If you are considering using, buying or renting a scaffold tower or access tower, then you are almost certainly intent on carrying out a task that involves working at height.

It may sound obvious but if you get this wrong, gravity will probably ruin your day - and possibly the rest of your life. Falls from height are the biggest single cause of fatalities in the workplace and a huge contributor to serious injury statistics.

Assembled and used properly, a well-designed mobile access tower is probably one of the safest methods of carrying out many construction and maintenance activities that involve working at height.

They provide a sound structure with a level guard railed and toe-boarded working area and a purpose designed method of access. A sound safety case for tower access for working at height can be made in the vast majority of situations.

Towers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are capable of enabling a huge range of work in a wide variety of situationsAlto Towers are the best mobile access towers that money can buy. They are stronger, more versatile and longer lasting than any other brand of tower.

Ladderspan towers became popular around 20-30 years ago as an alternative to the original stair tower which incorporated a stair unit between platform levels.

Originally a lot of the impetus for this was a cost saving exercise as stair units could be eliminated and some manufacturers also eliminated almost all of the intermediate platforms. The consequence of this is of course the greatly increased risk of a serious injury in the event of an operative falling from the ladder due to the greater distances involved.

This advantage has been significantly reduced by the improvement in standards and regulations over the years which mean that there is much less scope for omitting intermediate platforms.

Now users are broadly left with a ladder access - which is not terribly convenient compared to a staircase and a series of hatches to negotiate - also a needless inconvenience.

Scaffolders are being strongly encouraged to move from ladder to stair access on the grounds of the substantial safety benefits - we think there should be a similar move for tower users too. The benefits are fairly obvious as far as we can see.

Joints in our frames and braces are formed using all round welds not weaker strip welds and castings - both of which are inherently less suitable for joints in tension. These all-round welds virtually eliminate cracked welds and make the tower a much more rigid structure with joints 5 times stronger in tension & 13 times stronger in bending.

The ALTO conical head fittings prevent frames from jamming when dismantling towers so hammer damage is totally eliminated. An additional benefit of the head fittings is the frames automatically lock together during assembly, eliminating the requirement for flimsy, awkward spring clips that can be lost or damaged and render the tower unusable.

When towers were first deployed, they were all stair towers. As the name suggests, they use staircases to gain access to various levels rather than ladders either built or clipped into the frames of the tower.

Ladderspan towers became more popular around 20-30 years ago as they involve a few less components and are consequently a little simpler to erect and are cheaper for hire companies to buy.

However, a ladder is intrinsically a riskier thing to use than a staircase - all other factors being the same. It is certainly pretty difficult to safely carry any tools or materials up a ladder in a tower and negotiate the hatch opening safely.

Scaffolders are being strongly encouraged to move from ladder to stair access on the grounds of the substantial safety benefits - we think there should be a similar move for tower users too. The benefits are fairly obvious as far as we can see.

A 3T tower is a traditionally designed tower using horizontal and diagonal braces to join the end frames together forming a rigid structure. 3T stands for "Through The Trap" and refers to operatives remaining within confines of the trap platform until guardrails on the newest installed platform are installed.

An AGR tower uses AGR or Advance Guard Rail Frames instead of conventional braces to create guardrails above the operative ready for the installation of the next platform. AGR towers are generally quicker to build - though some of the parts are larger and heavier and the towers are generally less strong to some degree.

Building a tower on a staircase requires special consideration. Clearly wheels would be an absurdly dangerous element and for most staircases, the tower needs to be quite narrow to fit in the stairwell and facilitate operatives moving up and down the staircase whilst it is in position.

The Alto MD Stairwell tower is an ideal solution. It has all the merits of the Alto MD system with the added benefit of a compact footprint and walkthrough base frames. Click here to find out more.

BS EN 1004:2020 is the current European standard which sets required levels of performance for mobile access towers of platform heights of between 2.5 metres and 8 metres (outdoors) or 12 metres (indoors).

It defines a number of characteristics of towers such as modes of access and sets minimum performance levels for things like platform or guardrail deflection under load, sizes of components or gaps between elements such as guardrails. It also specifies a load rating derived from a pre existing scaffolding standard.

A tower can be either class two or class three. Everyone claims to be a class three tower - and indeed, most if not all have a test certificate that says they have been tested to class three.

Unfortunately for users, every current brand of tower - other than Alto - that we have checked restricts their double width tower platform loading to substantially less than a class three load.

This standard governs structures made from mobile access tower components in non-standard configurations - in other words anything other than a straight up and down tower. Examples of such structures would include:

• Linked towers (also referred to as facade runs)
• Towers incorporating bridges or high clearance frames
• Cantilever towers
• Towers built to over 12 metre platform height - and, oddly towers built to less than 2.5 metres platform height.

These are advanced tower applications and it is vital that anyone considering using a tower in such a form has a design approved by the manufacturer either as a "standard" variant or as a bespoke design.

This is because the loads on the towers in these applications can be considerably greater than in normal builds - and with the exception of Alto HD towers none of the other towers currently available can safely cope with the loads of some of these structures without additional strengthening components.

This is a dangerously misleading "rule of thumb". ALWAYS build the tower according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The Work at Height Regulations requires all persons working at height to be competent using the relevant equipment and they must be able to prove their competency.

There is no specific mandatory qualification in relation to towers above and beyond the general requirement of the WAHR set out above. However, PASMA offer a range of courses including many that are specifically designed to equip users to assemble, use and disassemble towers more safely. More details can be found here: https://pasma.co.uk/training/.

Mobile access towers are not all the same. The fact that you may have built a tower before does not mean that this tower will be the same. If you do not build your tower correctly, its strength and stability is likely to be impaired.

Quite simply, if you don't have a copy of the manufacturer's instructions, you cannot safely assemble the tower.

if you hire a tower you should be issued a copy of the relevant manual by the hire company.

A good set of instructions should give you crystal clear directions, comprehensive safety information and a schedule of components required to build each specific height tower.

Instructions for Alto Towers may be found by clicking here.

If the instructions for your tower require stabilisers, fit them. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Towers must be inspected as often as is necessary to ensure safety. PASMA recommends that on towers where it is possible to fall 2m or more you should always carry out inspections:

• after assembly
• after significant alteration
• before use
• following any event likely to have affected the towers stability or structural integrity

You should complete and issue the inspection report in accordance with the requirements of the Work at Height Regulations. Re-inspect the tower as often as is necessary to ensure safety - but at least every 7 days - and issue a new report each time.

Never use a mobile tower without either the castors or base plates fitted at the base of all uprights.

Never use a tower with the base of the end frames resting on the ground, even if you have placed boards or other packing beneath. They are not designed to be used in this way.

The castors or base plates and their associated adjustable legs are vital to the safe use of any tower.

Legally, in order to install towers - short term or otherwise - on a "highway", a license must be obtained from the Highway Authority. A highway is defined as any place where the public has a right to pass, such as pavements, carriageways, footpaths and verges.

PASMA provides pavement license guidance for those using mobile access towers built in areas the public can cross on foot.

The guidance and license template was produced by PASMA in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Highway Authority and the National Traffic Managers' Forum.

An example license application is available on the PASMA website and can be viewed here: Example License

PASMA's guidance notes can be found here: Guidance Notes.

This is a typical advanced tower application, at which the Alto HD equipment excels. With its massive strength rating, compatibility with standard scaffolding and range of specialist walkthrough frames, the Alto HD is the only serious choice for large linked tower applications. For more information click here

A number of linked tower structures can be built using Alto HD as "standard" configurations. For an example of an assembly manual for this type of application click here

There is an almost infinite range of possible structures that can be achieved with support from our design service. For more information on advanced and specialist applications, call us on 01527 500577 or email us on sales@altoaccess.com.

A cantilever tower has a platform at the working level which projects out from the side or end of the tower.

It is used to reach over obstructions where the tower cannot be positioned immediately next to the desired work position.

As the cantilever is outside the basic tower framework, there is automatically a greater risk of overturning if the tower is incorrectly built, stabilised or if the cantilever is overloaded. Extra care is required in selecting, deploying and using a cantilever tower.

Cantilever towers are special applications with separate instruction sets and are not covered by the basic PASMA Towers for Users course.

Alto HD equipment can be used to construct cantilever towers. An instruction set and guidance can be found here. For more information on advanced and specialist applications, call us on 01527 500577 or email us on sales@altoaccess.com.