08.03.2024

Lucky lucky lucky

A driver’s dashcam caught two men working from a scaffold tower in Buckingham, UK this week. Just at the point where it all fell into the road.

This would normally have been a classic Death Wish however, as is often the case it turned into an incident that could so easily have resulted in two fatalities.

The two men were working from a double width alloy scaffold tower at a height of around seven metres. However, it looks as though the tower had a platform height of around three metres. So, they added a ladder to reach the gutter level of the building.

As if this was not bad enough, they had not cordoned it off from the busy road - although to be fair, they had a spotter below – so a three man job. BUT although the tower was fitted with stabilisers/outriggers they are not extended or in use, due to the fact that they would, of course, have intruded into the traffic lane.

As was quite predictable, the combination of no stabilisers, two men on the tower, and the kick-out pressure from the ladder caused the tower overturn into the road. Amazingly it missed all the traffic by a few seconds, although the ladder landed on a passing car on the opposite side of the road.

Both men managed to stand up after the incident, and were not hit by a vehicle. They will certainly have been be licking their wounds once the Adrenaline had left them. Hopefully they have no lasting injures and more importantly have learnt a lesson on safe working at height.



Have safe weekend.

Comments

Red
If tried and true methods involve flying thru the air, narrowly missing passing traffic, and landing ass over teakettle on the pavement, I'd say it's time to follow some new methods.

Mar 13, 2024

buck
Not sure where Hairy is going with their comment but certainly not a good term or phrase in my opinion. Gravity is the same regardless of location. Failure to assess risk properly far to often results in catastrophic injuries and damage.

Mar 13, 2024

hairy
Let's cut them some slack, they’re following the tried-and-true methods they learned back home.

Mar 9, 2024