02.12.2015

Putting on the rails

Spotted by a reader in Glasgow, Scotland, a man working from a boom lift on an upper floor, who just could not quite reach the work.

The good news is that he is wearing a harness as well as a tonne of PPE kit, but has had to resort to standing on the guardrails. A definite No-No according to just about every operator instruction book. While sent in as a Death Wish, the greatest risk here is probably foot slippage along the rail resulting in a nasty groin/rail collision.
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Several floors up but the not quite high enough

In the words of our correspondent:
“Spotted adjacent to the M8 motorway at the new Scottish Power HQ Glasgow, Laing O Rourke main contractor earlier today. I seem to remember you covered a similar photo called ‘up and under’.This guy has got his harness attached, he has done something right, but sadly there it ends.

“Keep up the excellent work covering the best and worst the industry has to offer.If by highlighting the negatives an accident or a single life is saved then the blushes of all those responsible in the command chain will be worth the embarrassment”.
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A closer look

We think the other example is the one from San Diego earlier this year, where in a similar bind the man in the platform uses an extension pole to reach furtherlink[/en/news/story/22357/]( Click here to see Small boom High Job) However in that example he does have the advantage of just having to paint an open area in nice weather.
In this case the job looks a little more complex.

An inventive engineer might consider offering a telescopic articulating jib on smaller machines for jobs such as this? Although there are machines already on the market with fixed length jibs that articulate to 90 degrees above horizontal that would have worked nicely in this application- as long as he did not have to go higher!

So yes we will slip this one into our Death Wish series, although the use of a harness possibly mitigates part of the risk.