Woodburner installation - am I being unreasonable about scaffolding cost?

[Roger928]

Fallen from where exactly?

 

[Newboy]

A hefty rope will be tied around the chimney and secured and the harness is clipped to that

The operator has slipped and is now hanging in a harness - talk me through recovery

 

[Roger928]

Would he be "hanging" though if he just slid down the roof?

 

[Newboy]

Depends on type of harness, length of lanyard, position of stack on the roof etc. Regardless, how do you recover an operative who has fallen and, for the sake of argument, is injured?

 

[Roger928]

I wouldn't be doing it as I'm not trained. But if that trained person wasn't around I'd try to recover him with a telehandler or the scissor lift.
If he was harnessed to the scissor lift and fell from the scissor lift then I'd lower the lift using the ground control panel or if the electrics failed I'd pull release valve.

Which of course brings me back to post 8 and realise I should not have mentioned scissor lifts or harnesses unless the properly trained personel are on site. My bad.
That said I'd rather be left hanging in a harness and the risks involved than take a fall. I took two bad falls from roofs last year.

 

[Newboy]

I wouldn't be doing it as I'm not trained. But if that trained person wasn't around I'd try to recover him with a telehandler.
Which of course brings me back to post 8 and realise I should not have mentioned scissor lifts or harnesses unless the properly trained personel are on site.

So you've now got a telehandler on site ready to go as well as a scissor lift and trained operatives to use both items of equipment (and the use of a telehandler would be very questionable in the circumstances) and you think that this is a better (safer)solution (and less expensive) than scaffolding a chimney to fit a liner?

That said I'd rather be left hanging in a harness and the risks involved that take a fall

Despite the fact that hanging in a harness for more than 5 minutes (worst case scenario) could prove fatal?

 

[Roger928]

Despite the fact that hanging in a harness for more than 5 minutes (worst case scenario) could prove fatal?

Yes. Its better than hitting the ground imo.
Theres no guarantee it will prove fatal.

 

[Newboy]

Well I guess that either a fall or suspension injury is really a matter of personal choice!

 

[Roger928]

Why are lanyard one way clutches not used on Uk sites. The same as mountaineers use?
At least I've never seen them here. Used plenty of harnesses in my time.
The americans use them all the time on roofs.

 

[Newboy]

They are - for example

https://www.scaffoldingsales.co.uk/...rrest-block/?gclid=CKWuna_hwtECFcW4GwodcL4Pkg

 

[steve32]

Are you saying a full chimney scaffold is required to fit a chimney liner on a domestic household?
You do seem to be saying that a harness should not be used and would be unsafe.

Have you ever fitted a multi fuel liner suitable for a wood burner in a chimney.
I doubt you would be questioning the use of a scaffold if you have.

 

[Roger928]

They are - for example

https://www.scaffoldingsales.co.uk/...rrest-block/?gclid=CKWuna_hwtECFcW4GwodcL4Pkg

No this..

 

[Roger928]

Have you ever fitted a multi fuel liner suitable for a wood burner in a chimney.
I doubt you would be questioning the use of a scaffold if you have.

No. But I've seen guys fitting them with no scaffolding. Just a roofing ladder.

So you would require a full scaffolding to the eaves then a full chimney scaffold?

 

[Newboy]

Why are lanyard one way clutches not used on Uk sites

Although, to be honest, they can lead to other problems.

If an anchor point is some distance from the operator's working position (which a clutched lanyard could be said to encourage) then the pendulum effect can be more dangerous than a straight fall.

All the legislation in place is focused around preventing a fall - arrest harnesses are the last line of defence and are not a substitute for preventing the fall in the first place.

 

[Newboy]

No this..

Both the system that I posted and the one shown in your link have the same effect. The one I posted requires no release action by the operator - it allows free movement and automatically retracts as the operator moves about. It locks when a fast movement is detected - like an inertia reel seatbelt in a car.