That scaffold collapse on the Burns Harbor job changed my inspection habits

Back in March at the Burns Harbor plant, a scaffold we'd signed off on shifted during a shift change. Nobody got hurt, but it took 4 hours to tear down and reset it because a few clamps were hand tight. I used to trust the crew's word on checks, now I walk every level myself and count the torque on each pin. Anyone else start double checking work they used to sign off without looking?

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troy_palmer761mo ago

That part about "trusting the crew's word" really hit home. My buddy who does industrial painting over in Gary had the same thing happen to him. He was the lead on a job and a catwalk he approved started bowing in the middle of the day because someone skipped half the bolts. He got chewed out by the safety rep even though he wasn't the one who slacked off. Now he takes photos of every single bolt after he checks them, no exceptions. It slows him down, but he says it beats getting blamed for someone else's shortcut.