Are roofers crazy?

bernardgreen · 26 Dec 2014

A few months ago I saw a thatcher working on a ladder that was laid on the roof. The foot of the ladder was on the roof of the thatcher's van. There was a work platform and ladder "fixing" attached to the roof.

Personally I feel that a slightly precarious working location makes one look out for one's own safety while a "totally safe" working location allows ( encourages ) one to pay less attention to safety.

Provided the risk assessors have identified and provided for every possible hazard then their "totally safe" working location may be possible.

Personally I prefer to protect myself and not rely on some one else to be 100% accurate.

ladylola · 26 Dec 2014

And if anyone wants to wade through ten pages have a look here ,
http://www.hse.gov.uk/search/search...gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Working on ladders&gsc.page=1
I think a lot of employers etc treat it as a grey area and er on the side of caution , take a look at some of the "myths" on there such as ladders and steps being banned.

RNReindeer · 26 Dec 2014

It's quite common here for roofers to rest the foot of their roof ladder in the zinc or galvanised guttering.

masona · 26 Dec 2014

ajstoneservices said:
masona said:

Suppose to maintain three points of contact. Two feet and one hand or two hands and one foot should be in contact with the ladder at all times.

Click to expand...

And the work gets done how?

Difficult

masona · 26 Dec 2014

newboy said:
bourbon said:

H&S states a ladder is a means of access not a work platform.

Click to expand...

Another health & safety myth - try reading what the HSE actually says about ladders

Used to be from A to B, what they are now saying, can't be bothered to find out how long. If it's for a longer working period then must have platform !

cajar · 26 Dec 2014

if I remember right it's 20-30 mins max duration working off a ladder.

Brigadier · 26 Dec 2014

Someone on here used to have a "signature", for want of a better word - "If you make everything idiot-proof, Nature will just evolve a better idiot." Absolutely true, IME.

I swear by all that's holy, some day one of our staff will be found, all bloated and blue. And the root cause analysis will be that, although I gave them all step-by-step instructions on breathing in, I hadn't got round to sending them the "breathing out" documented procedure.............

JBR · 26 Dec 2014

When I was a youngster, people learnt through experience and from that came what used to be called 'common sense'.

Today, we have that wonderful 'Health and Safety' thing that the 'Nanny State' put in place to guide us because we're all so thick.

That must be better than common sense... mustn't it?

gregers · 26 Dec 2014

so how does h&s work when lot of the workforce now doesnt speak the mother tongue?
isnt that in itself a breech?

Brigadier · 27 Dec 2014

gregers said:
so how does h&s work when lot of the workforce now doesnt speak the mother tongue?
isnt that in itself a breech?

The irony of using the phrase "mother tongue", then "breech", rather than "breach"

Sorry Gregers - pulling up spelling and grammar is a bit of a cheap shot IME, but I couldn't resist that one!

AronSearle · 27 Dec 2014

JBR said:
When I was a youngster, people learnt through experience and from that came what used to be called 'common sense'.

Work related accidents.

sooey · 27 Dec 2014

That manufacturing graph shows a sharp decline, that's what happens happens when you close all the factories.
Wonder what the equivalent chinese manufacturing graph would look like.

RNReindeer · 27 Dec 2014

It's too simplistic to give comparable figures anyway.
If it showed the number of accidents per, say 1000 people, it may be a reasonable comparison.
But it also doesn't allow any reflection of changes in techniques, materials, etc.
Nor does it show any comparison between industries, e.g the number of people inolved in manufacturing compared to agriculture.
It's not only manufacturing that has seen a large reduction in the number of workers employed, so has agriculture.

So as a bare reflection of H&S, it fails to show the real causes for the reduction in accidents, only one of which may be attributable to H&S.

From that graph, one could even argue that agriculture has always been the safest sector to be employed.

gregers · 27 Dec 2014

Brigadier said:
gregers said:

so how does h&s work when lot of the workforce now doesnt speak the mother tongue?
isnt that in itself a breech?

Click to expand...

The irony of using the phrase "mother tongue", then "breech", rather than "breach"

Sorry Gregers - pulling up spelling and grammar is a bit of a cheap shot IME, but I couldn't resist that one!

np bridgedeer

Are roofers crazy?

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