Dismantling, moving and looking after towers — PASMA Towers for Users Practice

Sample questions

1. 01You are about to strip a tower that another firm built, and its instruction manual cannot be found. You normally use a different make. What do you do?

   • AStrip it in whatever order looks most logical to you
   • BStrip it in the order you use for your usual make
   • CGet a copy of the manual for that exact tower first
   • DAsk the client which order they would prefer it in

   Why: A tower comes down in the reverse of the build sequence in its own manual, and that manual is the dismantling plan. If it has gone missing, get a copy for that make and model from the hirer or the manufacturer. Working from memory of a different make is tempting because towers look alike, but that make’s sequence is not the plan for this tower. Neither guesswork nor the client sets the sequence.

2. 02Two end frames are still standing near the end of a strip-down. Your mate wants to unlock the castors and roll the base nearer the van. What is the right call?

   • AUnlock two of them, so the base can only turn slowly
   • BKeep them locked until the final frames are down
   • CUnlock them, as long as someone holds a frame steady
   • DUnlock them, as the tower is now too low to tip over

   Why: The base is the last thing to come off, and the castors stay locked until the final frames are down, because the structure must stay stable all the way through dismantling. Rolling a part-built base with frames still standing is moving a tower that is not set up to be moved. A low height or a colleague holding a frame does not replace locked castors.

3. 03While stripping a tower, a colleague stacks each brace and guard-rail on the platform they are working from, to hand them all down in one go later. What is the problem?

   • ANone, as long as the castors are locked at the base
   • BNone, as long as the stack stays inside the toe-boards
   • CIt can overload the deck and lets parts slide off
   • DNone, as the parts will be handed down, not thrown

   Why: Keep only the parts you are handling on the platform. A stack of stripped components can overload the deck, creates trip hazards and gives parts a way to slide off the edge onto someone below, so hand each one down as it comes off. WAHR Schedule 3 Part 1 also says a platform must not be loaded so as to give a risk of collapse or deformation. Toe-boards, locked castors and handing down later do not deal with the load and the trip hazard on the deck.