viv1969
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Ladders?
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BruceMo
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ZoneV
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Exactly what are you saying, Gary? That no-one should use a ladder, no matter how careful they are?
I undersunderstand the need to be safe on a ladder - believe me, when you're 20ft up you don't need reminding to 'be careful' - but I don't get your completely pessimistic attitude towards them. They're perfectly safe as long as you're sensible and keep your wits about you.
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Christ, do i need to spell it out for you, i have a crippled relative who fell 15ft from a ladder while clearing guttering, his wife is now his full time carer and they have 2 very young children, he was a well respected local builder who like you thought it was safe,he was sensible and kept his wits about him as well, everything is safe so long as it doesnt happen to you. He knows he was an idiot for not having someone foot his ladder but hey, its perfectly safe.
Im seriously not having a go at you and as with most things its safe, safe that is until something happens.
I think complacency sets in, we all get a little cock sure that were untouchable at times, but if i get a little complacent in my job it has no repercussions other than a delivery might be late but roofers/scaffolders and the like face more serious consiquences
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mrgubby
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I've been involved in Health & safety on construction sites for nine years & I've never had an injury reported to me concerning a ladder
But
When I worked in Electronics my Engineering manager broke his leg putting up the Christmas decorations (at home) from a stepladder
But
When I worked in Electronics my Engineering manager broke his leg putting up the Christmas decorations (at home) from a stepladder
ZoneV
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I'm sorry to hear that but it is perfectly safe as long as you're sensible, as I said. Accidents, tragic as they are, very rarely happen for no reason. If they did then it'd be a completely different prospect and I'd never go near another ladder!
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Or as modern thinking goes, theres no such thing as accidents because ALL accidents as such are preventable, modern H&S now thinks of incidents rather than accidents, because of certain incidents to myself and others in a 40 year work life im pretty anal when it comes to the safety of myself and others, on the other hand i know my actions or interventions have saved life and serious injury on more than one occasion
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Most incidents, especially minor ones actually go unreported because the employee involved knows he can legally lose his job, long gone are the days when only an employer was responsible for health and safety at work, today every single employee is as much responsible for his own and his work colleagues health and safety as his employer, over the years ive seen 2 lads i work with sacked because of this, its difficult to prove but makes a massive difference to how employees work when it happens, i think the majority of employers now see unsafe acts at work as class A offences which can lead to summary dismissal.
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ZoneV
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I too am very anal about safety. That's why I am confident I can work up a ladder.
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Its how you come down that matters
ZoneV
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Its how you come down that matters
Indeed. It's not the fall but the sudden stop at the end.
plloydie
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For crying out loud has the world gone mad, I don't know what the people who know best would have said working with and for my Dad, nothing like being at the top of a fully extended triple 20 rung ladder...
Unless things have changed recently there is absolutely nothing in either the domestic or professional world in health and safety regulations that outlaw the use off or working from ladders, yes reasonable precautions need to be taken but that's about all in regulations..
The only reason ladders are used less is naturally companies have become more risk aware, and also that technology has become avalible to negate a number of uses for a ladder, plus increase work place efficacy at the same time...case in point my dads old company we were industrial painter and decorators plus we were also a cleaning company some example where we went away from ladders
Window Cleaning - the development of reach and wash systems mean windows even at height could be cleaned from the ground level, this made for a safer work place, also it mean quicker cleaning as there was no constant up and down of ladders..also meant window cleaners could work solo rather than need a footer on the ladder for the very highest jobs
Painting - access platforms such as scissors lifts and cherry pickers meant that painters could paint a larger area from a single position before needing to move, plus allowed improved access to tighter spots...case in point one of our regular jobs was to paint the over hanging woodwork at a local canal basin, originally we had to hire a barge and mount a tower on that, this was always precarious at best...with the development of larger cherry pickers it was possible to park it on a central pier, and ride it out over the water to do the work
Unless things have changed recently there is absolutely nothing in either the domestic or professional world in health and safety regulations that outlaw the use off or working from ladders, yes reasonable precautions need to be taken but that's about all in regulations..
The only reason ladders are used less is naturally companies have become more risk aware, and also that technology has become avalible to negate a number of uses for a ladder, plus increase work place efficacy at the same time...case in point my dads old company we were industrial painter and decorators plus we were also a cleaning company some example where we went away from ladders
Window Cleaning - the development of reach and wash systems mean windows even at height could be cleaned from the ground level, this made for a safer work place, also it mean quicker cleaning as there was no constant up and down of ladders..also meant window cleaners could work solo rather than need a footer on the ladder for the very highest jobs
Painting - access platforms such as scissors lifts and cherry pickers meant that painters could paint a larger area from a single position before needing to move, plus allowed improved access to tighter spots...case in point one of our regular jobs was to paint the over hanging woodwork at a local canal basin, originally we had to hire a barge and mount a tower on that, this was always precarious at best...with the development of larger cherry pickers it was possible to park it on a central pier, and ride it out over the water to do the work
Rowee
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The 3 points of contact rule is amusing. As a roofer, we rarely work from ladders as we aren't supposed to at such height and you can be prosecuted for putting other peoples lives at risk (employee's, contractors and the public). But if you do use a ladder, the 3 points of contact at all times rule means you are absolutely unable to carry anything up or down a ladder unless it can fit in your hand while you simultaneously use said hand to hold the ladder...safely. So a cloth or a paintbrush at a push, but actually you can't take the pot of paint up with you.
I agree, at home you can do what you like as long as you feel it is safe to do so. I've been up on my roof numerous times using a ladder, I actually feel safer on my roof than at the top of a ladder near the roof. From memory I think the ladder has to be at 75 degrees which is actually quite a steep pitch, and for professional use I think there has to be someone at the bottom at all times or the ladder fixed at the top (like scaffolders do)
HSE actively spot check building sites for this kind of thing so for us, it's just easier and safer to use scaffolding or hire a tower as a working platform and just use our ladders for access.
That said, we are replacing a flat roof on a single storey garage soon, I won't be getting scaffolding for that
Though I agree is safer to get a professional in, please remember, there is no such thing as no risk, you are merely paying someone else to take the risk for you
I agree, at home you can do what you like as long as you feel it is safe to do so. I've been up on my roof numerous times using a ladder, I actually feel safer on my roof than at the top of a ladder near the roof. From memory I think the ladder has to be at 75 degrees which is actually quite a steep pitch, and for professional use I think there has to be someone at the bottom at all times or the ladder fixed at the top (like scaffolders do)
HSE actively spot check building sites for this kind of thing so for us, it's just easier and safer to use scaffolding or hire a tower as a working platform and just use our ladders for access.
That said, we are replacing a flat roof on a single storey garage soon, I won't be getting scaffolding for that
Though I agree is safer to get a professional in, please remember, there is no such thing as no risk, you are merely paying someone else to take the risk for you
studioworks
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Unfortuantly a lot of the time it comes down to cost, yes a scaffold is much safer and a whole lot nicer to work off but when the cost of the scaffolding is considerably more than the job itself the ladder will come out the majority of the time.
As a recent exception to that recently a landlord spent maybe £600 on scafolding just for 4 window sills to be painted. It was a busy high street so no choice but to do it the official h&s way but anywhere else not a chance of that happening.
As a recent exception to that recently a landlord spent maybe £600 on scafolding just for 4 window sills to be painted. It was a busy high street so no choice but to do it the official h&s way but anywhere else not a chance of that happening.