What is a mobile scaffold tower?
A mobile scaffold tower, also called a mobile access tower, is a freestanding scaffold on wheels. Unlike fixed scaffolding it can be rolled from one spot to the next without being taken down, which makes it the tool for jobs that move around a site. Towers are built from lightweight aluminium frames, braces and platforms, and come with locking castors, guardrails and non-slip decks.
Who uses them?
- Construction: bricklaying, plastering, painting and window installation, where the work moves along a wall.
- Building maintenance and facilities management: window cleaning, gutter repairs and facade work, moving from one area of a building to the next.
- Electrical and lighting installation: a stable, repositionable platform for ceilings and high walls in large commercial spaces.
- Retail and warehousing: reaching high shelves, installing displays and maintaining high-level services, more safely than from a ladder and with tools to hand.
- Events: rigging lighting, sound and staging at height in large venues.
Why training matters
Working at height carries risk, and a tower is only as safe as the person who built it. PASMA's Towers for Users course is the recognised standard, and it covers:
- Assembly and dismantling, including the advance guardrail and through-the-trap methods that keep the builder protected at every stage.
- Safety: guardrails, toe boards, stabilisers, locking the castors and standing the tower on firm, level ground.
- Inspection: checking components for wear and damage, and inspecting the tower before use and after any move.
- Moving and positioning: how to move a tower safely, never with anyone on it, and with the route clear of overhead hazards.
A PASMA certificate is valid for five years. We run the Towers for Users course at our Grimsby centre and on customer sites.