16.03.2012

The magic of a hard hat and yellow vest

It seems that many of those working in the construction industry believe that once they don a hard hat and hi-vis vest they gain immunity to accidents.

A reader in the UK has sent us a classic case of distorted priorities from a site in Dartford Kent.

The two men working from a first floor balcony, have all the PPE gear, hard hats, hi-vis vests and you can be sure those boots have steel toecaps. Yet when it comes to their access equipment….. They have at least sourced a perfectly good piece of kit, but they clearly cannot be bothered to either assemble or use it correctly. Clearly a case of distorted priorities.
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All the right clothing, shame about the access equipment

A quick glance will reveal that the correct platform height is an issue, with one man standing on a diagonal brace, which is simply not designed to support his weight. A closer look reveals the guardrail is in a fact a diagonal brace and so does not fit. It is merely resting on the frame. Hopefully the loose planks that the scaffold is standing on are merely there to protect some sort of balcony surface??

Looking at the way they are using the scaffold though, we wonder if the
planks are all there is? If so one side shift from the two on the tower and a plank could tilt and down they go. If so then this is a definite Death Wish. Other than that it probably just scrapes in.
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Hopefully those planks are just there to protect the balcony surface?

It is however a classic case of an on-going lack of understanding and respect for safe, high efficiency access equipment, no matter where you are in the world.

Remember that the next time some analyst suggests that the powered access market in Europe or North America is ‘saturated’ nothing could be further from the truth. There are still thousands out there to convert.