ServoTech COSMOS – Safe Guardrail Assembly on Marte Towers

ServoTech is a COSMOS assembly tool for Marte S and Marte L scaffold towers that lets you fit the guardrails of the next level from the platform below.

The most dangerous moment when working with a mobile scaffold tower often comes not during the work itself, but during assembly. A worker building the next level has to climb onto the new platform before there are any guardrails around it – and at that moment they are standing at height with no fall protection.

This is why EN 1004-1 provides for assembly methods in which the guardrails of the upper platform are fitted from the platform below. On its Marte S and Marte L mobile scaffold towers, COSMOS answers this requirement with an assembly tool called ServoTech.

What Is ServoTech?

ServoTech is not a castor brake. The manufacturer's catalogue describes it as an “innovative assembly tool”: an accessory that allows the protective guardrails to be assembled and dismantled safely while the worker stands with their feet on the lower platform (with reference to EN 1004-1).

The procedure is simple: the guardrails of the new level are fitted from below, from the lower platform that is already protected. Only once the guardrails are in place does the worker climb onto the upper platform – where, in the manufacturer's words, they are “in total safety, protected on all sides”. Dismantling works the same way in reverse.

The result: the worker never stands on a platform that does not yet have guardrails. Nobody has to rely on keeping their balance “just for a moment” at the top.

How Does ServoTech Work in Practice?

According to the COSMOS catalogue, the following applies to ServoTech:

• Each tower needs 2 ServoTech pieces, and both are included in the price of the assembly.
• It is used for both assembling and dismantling guardrails, always from the lower platform.
• The exact assembly method is described in the new instruction manual supplied with the tower.

ServoTech is a purely mechanical tool – no electronics, no batteries. The castors of a Marte tower are still secured by their own parking brakes: Marte S has 125 mm castors, Marte L 150 mm castors, both with an integrated brake. The castors therefore still have to be locked by hand before climbing.

Which COSMOS Models Have ServoTech?

Marte S (width 0.74 m) and Marte L (width 1.35 m): both ranges include ServoTech in the price. The price lists have a ServoTech column for every height configuration: the three lowest assemblies (a single platform up to 1.75 m on Marte S, or 1.79 m on Marte L) do not have it; all higher configurations do – on Marte S from a working height of 4.35 m, on Marte L from 4.39 m. For Marte S the catalogue explicitly states “included / required”.

Marte Comfort: the catalogue does not list ServoTech for Marte Comfort. Instead, it is supplied with Safe Parapets (Parapetti Safe), which can be fitted safely from the lower platform without any additional accessories. We cover them in our article on Safe Parapets and SmartLock.

Other COSMOS models: the catalogues for other COSMOS models (the Orsa, Palco, Gemma and Super Torretta stair platforms and the TeleGemma telescopic platforms) do not list ServoTech.

ServoTech vs. No ServoTech – A Practical Comparison

Assembling the next level without the tool:

• The worker fits the frames and deck of the new level
• They climb onto the new platform, which has no guardrails yet
• They fit the guardrails while standing on the unprotected platform

Throughout steps 2 and 3 they are at height with no fall protection.

Assembling the next level with ServoTech:

• The worker fits the frames and deck of the new level
• From the lower platform, protected by guardrails, they use ServoTech to fit the guardrails of the level above
• Only then do they climb onto the new platform, which is already protected on all sides

The “standing at the top without guardrails” step disappears entirely. The same applies to dismantling, when the guardrails are removed from the lower platform.

Why Guardrail Assembly Matters So Much

Falls from mobile scaffold towers do not only happen on a finished platform. The risky moments also include building, dismantling or re-configuring the tower to a different height – exactly the situations in which the guardrails are not yet, or no longer, complete.

ServoTech addresses this risk through design: the correct procedure (guardrails first, then climb) is also the most convenient one. The worker does not have to think about keeping their balance at the top, because they never climb up without guardrails.

For operations where towers are built and re-configured by different people – or where work is done under time pressure – this is a significant safety measure on top of training alone.

ServoTech and Health & Safety Audits

Fitting guardrails from the lower platform is a method that corresponds to EN 1004-1, which the COSMOS catalogue refers to for ServoTech. If you build Marte towers according to the manufacturer's manual using ServoTech, you can demonstrate a specific technical measure against falls during assembly and dismantling at a health and safety audit.

We recommend incorporating the ServoTech assembly method into your local work procedure and keeping records of training for the workers who build the towers.

Summary

ServoTech is a COSMOS assembly tool for the Marte S and Marte L mobile scaffold towers. It allows guardrails to be assembled and dismantled from the lower platform, so the worker never stands on a platform without guardrails. Two pieces are included with every configuration from a working height of about 4.4 m. It is not a braking system – Marte castors have their own parking brakes, which must be applied by hand.

Interested in a COSMOS Marte tower with ServoTech or need help choosing? Contact us.