the harness or belt so that the person cannot get into a position
where the person could fall off an edge of a surface or through a
surface.

11. 32. Tube and coupler - Scaffolding that consists of steel tubing (tube)
and joining or fixing components (couplers) that are fixed together to
form a required scaffold design.
33. Working load limit (WLL) - The maximum working load that may be
applied to any component or system.