As far as the safety of scaffold supports is concerned, the low
scores obtained by both types of scaffolding are probably due to
ignorance on the part of building contractors. Contractors
frequently fail to have soil studies made prior to their building
activities for a proper grounding of the scaffolding. Scaffolding frequently
rests directly on the soil, without sleepers or base plates for
an adequate distribution of the load. Sometimes, even the material
used for this load distribution is not suitable for the purpose: bricks,
incorrectly arranged wooden planks, etc.