[robert mitchell]

Smurf,

You've got very strong opinions and you are welcome to them.
But your risk assessment abilities are pitiful and dangerous.

Can you explain exactly why it is more dangerous to use a camera rather than a mirror please?

[Nick Day]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

[Smurf]

I goes without saying I'm obviously pitiful and dangorus doing this one with a gogpo and live feed  back down to the smart phone on the bottom of me poles...but at least I'm wearing me hard hat I suppose   

Do I look for overhead cables etc = YES
Do I look down first before move my feet = YES
Do I look up most of the time = YES
Do I look straight a head all the time to look at the screen - NO don't be so bloody stupid Neil as I'm not that thick 

[a900]

Personally, I only look at my camera display when I have the pole attachment rested in the gutter. That way there is no risk of the pole moving as I look down at the screen.

I did try phoning gutterclearingsystems.co.uk a few times and leaving a message when I was looking to get my vac system. They seemed value for money and would have had my money if I could get hold of them. All sorted now anyway.

[Clever Forum Name]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

Because they have dirty great big power lines running in residential areas that kill you. At least with a mirror you can look at your hair when you touch a power line.

As for looking up all the time, what happens when you trip over?

Its ok lads, just fit this on the pole 

[Nick Day]

You are self employed and can do as you like.
You can come up with every excuse under the sun, but I can assure you that my interpretation is correct.
Smurf the reason I say you can be "dangerous" is because of your amount of posts people believe that you know what you are talking about.

[Smurf]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

Because they have dirty great big power lines running in residential areas that kill you. At least with a mirror you can look at your hair when you touch a power line.

As for looking up all the time, what happens when you trip over?

Its ok lads, just fit this on the pole 

Is that the waiting room in A&E for guttervac related incidents Damo 

[Smurf]

You are self employed and can do as you like.
You can come up with every excuse under the sun, but I can assure you that my interpretation is correct.
Smurf the reason I say you can be "dangerous" is because of your amount of posts people believe that you know what you are talking about.

The funny thing is I do know what I'm talking about 

[a900]

The other option which is much better than a Mirror is to record the footage of the gutter without looking at the screen and review afterwards. (In an entirely risk assessment agreeable place) While looking up at all times to avoid power lines. 

[Clever Forum Name]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

Because they have dirty great big power lines running in residential areas that kill you. At least with a mirror you can look at your hair when you touch a power line.

As for looking up all the time, what happens when you trip over?

Its ok lads, just fit this on the pole 

Is that the waiting room in A&E for guttervac related incidents Damo 

it is! Notice it's EMPTY

[robert mitchell]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

utter garbage - I regularly do risk assessments at work using a similar number system , get 5 different people to do it and you get 5 different results .

And yes i am qualified in risk assessment , not that it means much , common sense is much more important.


Using a camera with a gutter vac is low risk .

Shall we risk assess crossing a busy road ?

The score for that using your way of thinking would mean i could never leave the house!!

[a900]

To risk assess.

on a scale of 1-5 what is the chance of an accident (you can use fractions)
If you are looking directly ahead it has to be 5, You are going to miss all obstacles, wires, aerials etc. by not looking at up what you are doing and what is ahead.
If there was an accident what is the degree of harm 1-5.
Touch a live cable, serious injury or death therefore 5.
Multiply the two together.
You can then decide on a solution. Any number approaching twenty five (usually over twenty), you must cease all operations immediately.
At least with the mirror you are looking up all the time, and attached to the back of the head you can spin it around to view your work.
It isn't perfect. but it works.
We sell more of our mirrors to America than any other item.
I suspect they are more risk aware.

Because they have dirty great big power lines running in residential areas that kill you. At least with a mirror you can look at your hair when you touch a power line.

As for looking up all the time, what happens when you trip over?

Its ok lads, just fit this on the pole 

Is that the waiting room in A&E for guttervac related incidents Damo 

it is! Notice it's EMPTY

More likely to be in A&E for embarrassment in using a mirror on top of my gutter pole 

[Nick Day]

Robert,

If you are happy with your risk assessments so be it, it is your responsibility and will be held responsible.
Ring your local H.S.E for confirmation,
You might be in for a surprise, my deductions have been confirmed by all the housing associations we deal with....without exception.
If you have an answer for a member of your staff looking straight ahead and being able to remember all problems above, then so be it.
I would suggest that lots of people are relying on luck....you cannot include "lucky so far" in a risk assessment.
In fact that is what risk assessment was introduced to eliminate.

[robert mitchell]

Robert,

If you are happy with your risk assessments so be it, it is your responsibility and will be held responsible.
Ring your local H.S.E for confirmation,
You might be in for a surprise, my deductions have been confirmed by all the housing associations we deal with....without exception.
If you have an answer for a member of your staff looking straight ahead and being able to remember all problems above, then so be it.
I would suggest that lots of people are relying on luck....you cannot include "lucky so far" in a risk assessment.
In fact that is what risk assessment was introduced to eliminate.

Im very happy with it thank you 

[Smurf]

Robert,

If you are happy with your risk assessments so be it, it is your responsibility and will be held responsible.
Ring your local H.S.E for confirmation,
You might be in for a surprise, my deductions have been confirmed by all the housing associations we deal with....without exception.
If you have an answer for a member of your staff looking straight ahead and being able to remember all problems above, then so be it.
I would suggest that lots of people are relying on luck....you cannot include "lucky so far" in a risk assessment.
In fact that is what risk assessment was introduced to eliminate.

Two words Neil "BELAY GLASSES " if you don't like looking up 
Seriously most have the common sense not to move the pole when looking at a screen as already been mentioned so I don't get what you keep banging on about. This would also be covered in the method statement too.

I would post a vid taken in real time using this method (stopping to look at the screen & recording at the same time) but to be quite honest I can't be arsed. 

[DaveG]

ide just buy a grippa vac £700 cant go rong realy and the moters are bullet proof good suction mine will lift a 1.5 kilo bag of dog food its not as power full as the sky vac industrel wich can lift 6 kilo but the grippa one is plenty power full anouth  for most jobs

Do you have a link please?  Cheapest ones I can see on Grippa site are just under £1200...

[Smurf]

Just to clarify the king did not buy his vac nor ali poles from grippa so I don't now why he keeps mentioning their name 

[ChrisR]

I concur with Belay Glasses. They are a useful little product. They are designed to reduce pain for rock climbers who have to look up for hours on end. Applicable if you struggle with pain when for cleaning those higher windows.

[ascjim]

The motors on the GrippaVac seem good, but the rest keeps braking on us. Also, there's no handle on the side to move in and out of the van.

[Dave Willis]

I strap my phone to my leading arm with one of those joggers clear cases. Pretty close to looking ahead. Don't do much commercial work these days so risk assessments don't need to be done for the customer. Eight times out of ten I can clear the gutter by feel.
Nilfisk 1800w Diy but only 38mm hose. Works pretty well for domestic. Would like a bit more suction and 51mm inlet next time.