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marra watson

marra watson

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was just wondering how much of your time on your way to being a scaffolder was spent for eg~(if applicable)
yard man 3 months
labourer 2 years
trainee 2 years
scaffolder as long as i can rember

only asking this as av been in the game only 3 year maby slightly more started out labouring done my part 1 continued to labour for 18 mounths intotal and have now been on the spanners around 12mounth i feel like there is still a long way to go to 100% competent still make mistakes and think to my self i can not believe av just said that but f@@k it lol and think there allways a way to do it than the way its been done (not quite on the same thinking level yet i think ) not to say the way i can see it ogign up or getting is the rong way just maby not the fastes or easiest not the way most others would have done it . am eger to get my part 2 but dont want to be relied on just yet as the lead scaffolder or the responsable 1 did any of you feel like this and was it a case of right m8 your on your part 2 next and off you popped. or were you eager to get on it my gaffer said his putting me on it this year so hopefully be ready for it.
cheers
 
As you go along your confidence will grow,dont worry about not knowing something,if your not sure ask your gaffer,better to ask than make a ballsup that could be costly,and if he's a descent boss he wont expect you to know more than your years,good luck
 
mate all you have to think is would i let my kids play on it?,scaffolding is a learning curve and a very long curve haha.any scaff who tells you they know it all is full of it.you are always learning and always accept to be taught.the part two card means nothing,it just means ypour ready to scaffo;ld and thats when the thinking really starts.
 
I have personally be scaffolding for 13 years , been on my own way from twelve months, you live you learn by your own mistakes, as long as you have a winners mentallity other people spot it, as for being re-lied on this is progress from donkey to stud question is are you ready to know other people have to use your scaffold is it going to be fit for purpose.
Just one other thing if you dont fill the shoes there are plenty of people who will. good luck scaff 1989
 
i,ve been doing it for 14 years 1 year yard,6 months getting abused but older scaffs running down streets wi gear on shoulder to keep up wi the cants then got abit respect from the scaffs for endevour i was quite lucky alot of good scaffs were i was working start to teach me shi t best guy i work with was a guy scott harrison,andy johnston,john bowen and alex lunn rip last guy all good guys but theres loads of wee tricks u pick up along the way confidence is the biggest thou and don,t be scared to ask yeah they might gee u abit o stick but its banter bro good luck
 
cheers lads and as for filling boots got scaffoldign in the family and worked harder than the lot of them with out a dout. a learning curve it is 90% of the job i can do on my own easily the other 10% is like you say you keep learning cheers for the advice
 
took 17 year to get my advanced .i still dont believe i paid for it after all iv said about tickets , but i get paid more cos of it so fook it . there should definetly be a minimum time between part 2 and advanced , at least 5 year
 
I been at it 13 years and sometimes i feel like I know f all lol. Sometimes you have to jump in the deep end and get on with it. Example you might get a guy who has done street work for ten years then have a go at offshore work n feel a bit intimidated like you do coz he hasnt done much droppers but sometimes you just got to take the plunge. He who dares. Everyones allways learning something.
 
cheers woodsie one of me bros been doing it about 10 year now wasnt last year he was asking how to do a return lol
 
just take each level as it comes, some can chase it faster than others there is NO time limit, you alone will know when the next stage time is right, if your wrong it won't take you long to find out you over stepped the mark, there will be plenty there to tell you:laugh:
go with the flow ;) and enjoy
 
scaff1989 said:
was just wondering how much of your time on your way to being a scaffolder was spent for eg~(if applicable)
yard man 3 months
labourer 2 years
trainee 2 years
scaffolder as long as i can rember

only asking this as av been in the game only 3 year maby slightly more started out labouring done my part 1 continued to labour for 18 mounths intotal and have now been on the spanners around 12mounth i feel like there is still a long way to go to 100% competent still make mistakes and think to my self i can not believe av just said that but f@@k it lol and think there allways a way to do it than the way its been done (not quite on the same thinking level yet i think ) not to say the way i can see it ogign up or getting is the rong way just maby not the fastes or easiest not the way most others would have done it . am eger to get my part 2 but dont want to be relied on just yet as the lead scaffolder or the responsable 1 did any of you feel like this and was it a case of right m8 your on your part 2 next and off you popped. or were you eager to get on it my gaffer said his putting me on it this year so hopefully be ready for it.
cheers
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all the best scaff1989!!!! unfortunatly in this country wether your competent or not and you have the cisrs part1 trainee part 2 basic or advanced your competent!! wether you can do the job or not!!! personally if i had a lad with me with all the tickets that didnt have a clue but!!! was keen i would support him all day as long as he got the coffees in lol!!! all best scaff1989!!!
 
Ive Been Scaffolding Since 1978, And Every Day Im Learning Something New, You Never Know Everything. I Started In The Yard With GKN Mills Then After 18 Months You Went Out With A Squad As A Labourer (The Lowest Form Of Life) According To My Chargehand, Then After Another 18 Months They Put You Forward For Your Cards, Parts One And Two.
 
Worked with an lad and had same crk wid him he said ow i was a sp@stik for over 3 year (labourer) lol
 
I went down the old school path .

A) Used and Abused first 12 month
B) Abused for nxt 12 month
C) Badgered and Pish taken for nxt 12 month
D) Shut the lot of them up when Winning The Scaffolder of the year Award 1994 :laugh::laugh:

Best Advice Been given

20 mins think before starting job saves 60 mins at end of job

Keep it Simple , complicated creates complications

Do it once do it right , The scaffolders rushing around look faster but in reality are probably slower.

At end of shift if you look at something twice chances are you know its not right , dont go home an leave it you will have a sleepless night, Never leave a job unless you 100% sure it is 100% Safe.
 
I WAS BORN WITH A SPANNER IN MY HAND BUT IT WAS A WEE PLASTIC KID ON MECHANIC 1 so alass ive had to go through the same SHIITE as the rest of the troops never done me any harm though and still learning after 22 years thats the thing with SCAFFOLDING you never stop learning.
BEST PEICED OF ADVISE GIVEN TO ME WAS KEEP YER MOOTH SHUT AND YER EYES OPEN AND YOU MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING he was right
 
Like quite a few others on here , i was born into Scaffolding so spent every weekend and School holiday ( and a fair chunk of school term time too :) ) from the age of 7 or 8 at work with the old man , so , kind of bypassed the labouring side of it , i was 2nd fixer to a decent scaff at 16 then on my own from 17 :eek: and still at it 23 yrs later .

As long as you have Confidence ( not arrogance ) in your own judgement and abilities then you`ll have no problems , work at your own pace and your speed will increase with time and don`t be afraid/embarrassed to ask for help or advice if unsure of anything ..... every single one of us has asked questions when starting out .

Good luck with it .
 
Sterted at 16 with Mills scaffolding Bradford and straight onto the Barrel Vaults as a labourer/trainee to Ken English
Scaffolder at 18 under Stuart Mathers
advanced at 20
Supervisor at 21 Palmers Sheffield again working for Ken English
then up and down the ladder depending on which way the dice fell or to put it bluntly whether i could stop myself from tell some to55ers in higher positions than me what i really thought about them
 
Scaffolding 13 years.
Started 'Scaffolding' in 1997 for TRAD Scaffolding.

Breakdown:
1997 - 1998: Working in the office for TRAD Scaffolding as a Trainee Engineer/Estimator - basically a hyped up Tea-Boy.
1998 - 2001: Labouring with occasional fixing.
2001 - 2003: Fixing, but only allowed to do bits and bobs... Part 1 Scaffolder.
2003 - 2008: Darren (my brother) started working with me, become a Chargehand and Part 2 Scaffolder.
2008 + Become an Advanced Scaffolder and joined the SCCR and Scaffolders Forum in 2011.


Best advice:

Take the time to look at a job fully and take everything into consideration before you rush to base a job out. Its easy to base a job out that been thought through but a real c.unt to change it, once your half way finished and you've based it out wrong. 30 minutes planning can save you 3 hours adapting.

Keep your mouth closed and eyes open, unless you have something important to say or have a decent comment to add.

DO NOT TRUST ANYONE. Even other fellow Scaffolders can and WILL grass you up, as soon as they are able to, just to help themselves out. (especially in a Recession)

Take what ever your told by a Supervisor/Boss with a pinch of salt... most of the time they will tell you anything to get you to work harder or get you to do things.

And most importantly, dont kill yourself for anyone or anything. You have 1 back and 1 body. - Once its damaged your f.ucked... think that you will be 'looked after' by the boss for killing yourself at work? Think again!


Thats what i think anyway, lol. :)
 
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