Ken Cain
Active member
When I started work in 1959 some of the scaffolding being used was timber poles held together by wire bonds, and some of the ladders were knocked up out of bits of old timber.
If you had an accident at work the comments you received were "what do you expect, you should have got a proper job"
Too many people died back then from falling off the scaffolding, lots of things have improved since though, we've got Professional Training Courses, Risk Assessments, Safe Sytems of Work, Health and Safety at Work etc Act, Working at Height Regulations, Head Protection Regulations. Harnesses, British and European standards, HSE guidelines, NASC - TG's (Technical Guidance), SG's (Safety Guidance) and more besides, but unfortunately, we are still having fatal accidents and major injuries from working on defective scaffolding.
It's about time we done something positive, like raising the bar to another level, we are not alone in this fight, everyone of us is responsible for ensuring the workplace is safe, not only for ourselves, but for other users as well.
No more cutting corners. No more taking chances. Lets do it properly.
Of course many of you think the same way as I do, and yes most scaffolders and scaffold companies are getting it right, I think we just need to make sure that all the others are doing it right as well.
Regards
Ken Cain
If you had an accident at work the comments you received were "what do you expect, you should have got a proper job"
Too many people died back then from falling off the scaffolding, lots of things have improved since though, we've got Professional Training Courses, Risk Assessments, Safe Sytems of Work, Health and Safety at Work etc Act, Working at Height Regulations, Head Protection Regulations. Harnesses, British and European standards, HSE guidelines, NASC - TG's (Technical Guidance), SG's (Safety Guidance) and more besides, but unfortunately, we are still having fatal accidents and major injuries from working on defective scaffolding.
It's about time we done something positive, like raising the bar to another level, we are not alone in this fight, everyone of us is responsible for ensuring the workplace is safe, not only for ourselves, but for other users as well.
No more cutting corners. No more taking chances. Lets do it properly.
Of course many of you think the same way as I do, and yes most scaffolders and scaffold companies are getting it right, I think we just need to make sure that all the others are doing it right as well.
Regards
Ken Cain
