Safe Speed Forums

I am suprised anybody would even consider using a ladder to change a lightbulb in a lamp post, it would presumably require two people and take ages to remove it from the van, fit stabilisers to the base, remove lamp housing (however that is done from the top of a ladder), then do everything in reverse. Using a cherry picker it is probably a case of putting some hydraulic legs out (if they are even fitted), climbing on top, winding it up and doing everything at leisure and in safety.

I read a story about a church who were told that it would be £1500 to change a couple of bulbs because ladders were banned at that height. My thoughts were that the contractor was stitching them up. I'm not an expert on H&S but think that the safety of the job as a whole should be evaluated, and the risks associated with erecting a scaffold tower probably outweigh those of ten minutes on a high ladder when used properly.

Our village church just bribes the local fire station crew to bring their ladders in. Couple of quid for each bulb and just change them all at once!

This is my favourite H&S example pic:
http://www.nmsu.edu/~safety/news/dumb_f ... safety.jpg

...shortly followed by this one:
http://i1.tinypic.com/ncffdi.jpg

G

Just for clarity, the original story about ladders and lampposts said that the ladders were only being used in locations where the hydrualic platform couldn't get to.

This is all being driven by the "blame culture" that we have inherited from the US, and the rise of "no win, no fee" legal action. Most health & safety policy within companies is there to protect the employer against being sued, rather than to protect the employee against injury.

At some point, someone fell off a ladder while changing a streetlamp bulb and put in a big claim. Insurance companies then started loading EL premiums for firms whose employees use ladders to change streetlamp bulbs. An executive decision is then made by some companies that it is cheaper to work without ladders than to pay the higher premiums.

The "Warning - contains nuts" disclaimer on packets of peanuts is my favourite.

_________________
“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken