Derek Tordoff, the association's director-general, said the scheme would spell out what steelwork contractors expect from main contractors in terms of site safety.
He said: "Currently, the detail is being confirmed and reaction to its format is being gauged, but it will look at the conditions steelworkers need on sites."
The association has also announced plans to help the Health and Safety Executive rewrite its document on safety in erecting structural frames, which is due to be launched in the autumn.
The move follows the publication of a series of BCSA health and safety guides.
In a third development, the Major Contractors Group has stepped up its safety campaign by bringing forward the deadline for scaffolders to hold a renewable registration card for the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme.
The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation, which administers the scheme, had planned to require its members to obtain the card by December 2003.
The MCG has brought forward the deadline to the end of 2001, a move prompted by the risks involved in the erection and use of scaffolding.
Brian Houston, chairman of the scheme's management committee, welcomed the MCG's move. He added that he hoped other organisations would follow suit.
He said the scheme offered skilled operatives proper recognition.
He said: "The CISRS card shows that, through training assessment and health and safety testing, they have achieved the standards recognised and desired by a forward-looking industry."
CISRS cards replace a non-renewable scaffolder's card, which was criticised for being easy to forge, and which did not require health and safety training.
An applicant's card will be upgraded from the old to the new form only if evidence of relevant training is attached to the application form.
