15.11.2013

Big push around

Spotted in Birmingham, UK on Tuesday of this week, men working on the Christmas Market and flouting all of the work at height safety rules.

First let’s hear from our correspondent who took the photos: “I have attached some photos taken on Tuesday Night (12/11/13) whilst operating a Vehicle Mounted Platform in New Street, Birmingham. On the one hand there was me, contracted by a reputable company to operate for an electrician carrying out external lighting works on Waterstones Book Store.”

“On the other hand, not more than 80 yards down the same street a team were erecting stalls for the Christmas Market. Their choice of equipment was a four tier scaffold, (being used without stabilisers). As I watched, this was being wheeled around the structure by two men on the ground while their co-workers where still standing on it. At one point as the photo indicates one of them (I presume the foreman because he was the one barking out orders) climbed up on the rails and casually climbed on to the pitched roof of the fabricated building and continued to work without any fall protection.”
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One man up on the roof two acting as counterweight and one assisting

“If you look carefully at one of the pictures you can also see another worker standing astride a lower roof (near the tree / I think he got forgotten and left behind when they previously wheeled the scaffolding around!).”

“What annoys me more than anything over all of this, is while we were only given a permit to work for 'one night only' with restrictions limited to between the hours of 6pm and 10 pm due to possibly waking slumbering patrons in a nearby hotel, it would appear that these residents were not the only ones who wished to 'close their eyes'.”
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One man uses the tower to gain access to the roof

“Though we did everything by the book / Permits / MEWP / Barriers / Assessment / etc this is a clear example of double standards by whomever authorised / permitted these guys to work.”

Looking at the eight metre single width tower, it is a design favoured in Germany with a wider steel base and a second set of castors, which do act as stabilisers for lower level towers, but do not provide enough stability for the height of this tower. Secondly none of the platforms have guardrails or toe-boards, including the top one. And then there is the stunt of climbing up onto the top of the building… Add to that the number of men on the platform, two of them seeming to be doing nothing, oddly enough they probably add to the stability of the tower – human counterweights?

No question about it though - this flys in the face of the work at height regulations and is a definite one for our Death Wish Series. Given that this is a known site, the contractor could be easily traced – perhaps the Health & Safety Executive should consider checking it out?
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Our correspondent used this truck mount

Even if this was a safe work practice one has to wonder if it is economic, given the number of people involved?