[ftp]

Cleaning an old school house yesterday and got chatting to a builder working there. He was asking about the pole and we were comparing notes on health and safety.
He said he's not allowed to work on a ladder above six feet high and has to wear a harness if sitting on a sill whilst painting. All sensible stuff I suppose.
Moved on to a local estate and hear the sound of ladders - two guys on seperate ladders putting up fascia boards - one guy right up to the gables mega high from a sloping garden. Drive down the road and another guy is steam cleaning a building off a ladder (both hands on the lance).
Drive back home and yet another is up to the gables drilling holes for cavity wall insulation - both hands on the drill.
No wonder the customers don't understand the need for wfp sometimes 

[Alex Gardiner]

I had a sky dish fitted recently for Sky+ (the all inclusive phone deal will save me £25 per month even after the cost of the Sky sub) and the chap said did I mind, but he would have to drill a small hole in the wall to fit a screw in eye to fasten his ladder to. He then re-filled the hole before he went and I cannot see were it was.

It took him less then 5 minutes to do this and meant that he was very safe whilst working at the top of the ladders. In my opinion time well spent. Most operators should be doing this they just cannot be bothered and probably would be stopped from working if a HSE were passing.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

FTP I was told about the 2 metre rule, if the ladders are not fixed to the building or your not using an antislip device or the ladders are not footed by a second person, your FEET cannot be more than 2 metres off the ground when up the ladders.

[cozy]

Glad I live here. God help you. :

Runs for cover

[bluez]

I had a sky dish fitted recently for Sky+ (the all inclusive phone deal will save me £25 per month even after the cost of the Sky sub) and the chap said did I mind, but he would have to drill a small hole in the wall to fit a screw in eye to fasten his ladder to. He then re-filled the hole before he went and I cannot see were it was.

It took him less then 5 minutes to do this and meant that he was very safe whilst working at the top of the ladders. In my opinion time well spent. Most operators should be doing this they just cannot be bothered and probably would be stopped from working if a HSE were passing.

Considering that we are told ladder use only for short duration work I wonder is there a conflict. Interesting idea though, I have often seen sky installers  and wondered how a big outfit like sky can get away with all of this ladder work without any appearant heed of health and safety.

You never see a sky fitter putting out signs or cordoning off his work area and their work is generally of a similar nature to ours.

[tomy jackson]

as alex sad thay fix to wall and use stand off

[dave0123]

Considering that we are told ladder use only for short duration work I wonder is there a conflict. Interesting idea though, I have often seen sky installers  and wondered how a big outfit like sky can get away with all of this ladder work without any appearant heed of health and safety.

You never see a sky fitter putting out signs or cordoning off his work area and their work is generally of a similar nature to ours.

Well when sky fitted my sky+ they did the same to my house as they did to alex's they also had a microlite to the top of the ladder and stablizes at the bottom of the ladder. The ladder was tied off to the wall the fella climbing the ladder had ful body harness on a hard hat also.

Must of took him about 30 mins to set all this up just to climb 13/14 foot up the ladder his head was 14 foot up it so his feet were about 6/7 foot off the ground  :  you really would this he was about to abseil off the top of a block of flats to be fair.

[bluez]

Very different standards being applied over here so, nothing like that happening.

[martinsadie]

saw a sky fitter up a ladder he had drilled the wall and secured,the stupid thing was the bottom of the ladder was up agaist a 2 foot wall so perfectly safe

[tomy jackson]

i wos torking to a sky man 4 or 5 munths he told me ther sacked if thay dont fallow com pratise

[matt]

the bolts are very cheap to buy

you can undo the bolt and just leave the sleeve part in

[steven ainger]

i asked a sky fitter, about 6 months ago, about the eye bolt to secure the ladder, which he confirmed was true, but it was only to install the dish and didnt have to secure the ladder to run the cable.

[seandyer2003]

Too a firm like sky health and safety might as well be called "how can we avoid being sued?"  with soo many vans and lads out up and down ladders everyday all year - how long before a claim?? not long, so the 30 mins they take to whack in a bolt has to be worth it to them!!!

[matt]

so the 30 mins they take to whack in a bolt has to be worth it to them!!!

to be fair, it'll be a 1 min job, the ladder will need to be put up anyways, cordless drill into a brick joint and a hammer and turn the eye in

[seandyer2003]

well then its even more worth it lol!!

[ftp]

Wonder how safe it is to go up a ladder and drill a hole 

[seandyer2003]

Wonder how safe it is to go up a ladder and drill a hole 

They use a cherry picker for the hole lol