Commission de sécurité des consommateurs

HAVING REGARD TO the Consumer Code and specifically Articles L. 224-1, L. 224-4, R. 224‑4 and R. 224-7 to R. 224-12

 

HAVING REGARD TO petition no. 05-032

 

On 31 March 2005, a petition (no. 05-032) concerning the safety of 5-metre (standing height) domestic scaffolding, which the buyer felt had no horizontal or frontal stability, was filed with the Commission.

  

The feasibility study established the following facts:

 

− The high number of domestic accidents due to scaffolding use: Based on the findings of the permanent survey on everyday life accidents (ELA), the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS, the National Institute for Public Health Surveillance) estimates that the number of domestic accidents due to scaffolding use ranges from 1,000 to 4,500 per year. The consequences of the said accidents are serious as 25% of the victims are over 60 and the resulting hospitalisation rate is much higher than the rate for ELA, all causes taken together (30% of hospitalised victims versus an average 11%). However, as current statistics now stand, the share of accidents occurring on makeshift scaffolding, domestic scaffolding or professional scaffolding used for domestic purposes cannot be determined.

 

− The recent and fast-growing development of the domestic scaffolding market: Since 2002, sales to the order of 100,000 scaffolding per year have been multiplied by a factor of five in retailing and are still rising by more than 10% per year. Domestic scaffolding, which is only slightly more expensive than a ladder or stepladder, tends to replace both items for outdoor works.

 

− Rental firms’ reservations about the reliability of the scaffolding, which they have recently introduced into their range of equipment rented to individuals, are such that some firms are thinking of withdrawing the scaffolding and of offering only standardised professional scaffolding. 

  

− Last, unlike the scaffolding used professionally, portable ladders, stepladders, and footstools, domestic scaffolding is not covered by any special regulation or by any published French standard at the time of the feasibility study.

In these conditions, the Commission has decided to establish a draft recommendation on the safety of domestic scaffolding.

 

 

 

‘Domestic’ scaffolding is usually in aluminium and designed for occasional use by non-professional users for gardening, DIY or indoor and outdoor works at maximum height of 7 metres. As it is not designed to withstand the constraints of intensive use at worksites and involving frequent transport and dismantling, domestic scaffolding, unlike scaffolding for professional purposes, is lightweight, has smaller bulk, is easy to use and, obviously, cheaper (the same size professional scaffolding costs at least twice as much).

For uninformed consumers, the price factor is the noticeable difference between standardised small professional scaffolding and domestic scaffolding because the other differences are not obvious to the naked eye.

 

Domestic scaffolding hazards stem from the characteristics of the products as well as their improper use.

This mainly depends on the thickness of the aluminium sections used to manufacture the frame rather than on the composition of the aluminium itself.

 

Domestic scaffolding, which is higher than it is long (0.40-metre wide platform) whose length can range from 0.80 to 1.20 metres depending on standing height that may be up to 5 metres), has a small polygon of support that limits stability. 

 

Falls or injuries caused by objects falling off the scaffolding platform are routine accidents. These accidents are worsened by the fact that consumers do not have to comply with the obligation to wear safety equipment for works at height (helmet, harness, anti-slip footwear, and so on) imposed on professionals.

 

Compliance with scaffolding assembly instructions is critical for user safety.

 

Domestic scaffolding may be fitted with two or four caster-wheels with braking systems when they are load-carrying wheels.

  

As there are no specific national regulations, scaffolding used for domestic purposes is governed by the general safety obligation found in Article L. 221-1 of the Consumer Code stating that, “Products and services must, under normal conditions of use or under other circumstances that may reasonably be foreseen by the professional, offer the safety that can legitimately be expected and must not be a danger to public health.”

The compliance of domestic scaffolding with French standard NF E 85‑200 of December 2006: “Domestic Scaffolding – Minimum Safety Requirements” will provide a guarantee that scaffolding meets minimum safety requirements.

There is no Community Directive whose scope encompasses scaffolding for domestic use. Under these circumstances and in the absence of any harmonisation document, the equipment comes under Directive 2001/95/EC of 3 December 2001 on General Product Safety transposed into French law by Order no. 2004-670 of 9 July 2004, inserted into Articles L. 221-1 et sequitur of the Consumer Code. Article 3 of the Directive, which, in the absence of specific EC directives, is the general mandatory statute, imposes a general safety obligation stating that, “producers shall be obliged to place only safe products on the market.”

 

In the professional field, the prevention of falls from heights has prompted professionals to draw up several French and European standards that are mandatory under the Labour Code. On the other hand, domestic scaffolding was not governed by any standard until the December 2006 publication of reference standard NF E 85-200: Domestic scaffolding – Minimum Safety Requirements. The standard applies to scaffolding whose standing height does not exceed 5 metres and which is used exclusively for domestic works. The standard lays down several minimum safety requirements that are recognised by the largest operators on the French market. Domestic scaffolding users who are not works professionals, and who lack experience, information, and skills in the area of the said works, have not been sufficiently accounted for either in scaffolding manufacture or in the wording of the standard. That is why domestic scaffolding safety needs to be improved in certain areas (solidity, stability, and so on), in addition to the provisions found in Standard NF E 85-200. The said improvement is also coherent with the prospect of making Standard NF E 85-200 the backbone for a European standardisation approach.

  

 

Domestic scaffolding is a fast-growing product among consumers. Due to faulty design or manufacture or to improper use, scaffolding is already, and may become, a hazardous product whose safety must be improved by all feasible means. 

  

From the legal standpoint, the Commission, in keeping with its mission of preventing consumer safety hazards, must strive to give priority to the approach reliably guaranteeing that domestic scaffolding meets safety requirements in optimum conditions as well as offering reasonable feasibility guarantees.

Accordingly, although having national regulations that would make Standard NF E 85-200 mandatory seems to be the most suitable option to ensure consumer safety, it has little chance of succeeding for the above-mentioned reasons. Thus, a Community approach, which would grant domestic scaffolding with presumption of conformity with the general safety obligation based on compliance with the requirements of a European standard, would guarantee minimum and homogeneous safety for all the products sold in the European Union. Standard NF E 85-200 could be the benchmark for the design of a European standard.

From a technical standpoint and to this end, Standard NF E 85-200 could also be improved in many areas.

 

 

Whereas falls account for 60% of the everyday life accidents (all causes taken together) registered yearly by the Institut de Veille Sanitaire;

Whereas the market of domestic scaffolding is growing steadily;

 

Whereas no regulations on domestic scaffolding exist;

Whereas French standard NF E 85-200: Domestic Scaffolding – Minimum Safety Requirements was published in December 2006;

Whereas it would be beneficial to have a European standard on domestic scaffolding safety passed; its references published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and then in the Official Journal of the French Republic as “recommendation on the publication of Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety” would grant presumption of conformity with the general safety obligation to domestic scaffolding, for all products circulating within the European Union;

Whereas, to this end, standard NF E 85-200 could be amended so as to address consumer safety more comprehensively;

 

 

 

 

 

1/. The public authorities

 

● Implement criteria for collecting more detailed accidentology data on falls from heights occurring during everyday life activities so as to identify the equipment and circumstances that are the most recurrent causes of the said accidents, and roll out the appropriate preventive actions

 

● Pending the effects of the publication of standard NF E 85-200 on domestic scaffolding, the authorities in charge of market surveillance should exercise heightened control of the market of domestic scaffolding and of any equipment that is not covered by a standard or national regulations and that is sold to consumers for works at height.

 

● Petition the competent European Commission departments to request that the European Standardisation Committee draft a standard on domestic scaffolding based on French standard NF E 85-200, and have the references of the future European standard published in the OJEU.

● Promptly examine the feasibility of integrating several improvements concerning the stability and solidity of domestic scaffolding in Standard NF E 85-200 with a view to increasing consumer safety.

 

 

3/. Domestic scaffolding manufacturers

 

● Promptly implement the recommendations of the current version of Standard NF E 85-200 or of an amended version which includes the proposals submitted by the Consumer Safety Commission.

 

● Continue to address the ergonomics so as to offer truly innovative products on the market, which meet both users’ needs and the constraints stemming from non-professional use in a domestic environment.

 

 

 

● Provide consumers with all the information they require to select the scaffolding the most suited to their needs as well as with precautions regarding the assembly, use, storage and maintenance of domestic scaffolding.

 

● Remind consumers of the basic safety instructions when conducting works at height, DIY and gardening, and specifically that they should wear individual protective gear (helmet, appropriate footwear, and so on) and they should master the tools they want to use while standing on the said scaffolding.

 

 

 

● Check with professionals that the scaffolding they plan to buy or rent is appropriate for the works they will be used for, and not base their choice merely on the price factor as under- or over-sized equipment may be hazardous.

 

● Strictly comply with the equipment assembly and use instructions provided by the manufacturer or retailer and try to avoid using the structure frame as a ladder to climb up to the work platforms.

 

● Should not overstretch their physical abilities and technical skills when conducting works requiring domestic scaffolding.

 

● Comply with the general instructions concerning DIY and gardening activities, which strongly recommend consumers wear individual protective equipment, prepare the workspace and properly use the tools, specifically portable electric tools.

 

 

BASED ON THE REPORT BY MRS. Ludivine COLY

 

Assisted by Mrs. Muriel GRISOT and Mrs. Florence WEILL, Commission Technical Advisors, in accordance with Article R.224-4 of the Consumer Code

 

The full recommendation on this topic is 15 pages long. It includes the petitions, the applicable standards, accidentology in France and abroad, a technical and regulatory study, and the minutes of the hearings.

The full version in French can be found on the CSC website at: