2022 Georgia Code
Title 25 - Fire Protection and Safety
Chapter 15 - Other Safety Inspections and Regulations
Article 5 - Requirements for Scaffolding and Staging Design
§ 25-15-110. Requirements for Scaffolding and Staging Design; Inspection by Safety Fire Comissioner

1. 1. All scaffolding or staging that is swung or suspended from an overhead support or erected with stationary supports and is suspended or rises 30 feet or more above the ground shall have a safety rail properly attached, bolted, braced, and otherwise secured; and the safety rail shall rise at least 34 inches above the floor or main portions of such scaffolding or staging and extend for the full length of such staging and along the ends thereof with only such openings as may be necessary for the delivery of materials being used on such scaffold or staging. Such scaffolding or staging shall also be so fastened as to prevent it from swaying from the building or structure. However, this paragraph shall not apply to any scaffolding or staging which is wholly within the interior of a building or other structure and which covers the entire floor space therein.
   2. It shall be unlawful for any person to employ or direct others to perform labor of any kind in the erecting, demolishing, repairing, altering, cleaning, or painting of a building or other structure without first having furnished proper protection to such person so employed or directed, as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
2. All scaffolding or staging shall be so constructed that it will bear at least four times the weight required to be hanging therefrom or placed thereon when in use.
3. 1. The Safety Fire Commissioner, upon receipt of any complaint, shall make or cause to be made an immediate inspection of the scaffold, or mechanical device connected therewith, concerning which complaint has been made.
   2. The Commissioner shall attach to every scaffold, staging, mechanism, or mechanical device inspected by him or her a certificate bearing the Commissioner’s name and the date of inspection, and the certificate shall plainly state whether he or she has found the scaffolding, staging, or mechanical device “safe” or “unsafe.”
   3. If the Commissioner finds any scaffolding, staging, or mechanical device complained of to be unsafe, the Commissioner shall at once notify in writing the person responsible for the erection and maintenance of the scaffolding, staging, or mechanical device that the Commissioner has found it to be unsafe. Such notice may be served personally upon the person responsible under the law or may be perfected by affixing such notice in a conspicuous place on the scaffold, staging, or mechanical device found unsafe. The manner of service shall be within the discretion of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall then prohibit the use of such scaffolding, staging, or mechanical device by any person until all danger has been removed or until it has been made to comply with the terms of this Code section by alteration, reconstruction, demolition, or replacement, as the Commissioner may direct.
4. Any person who willfully, knowingly, and persistently continues the use of a scaffold, staging, or other mechanical device in violation of any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

History. Ga. L. 1933, p. 111, §§ 1-7; Ga. L. 1967, p. 792, § 1; Code 1981, § 34-1-1 ; Code 1981, § 25-15-110 , as redesignated by Ga. L. 2012, p. 1144, § 6/SB 446.

The 2012 amendment, effective May 2, 2012, redesignated former Code Section 34-1-1 as present Code Section 25-15-110 and as a part of a new article of Chapter 15 of Title 25; in paragraph (a)(1), in the first sentence, inserted “that is” near the beginning, substituted “supports and is” for “supports, which scaffolding or staging is”, deleted a comma following “ground”, and substituted “secured; and the safety” for “secured, which safety”; in paragraph (c)(1), substituted “Safety Fire Commissioner” for “Commissioner of Labor”; in paragraph (c)(2), inserted “or her” following “by him”, substituted “the Commissioner’s name” for “his name”, substituted “and the certificate shall” for “on which certificate he shall”, and inserted “or she”; and, in paragraph (c)(3), substituted “Commissioner” for “Commissioner of Labor” in the first and third sentences, and substituted “the Commissioner” for “he” in the first sentence.

Cross references.

General duty of employers with respect to employment safety, § 34-2-10 .

Administrative rules and regulations.

Rules regulating scaffolding, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Labor, Inspections, Chapter 300-5-9.

Law reviews.

For survey article on labor and employment law for the period from June 1, 2002 to May 31, 2003, see 55 Mercer L. Rev. 303 (2003).