THE ROBOTS ARE COMING… AND WE ARE BUILDING THEM!

We have all heard about the robots and how they are going to steal our jobs and do everything that humans can do, right? The big question we need to ask ourselves, says Simon Boyes, is “Are we turning humans into robots?”

Some of you may have seen the videos being circulated on the internet of robots installing scaffolding couplers and delivering scaffolding components to different parts of the scaffolding structure, but are the most sophisticated robots we are creating in fact human scaffolders?

Now you might have read up to this point of the article and thought ‘What is this guy talking about?’ but stick with me because I think you will understand where I am coming from in a moment.

Over the last five years, the scaffolding industry has evolved, and we have experienced more change than at any other time in our history. When any industry experiences rapid growth and advancements in techniques, materials and technology, there is often a delay in the legislation keeping up with the new ways of doing things and we experience a period of confusion and misinterpretation. Companies and individuals find new ways to solve old problems and the legislation may not have considered such methods in previous editions, so we experience a divide in the industry between people who are still doing things the old way and people who have harnessed the change and are finding more efficient ways to do business. Slowly over time, legislation catches up with the advancements and new rules and regulations are implemented, and this is where things can get scary.

Many of the older generation of scaffolders tell stories of a truck load of materials being delivered to a job site where the scaffolders would use their skills and knowledge to use the materials the best way they knew how. If they were short of some items, they would find a way to substitute different components to get the job done. This process has worked well for many years and still happens in some places today with great success. The biggest challenge with this method is that the guys on site are completely responsible for the success or failure of the project and the skill of the crew will impact how well the scaffolding has been built. You could send 10 different scaffolding crews to build the exact same job and they would all build it differently. All 10 crews will still get the job done and still give the client what they are paying for, but which crew will be the most efficient, fastest, safest, etc? In a competitive market where, often, the cheapest price will win the job, time and efficiency are key to the success of the business and this forces senior management to find new ways to get an edge on their competitors.

In comes the introduction of technology, and innovation and businesses must ask themselves, how can we make the scaffolders work faster, what materials can we use to make it quicker, how can we save transport and delivery costs, how can we use less equipment so we can do more jobs? And so on...

The answer to all the above questions is to plan out and design the project before arriving on site.

There are many great scaffolding design platforms on the market that will help design the scaffolding layout, provide a bill of materials, generate accurate transport take-offs and provide the client with a

visual idea of the finished product to help the business gain an advantage over their competition, but by doing all the thinking for the scaffolders, are we turning them into robots?

Nowadays, the scaffolders arrive on site and everything is already done for them, someone has decided on the most efficient way to install the scaffolding and what components need to go where. The scaffolders no longer need to think for themselves and simply must follow what has been shown on the scaffolding plan. They will be given just the right amount of materials needed to complete the works – all the thinking has already been done for them so they can simply focus on the execution.

This is a great way to reduce costs and increase efficiency, but are the scaffolders losing their ability to think for themselves?

What happens in the instance where the client needs an alteration to the original design, or the conditions of the site have changed and the scaffolding needs to be modified, or when a client has an urgent requirement and there isn’t enough time to prepare scaffolding plans? By asking for the use of skills and knowledge to come up with a solution, are we expecting too much of a generation of scaffolders who aren’t allowed to think for themselves and must follow what they have been shown on a piece of paper? Are we killing off a generation of creative thinkers who can look at a project, come up with a design in their heads and then execute their ideas? Are we turning human scaffolders into robots?

ARE WE KILLING OFF A GENERATION OF CREATIVE THINKERS WHO CAN LOOK AT A PROJECT, COME UP WITH A DESIGN IN THEIR HEADS AND THEN EXECUTE THEIR IDEAS?

Where do we draw the line between efficiency and building an industry of harnessing innovation and technology that does not destroy the human touch at the same time? If the client could have used a machine or a robot to access their work area, they wouldn’t have needed scaffolding in the first place.

Will legislation eliminate the human factor and create an industry where the scaffolder is legally no longer allowed to think for themselves and can no longer erect a scaffolding without an engineered scaffolding plan?

In the last five years we have felt the industry change and evolve at a rapid pace, so over the next five years we will find the answers to all the above questions. I’m not sure if I am excited or scared to sit down and write this same article again in the year 2025.