[RSWindows]

my belief is that if you are getting paid to carry out a servive then you are a contractor. She is right in the theory but wrong in the application. Thats like being told you cant wash your car in the street with a garden hose, now no1 uses a sign about their trailing hoses when washing their car i9n the street but ultimately there are laws that blame you should anyone trip but if you have signs when working then you are warning people about the possible hazard....not likely hazard....but a possible hazard, what more can you do within reason...nothing.

Continue in my opinion give her the choice of finding another window cleaner with ladders and inform her that she is the one going to be liable if the fool falls from his laddert and she will be the one out of pocket.

[chrismroberts]

Well.... surely if it was a manslaughter charge, there wouldn't be any hospital bills....? Or if there were hospital bills....

[Paul Coleman]

Stick a matt over your hoses then, that what workmen do working on the roads.

Try advertising at the same time

http://www.ukmats.co.uk/html/logo_mats.html

what a good idea!!

I've been saying just this for several years but have been accused of being too fussy.  I use rubber matting where the hose crosses the footpath.  I'm amazed that more don't do it.  I still can't stand jobsworths though.  Jobsworths are usually androids who have never had to go out there and grab an income.  Instead, they get some cushy, mollycoddled job due to having certain qualifications and think that they serve humanity best by trying to destroy anyone who shows a bit of initiative and enterprise.  I take great delight in the knowledge that they get parking tickets too.

[[GQC] Tim]

Hose mats only work at 90 degree angle right? What if your van is parked a bit further away and the hose runs diagonally?

Or is that only with the mats that have a gap to allow the hose through?

[L.J.Thorpe]

just to clear up a few points chaps

firstly
the woman from the council was not claiming that I would be done for corporate manslaughter
she was claiming that SHE would be prosecuted and that SHE would lose her house(how that works i have no idea )

secondly
I was cleaning private houses on a private (ie non council ) estate

thirdly
they were not her windows ,she just appeared ,as if by magic (like the shopkeeper in Mr. Benn except she had a corsa )

hope that helps

[matt]

just to clear up a few points chaps

firstly
the woman from the council was not claiming that I would be done for corporate manslaughter
she was claiming that SHE would be prosecuted and that SHE would lose her house(how that works i have no idea )

secondly
I was cleaning private houses on a private (ie non council ) estate

thirdly
they were not her windows ,she just appeared ,as if by magic (like the shopkeeper in Mr. Benn except she had a corsa )

hope that helps

you still need a trolley


this new fangled hose fad, it'll end in tears i tell ya

[Paul Coleman]

Hose mats only work at 90 degree angle right? What if your van is parked a bit further away and the hose runs diagonally?

Or is that only with the mats that have a gap to allow the hose through?

Not sure what you have in mind but I was referring to laying a sheet (or two) of matting over the top of the hose where it crosses the footpath (assuming I can't park on the property).  I generally avoid doing it diagonally anyway by laying it along the gutter next to the kerb and crossing it over the path at a right angle.  No problem with diagonal though but it might requyire more matting than you've got due to it being a longer span to cover.

[Paul Coleman]

just to clear up a few points chaps

firstly
the woman from the council was not claiming that I would be done for corporate manslaughter
she was claiming that SHE would be prosecuted and that SHE would lose her house(how that works i have no idea )

secondly
I was cleaning private houses on a private (ie non council ) estate

thirdly
they were not her windows ,she just appeared ,as if by magic (like the shopkeeper in Mr. Benn except she had a corsa )

hope that helps

Sounds to me like she is suffering from paranoia and an inflated sense of over responsibility.  Did you suggest she goes for a mental health check?

[dd]

If you do several houses in a close from one parking postion you could spend a lot of time moving the matting and moving your signs. All I do is use a high visibility hose and try and make sure it is well laid out (i.e flat and not coiled) to reduce risk. Probably not ideal but to me is the most practical solution.

[dmlservices]

if you pull up to do 1 house , but have to park on road , it is easy to put matting over hose.

however i do lots of houses in a row , normally i pull hose to the furthest house , that can be reached with 100 mtrs microbore , it goes alnog the pavement,then i work my way back to van,

moving my van from house to house to park on drives would take considerably
longer.

daz

[Londoner]

I had a mum have a bit of a go at me a while back because my hose was across a pavement and it was dangerous. Said she was going to report me

Best to just smile and blink a lot like Benny Hill used to. Eventually they form the opinion you are a half wit and give up.

Councils attract bossy self opinionated jobsworths, if you argue with them they love it because they know they can become even more bossy, even more self opinionated and even more of a jobsworth than they are already.

After me now..........grin,...... blink,......... blink,....... blink........

[AuRavelling79]

After me now..........grin,...... blink,......... blink,....... blink........

And always agree and thank them for pointing it out ....

[L.J.Thorpe]

If you do several houses in a close from one parking postion you could spend a lot of time moving the matting and moving your signs. All I do is use a high visibility hose and try and make sure it is well laid out (i.e flat and not coiled) to reduce risk. Probably not ideal but to me is the most practical solution.

if you pull up to do 1 house , but have to park on road , it is easy to put matting over hose.

however i do lots of houses in a row , normally i pull hose to the furthest house , that can be reached with 100 mtrs microbore , it goes alnog the pavement,then i work my way back to van,

moving my van from house to house to park on drives would take considerably
longer.

daz

both sensible points
i have the hose running in the gutter next to pavement and only lay it across pavement next to house
dont use mats but hose is bright yellow and warning sign is placed either next to it or over it
i do run hoses across roads from time to time as well
i reckon her and the sidekick had been out on a job somewhere and were looking for a quiet place to park up and read the paper instead of going back to the office to do some work
and by chance she found me and tried to get clever

[L.J.Thorpe]

I had a mum have a bit of a go at me a while back because my hose was across a pavement and it was dangerous. Said she was going to report me

Best to just smile and blink a lot like Benny Hill used to. Eventually they form the opinion you are a half wit and give up.

Councils attract bossy self opinionated jobsworths, if you argue with them they love it because they know they can become even more bossy, even more self opinionated and even more of a jobsworth than they are already.

After me now..........grin,...... blink,......... blink,....... blink........

  i once got a load of work off a window cleaner who was a dead spit for a young benny hill
even had the same specs,just let down by the norfolk/wisbech accent

[ps outthere]

I believe the council have a height limit on what is classed as a dangerous paving slab, raised or drop.
If this the case, is the height of a hose within the limit?
Has anyone made a claim yet ?

[L.J.Thorpe]

just read on the daily mail website a school girl who slipped on a carrot got £200 compo and a teacher who fell over a workmans tools got £9000,sooner or later someone will claim compo for tripping over a hose

yep i agree
but aint that what my public liability is for
surely it has nowt to do with the council
does it
and what about the warning signs
is it worth bothering with em

[East coast window cleaning Services]

I would have told her in no uncertain terms to **** off. Bloody Jobs worth