Overcoming the problems with working at height

[JD6400]

What access gear do others use when working at height , and how high would you deem it safe to still work from a ladder ?
Also whats the worst case of daft and dangerous behaviour that you have come across by other people working at height .:38:

 

[Des 56]

There were pictures posted on this site a while back showing some crazy ladder work
maybe someone knows where to dig them out from

 

[needasparks]

Well done dp, this ones gonna be interesting.

 

[sparkiegaz]

havnt worked off a ladder in years,,,,done some silly things in the past like most,,,not for me no jobs worth taking the risk,,

 

[JD6400]

Thanks needasparks , i hope so as i think some of the rules are just so prohibitive that they sometimes end up just breeding contempt to what can be a very serious and dangerous dilemma !

 

[alarm man]

What access gear do others use when working at height , and how high would you deem it safe to still work from a ladder ?
Also whats the worst case of daft and dangerous behaviour that you have come across by other people working at height .:38:

re ladders its a temp working platform,20 mins max from memory,involves tying down and wearing a harness otherwise..we have all done the half a brick under the feet to level upor ,using a swivel chair to get a bit higher(which was an art) it doesnt or shouldnt happen these days,are the no steps or ladder sites safer? im not sure..

 

[JD6400]

I will start off the first daft and dangerous one , It was in a very tall grain store and i caught some operatives installing 6ft twin flurries using a JCB lodall on full boom extension with a set of triple gang ladders on full extension out of its grain bucket and just resting against the top of the ladders on a 12" purling at the top , it had one them in the loadall with his foot on the brake as i think the hand brake was shot !

Forgot to mention that there was two cherry pickers on site sitting idle at the time ????

 

[imago]

My public liability insurance covers me up to 30 ft. Basically the ridge height of a two storey house. So that's the maximum I can go to on anything. Ladders are for quick easy stuff, up to that height. The proviso being that I can set the ladder and feel comfortable with it in position.

I can hire a cherry picker for £165 a day, or get a scaffold erected and knocked over three days for £400. I basically make a judgement call on the job based on common sense and price it accordingly.

 

[Des 56]

I once got up on my own roof
My ladders reached only to the troughing,I got the borrowed roofing laddder and slid it up the roof on its wheels to hook over the crests
I got up there with a struggle and farted about with the aerial

Time to come down,thats when it dawned on me it was going to be awkward dangling my legs over the edge to find the rungs
I dangled the legs and got myself down

It wasn't till I was down safe that it sank into my thick brain that the roof ladder was extending out over the edge by about 5 feet and I had just crawled off that with dangling legs
It could and should have lifted the top of the roof ladder off the crests and helped me get to the ground a bit quicker

,but it was my lucky foolish day


That is until I decided on another occasion to slot my slates back up into my disintergrating roof in 100 mph gusts,clinging to the rungs till they died away and back at it till the next

 

[mogga]

some firms banned steps and unfixed( ie not part of scaffolding ) ladders great idea till you have sparks celing fixers plumbers ducters painters ect ect all shoving scaffolds, podiums around its funny trying to get anything to fit a 1200x600 cupboard
as for trying to get scaffold wrapped round pipework in boiler rooms thats FUN

 

[Spazz]

I have just bought myself a 9m ladder as I have had some houses that I cant get to the roof or chimney stack with - not a nice height to work from through.

It came with 2 ropes - 1 for the bottom and 1 for the top - it takes more time to install these than it does to do the job up there.

 

[Knobhead]

I was given the job of re-lamping a plant and was told that the site scaffolders would build a platform for every lamp I needed access to. Things dragged on for about a week and we were getting nowhere fast. I was fed up the scaffolders were going scatty. Start of the second week and I was taken on one side by the scaffolders foreman, “give us a box of lamps and clear off out of the way”. They only built a scaffold if the control gear was faulty, I spent a fortnight in hiding.

 

[Silly Sausage]

Predictable as ever I know.....

Aussie tourist's bungee cord snaps - YouTube

 

[johnboy6083]

i judge each job by merit. I have to climb on top of panels during shutdowns ect, and there is no way you can get a scaffold for a shutdown on a large panel, when the back is not accessibe anyway, and the front is being worked on.

 

[Paul.M]

A picture speaks a thousand words.

 

[Spazz]

Just posted on another thread but is still relevant to this one as well



Just to clear this up - as I used to deliver training on working at heights

If you are self employed: You must ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use

If your are employed: Your employer has a duty of care and it is down to them to ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use


Only the employer (employed)/individual (S/E) can decide what training you need.


The customer can also put restrictions in place as they are the ones who are paying for the job.


The HSE will look at it and decide have you/your employer taken all possible steps to prevent this accident as far as reasonably practicable
If the employer has taken all steps and the employee has failed their duty to care for themselves then the employee is to blame

If the answer is yes then your in the clear
If the answer is no then you need to have a good reason and explain yourself to the court if required


A fine will be issued if you fail (above)


Your insurance will not pay out if you have not taken all steps as far as reasonably practicable same as in an employed and S/E basis


The best way is to do a written risk assessment and that will fine line any potential problems - also have next to the suggested actions if it is viable and if not why not - the HSE will look at this and usually clear any charges.

Just dont over look the obvious things as that wont impress the HSE and Insurance





I can provide risk assessments tailored to each individual need if required, but at a fee!

 

[Silly Sausage]

A picture speaks a thousand words. Big ladders

Gear designed for job?!? Would they need footing? I'd feel a bit precarious if they weren't.

This begs a question I've wanted to ask...Honest answers only...when doing inspections & testings with luminaires well out of arms reach (1 man on the job), how many true end of circuit Zs readings are taken?

Maybe an Arms only subject

 

[Des 56]

Just posted on another thread but is still relevant to this one as well



Just to clear this up - as I used to deliver training on working at heights

If you are self employed: You must ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use

If your are employed: Your employer has a duty of care and it is down to them to ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use


Only the employer (employed)/individual (S/E) can decide what training you need.


The customer can also put restrictions in place as they are the ones who are paying for the job.


The HSE will look at it and decide have you/your employer taken all possible steps to prevent this accident as far as reasonably practicable
If the employer has taken all steps and the employee has failed their duty to care for themselves then the employee is to blame

If the answer is yes then your in the clear
If the answer is no then you need to have a good reason and explain yourself to the court if required


A fine will be issued if you fail (above)


Your insurance will not pay out if you have not taken all steps as far as reasonably practicable same as in an employed and S/E basis


The best way is to do a written risk assessment and that will fine line any potential problems - also have next to the suggested actions if it is viable and if not why not - the HSE will look at this and usually clear any charges.

Just dont over look the obvious things as that wont impress the HSE and Insurance





I can provide risk assessments tailored to each individual need if required, but at a fee!

And then there is the real world where all this H+S comfy lounge nonsense is imagined but not practical

 

[UNG]

Just posted on another thread but is still relevant to this one as well



Just to clear this up - as I used to deliver training on working at heights

If you are self employed: You must ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use

If your are employed: Your employer has a duty of care and it is down to them to ensure you are competent in using the equipment that your planning to use


Only the employer (employed)/individual (S/E) can decide what training you need.


The customer can also put restrictions in place as they are the ones who are paying for the job.


The HSE will look at it and decide have you/your employer taken all possible steps to prevent this accident as far as reasonably practicable
If the employer has taken all steps and the employee has failed their duty to care for themselves then the employee is to blame

If the answer is yes then your in the clear
If the answer is no then you need to have a good reason and explain yourself to the court if required


A fine will be issued if you fail (above)


Your insurance will not pay out if you have not taken all steps as far as reasonably practicable same as in an employed and S/E basis


The best way is to do a written risk assessment and that will fine line any potential problems - also have next to the suggested actions if it is viable and if not why not - the HSE will look at this and usually clear any charges.

Just dont over look the obvious things as that wont impress the HSE and Insurance





I can provide risk assessments tailored to each individual need if required, but at a fee!

You neglected to mention that cost is not a consideration when deciding which access method to use

just curious what working at height training did you deliver


It is difficult to carry out a lot of tasks from a ladder safely, when I was doing a lot of radio comms work a number of years ago we used to install eye bolt sockets so we had a secure anchor point if we needed maintenance access at a later date

 

[D80]

Worst I've seen is scissor lift extended to full length, extension ladders out of that for around another 4-5M to the ceiling. Have seen and worked with others that have used tray & basket runs for their access platform, even though its 9M+ up! One missing bracket and from that height its lights out.

I've a fear of heights, that is even more the case when I'm not totally in control. Anything above what my extension ladders can reach I'd really rather not be near it. If cherry picker or scaffold supplied not so big a problem - pretty sure my Insurance is only up to 10M and felt that good enough as I have no plans to go any higher!