Working at Height and Scaffolding: ADOSH-SF V4.1 Evidence Checklist for Abu Dhabi Contractors

Abu Dhabi's occupational safety framework — ADOSH-SF, formerly OSHAD — publishes Codes of Practice that entities describe as minimum mandatory technical requirements. Several construction-relevant codes were reissued at V4.1, including working at height, scaffolding, lifting, hot work, excavation, plant, lockout/tagout and the OSH Construction Management Plan. For most contractors the practical question is not what the code says in general terms, but what an auditor will ask them to produce.

Scope and limitations: this page is an operational evidence aid, not legal advice and not a substitute for the official Code of Practice. Version numbers and effective dates change — verify the current CoP, its version and its effective date against the ADPHC code library, and confirm any entity-specific or client requirements that apply to your project.

Version and review panel

Evidence to retain — working at height

• Risk assessment and method statement for the specific height activity, current revision, approved before work started.
• Hierarchy-of-control justification: why the work cannot be done from the ground, and why the chosen system was selected over collective protection.
• Anchor point design or certification evidence where personal fall protection is used.
• Harness and lanyard inspection records — pre-use, periodic and thorough examination — traceable to serial numbers.
• Rescue plan naming the rescue method, the equipment and the trained personnel, with drill evidence.
• Competence records for supervisors, users and any appointed persons, valid on the day of use.
• Permit record for the activity where the project requires one, including its expiry and closeout.
• Photographic evidence of edge protection, access, exclusion zones and load-bearing arrangements as installed.

Evidence to retain — scaffolding

"The scafftag proves someone signed. The inspection register, the competence record and the photo of what was actually inspected prove the control existed."

The workflow that produces the evidence

1. Plan: approve the RAMS revision and confirm the access solution before mobilising the crew.
2. Verify: a competent person confirms the erected condition against the design and issues the handover.
3. Authorise: link the permit, where used, to the current RAMS revision and the handover certificate.
4. Monitor: run inspections at the required interval and after every alteration or weather event, capturing photographs.
5. Escalate: any defect stops use of the scaffold until re-inspected — record the stop, the defect and the re-inspection.
6. Close: retain the full chain per project retention rules so an audit can be answered without reconstruction.

Field failure modes worth pre-empting

• A crew alters a scaffold to fit a service run and the tag is never downgraded.
• Fall protection is issued but no rescue plan exists, leaving suspension-trauma risk uncontrolled.
• Inspection frequency is met on paper while the register contains no findings at all — a sign of tick-box inspection.
• Subcontractor competence records live in the subcontractor's office rather than the project evidence set.

Next step: keep these records in one place with expiry alerts and inspection scheduling using the inspections module, and check the wider record set against the UAE construction HSE documentation checklist before your next client audit.

1. Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) — OSH code library
2. Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and Health Centre (ADOSH)
3. ISO 45001 — Occupational health and safety management systems