U.S. Scaffolder needs work, have tools will travel

Hi this is Mike, I am a Carpenter with 20 years experience, union trained apprenticeship, but will work non-union. The union is unable to provide work and i need to feed my family. I am Osha safety trained, and a certified scaffold builder since 1999. I just got done working in Texas at Comanche Peak Nuclear doing scaffold for the last 2 months.

any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. I also have 2 other scaffold freinds in the same boat, willing to travel as well.

hiya,was wondering if you had a email so i could send mine there,im advance scaffolder with over 20yrs experience

azezzo said:

Hi this is Mike, I am a Carpenter with 20 years experience, union trained apprenticeship, but will work non-union. The union is unable to provide work and i need to feed my family. I am Osha safety trained, and a certified scaffold builder since 1999. I just got done working in Texas at Comanche Peak Nuclear doing scaffold for the last 2 months.

any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S. I also have 2 other scaffold freinds in the same boat, willing to travel as well.

Click to expand...

Mike

To work 'on tools' in the UK scaffolding industry you are generally required to hold a valid CISRS registration card which you can find details of here - CISRS - the industry recognised scaffold training scheme - Also have a look here - NASC - National Access and Scaffolding Confederation

Although system scaffolding is becoming more and more common in the UK, the vast majority of scaffolding (particularly in the power & utilities sector) is built in tube and fitting format. It is widely accepted that the standard of scaffolding in the UK is the best in the world.

It may be possible to find work using system scaffolding, but even then you'd need a reasonabe degree of experience with tube and fitting. Couple that with the fact that there is hardly enough work for experienced local lads, you'd be extremely lucky to find any sort of scaffolding work here.

With all due respect, I have travelled extensivley around the US and can quite honestly say that the standard of scaffolding there is a million miles away from what is required here. Another thing to consider is the weak Pound against the US Dollar and the unlikely event that you'd be granted a work visa to work in the scaffolding industry.

Good luck anyway.

Phil.

not necesarrily wanting to work in the U.K., but I would consider it, this was just a general post, I was hoping to go to Canada to work in Alberta, but that fell thru.
Anyways, I actually do have experience with Tube and clamp, both American and Canadian, Canada uses beat on wedges instead of clamps. I have also experience with the following systems scaffolds,
Safeway, Brand, and Excel.

You said that, "It is widely accepted that the standard of scaffolding in the UK is the best in the world.", I have been doing scaffold since 1999, and forgive my ignorance, but I was unaware. That being said, it might be an honor to travel abroad and learn your ways of scaffold.
I was trained thru the Union, here in Chicago, and we follow Osha guide lines, but I have just got home from Texas and will admit that I was working non-union there and I was not impressed at all with their skills there, or lack there of, so perhaps you are comparing the U.K. to non-union areas of the U.S.

I hope you find some work soon azezzo . The reason scaffolding is of such a high standard here in the UK is due to strict guidelines on who can do it . You said you are a carpenter , take my advice and make that your primary trade if looking for work in the UK .
We have guys trying to get work here from eastern Europe with our government bending over backwards to let them work here , it is only our strict competency guidelines that stop these guys taking our jobs and taking our trade back 30 years . You sound like a guy just trying to find work and in this I do wish you well, cheers .

with you being a joiner from the states i expect you have experiance of building timber homes traditionaly in the uk its normally bricks and motar but because of the speed of construction they are getting very popular over hear and our joiners have little experiance in prefab dwelings it might be in your interest to look in to this hope this is some help brother good luck