The safety rules for pioneers are about how to organize the work so that it is safe in terms of safety. Firstly, a safety officer must be appointed who must be present during construction.

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The students may only use "fresh" rafters, they must be dry. The rafters must not be burnt or worn, damaged by a saw or ax, rotten or otherwise weakened. Check the rafters by testing the breaking strength and by poking them, for example with a screwdriver. The rafters must be firm, they must not give way. Test the breaking strength by supporting the rafter at the ends and loading it in the middle. You must ensure that the rafters can support the required weight.

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Laces must be tight, non-slip and securely finished, for example with a double half hook. Lacing As a golden rule, the rope must have a diameter of as many millimeters as the thickness of the raft in centimeters

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The rope must always have the right dimension in relation to the specific use. The condition of the square must be good. It must not be softened, have wear damage or be defective in any other way.

 

If you use wire, you must use a wire of the right strength in relation to the load to which the wire must be exposed. The strength should appear from the marking on the wire

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A wire must be discarded or shortened when it is rusted or corroded, is stretched into kinks or clicks that cannot be straightened, is flattened or has lice. Lice occurs when the thin metal threads of the wire are made of break.

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When using hoists, the hoists must always be provided with information on breaking strength. The working load must not exceed half the breaking strength of the waist. If the waist doesn't have a lock, you must put a mousing, which ensures that the rope cannot slip out. Remember to dimension all ropes and ropes according to the strength of the waist

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You work with pioneering projects at height, when the work takes place higher than twice the height of the participating students. You have to take the fall base into account. Hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt pose a greater danger than soft ones such as grass and sand.

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Students must be protected against falling to the ground by using fall protection. It can, for example, be a harness with a rope, which is secured by an anchorman on land in the same way as when climbing a wall. If you use fall protection, safety rules for climbing activities apply.

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Guidelines for pioneering

• The Scouts have a tradition of building with rafters. We build both constructions to make camp life easier (e.g. dining tables) and as exciting and challenging projects (e.g. towers, carousels, entrance portals). Pioneering is a great scouting activity that can also be used at after-school because it requires skills and cooperation. students and adults of all age groups can build with rafters, it's just a matter of finding the right level.

 

Rules for construction with rafters

• You must appoint a security officer. The safety officer is responsible for ensuring that the activity is planned and carried out properly. The safety officer must be present during the entire construction.

• There is no formal training in the pioneer area, so it is often experience and common sense that define what is possible and safe to build. Therefore, it is important that you, as a security manager, know your own abilities and know when they no longer work.

• Before you start a pioneering project, there are some things that you, as a security manager, must pay particular attention to.

  • Permanent constructions: Constructions that are set up for longer than 6 weeks in the same location usually require approval (building permit) from the municipality.

  • Complicated construction: For all rafter construction where failure could potentially be dangerous for people or which is built unusually complicated, large (more than 50 m^2) or high (several floors). In these cases, the municipality must be asked whether the school must apply for a building permit for the specific project.

  • The assessment of whether the rafter construction is unusually high, large and/or potentially dangerous lies in the first instance with the person or persons who come up with and plan the rafter construction. If you are in doubt, you of course ask the municipality.

 

 

Safety in connection with raft construction

• The most important skills, methods and techniques to use when building with rafters.

  • Rope work:

    • Check that the rope is in good condition. The rope must not fray or be about to break.

    • Consider what rope you use. Sisal can be fine for the campsite and other places where a high breaking strength is not required. Manila rope has a higher breaking strength.

    • Your rope will have a longer life if you store it dry, in the shade and coil it up without getting twisted.

  • Constraints:

    • Keep the rope taut when tying a lace. When you have to tighten at the end, you can make a bay in the square and step into it, so that you use your weight to tighten with.

    • Keep track of the most common restraints. The angle lacing is used when connecting two rafters that cross each other at right angles. The figure-of-eight lacing and the saddler's lacing are used to tie trebuchets. The cross lacing is used when you have to tie two rafters together at an acute angle.

  • Security:

    • Lift correctly. Lift with a straight back and kneel down. Be two or more to carry the long rafters. In this way, there is also better control of the raft than if you carry it in the middle.

    • Come down safely. Never jump or jump down from the pioneer work, but crawl down instead. There is a risk of spraining an ankle or breaking a leg when you land from a jump.

    • Wear a helmet when working at height (twice the participants' height). This also applies to those who move around the construction site. Be sure to tie tools to the structure so that no one risks getting them in the head.

    • Take it easy and be careful when you take the pioneering project down again so that no damage occurs. It is easiest to break it down in the reverse order of how it was set up.

    • When building larger projects, it is important to build stably. To make a square stable, you have to make a cross in it. This is called the triangle principle.