H & S get into everything, as I've said somewhere else on the forum, I truly detest being told what I can and cannot do by the H & S mafia.
Window cleaning is a manual job, manual work will always carry a risk.
But of course the all the talk about is risk management; if you wish to eliminate risk then you have to automate don't you, you have to totally get rid of manual work.
What about the brickie building a concrete block wall, each block weighs 3 stone, you think waggling a pole in the air weighing a few pounds might cause a few problems?
How about the farm labourer lugging a couple of thousand bales of hay and straw come harvest time?
You want real hard physical work you want to give that a try, and I know what I'm talking about there I promise you.
Try plastering a ceiling.
Ever wondered why carpenters have such big arms?
Or how about building labourers mixing compo? An absolute killer for the back.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that I think the risks of working of ladders are acceptable.
Compared to driving a car there are only a tiny handful of deaths a year, and I'm sorry, though every death is heartbreaking for any family and loved ones there just isn't that many of them.
The trouble with reducing risk is that there is always another step that can be taken, each step might only be a tiny one, but it still gets taken and after time these little steps accumulate into several flights of them!
How many kids fall out of trees every year?
How many fall of pushbikes?
Fall over after running around in the playground?
you want to reduce these risks its easy enough to do isn't it?
And in some schools kids are already not allowed to run around in the playground, or play conkers or throw snowball without the targets permission.
Is it inconceivable that at some point in the future children under a certain age will not be allowed to ride their bikes outside of special, supervised area's?
The objectives of H & S cannot be faulted can they?
They are trying to reduce risks, cut down on injuries, make life safer for us in the workplace and at home....but there is always another little step that can and WILL be taken....
Will window cleaners be forced off ladders?
Yep, you betcha, as I have said earlier, there is a perfectly good, safe alternative to them for the window cleaner, and it really is not very expensive.
Quality of the work?
Perfectly fine, it isn't often that trad will do a better job, as good yes (particularly if the window cleaner using trad cleans all of the frames)
I've no doubt that at some point H & S may well end out saying that anything over a certain height is too dangerous to clean with a pole (or they'll try to) Butthere is no bloody way I would want to erect a ladder 80ft into the air and then work off it
And I don't much like working 40 plus feet with a pole either, it's hard work!!
But every death or serious injury that occurs when a window cleaner falls from a ladder, and it happens to be one that makes headlines will hasten the demise of the ladder for the use of window cleaning.
I think it is wrong, but I believe that it is inevitable.
Ian
Just went to post and read Dai's post.
So why don't we go for an easier life and get back on the ladders? Well in my case it's nothing to do with having to justify the expense of building a system.
Wfp is faster, and time is money, and that at the end of the day is why we work.
There is one more and very important reason why WFP is taking over.
Going up ladders is a stress you never realise you have, until you don't have to do
it anymore. I now find that I hate using them. I'm a competent, experienced ladder user. I felt safe when I was using them, but not half as safe as I feel now. Dai
I couldn't agree more Dai, once you no longer have to work off ladders you really do realise how much safer you feel, and like you I really do hate it if I have to use them.
Iaqn
