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jeff1

  • Posts: 5855
How Safe are You?
« on: June 22, 2007, 02:33:22 pm »
How safe are you at work? read below and see if you can honestly answer yes to all the safety issues, I know I can.
You don't have to answer yes to any of them, but the sooner you can read this again and answer yes, they we have made one more person responsible for there own and the publics safety.
There may be more you can think of and add to make us even more safer.

I know its all to easy for us all to arrive at a Job, jump out of our vehicles pull all the gear out and start to clean windows?
Speed is of the essence we may think, time is money? I hear you say. But let me tell you this, Safety is keeping safe and staying alive.

But how many of us take the time and care for our own, the customers and the general publics safety?? Not as many as there should be
Is the answer, Be honest with yourself do you do it??

We all have a legal (yes Legal) obligation  to protect our selves and anyone else around us, or who ever may come into contact with us
When going about our business.
The best asset any company has is its employee's,  they also have a legal obligation to protect them, this is why many company's include training programs within there curriculum.

Ok I'm self employed I hear you say, that's fine but all the above still applies to you,  it doesn't matter how you go about cleaning the windows be it with a ladder or water fed pole, the Law applies to us all.
An individuals best asset is his eye's and instead of just seeing pound signs in front of them, use them to look for any potential dangers that may surround us?
When I first pull up out side my place of work,  the first thing I think off, am I parked in a safe place as not to cause an obstruction or danger to anyone,  I don't want to have to put all my gear away and get it out again, just to have to move a few feet to let someone out, and I certainly don't want to be responsible for an injury to anyone because of my stupidity and thoughtlessness. So just a few seconds thought can avoid the above.
The next thing I do is look at the job in hand, be it commercial or domestic my procedures are always the same.

It doesn't matter I hear some say, I checked it out last time I was here? That was a couple of weeks ago wasn't it, or maybe longer? Well it doesn't matter if it was yesterday I still check, 
It only takes a few hours to dig a large hole with a digger, or better still Jack the lad has run a Live cable from his house to his shed, do I know, if he did it using the IEE 16th edition regulations? (There also there for our safety) no I don't, and the truth being if it was Jack the lad that fitted it, then you can bet your bottom dollar there is no MCB (miniature circuit breaker) fitted.  Or its not tied up correctly using eye bolts and catenary wire?  Ok you catch it with your ladder on it and break it, then there is a high risk of electrocution. And all because you didn't see it last time you were there.

What about all the kids toys, and the new garden furniture that arrived yesterday, the new plant pots that weren't there last time called?
All these things add up to potential danger to us all.

Are your ladders put up were a car can reverse or even drive into you? Have you laid your hose out were office staff or the public can trip over it?? Take a few seconds to see if there is a safe place to lay your hose and put out those signs.

Even if you are doing a domestic, you may be out the back and the owner of the house comes home, they may have had a hard day or maybe feeling unwell,so there not concentrating,  you just rolled out your hose because you thought no one was home, the customer trips over your hose and hits there head or face on the corner of a building, What a mess that's going to be, and your feeble excuse, I didn't think you were home, won't wash with H&S or Insurance companies and it certainly won't wash with the police, if they decide to press criminal charges against you. And this can happen.
So even though the customer isn't home, take care how you lay your hose and put out your signs, and don't forget the signs if your hose crosses a public footpath, there are people out there, that look for hazards like this, and its an easy little earner for them, and it does happen. 
If you use ladders and stop for a cupa or get side tracked by a potential new customer, don't leave them were they can blow over, even on a nice sunny day, there may be a freak gust of wind and come crashing down, onto that nice new BMW in a driveway or office carpark or hit someone, how would you like it if this happened to you, your partner or your kids? and all because we thought they would be alright there just for a minute.
Drop them down and lay them were they won't be a hazard to anyone or anything.

When useing pole wash systems watch for overhead power cables, if your unsure then leave it, its better to be safe than sorry.
mind you don't get caught in tree's and bushes, if you do don't yank it out, there is a danger of you taking a fall.

I could go on and on about common sense issues, It has probably taken you longer to read this than it will to check for potential dangers that surround us every day on every job every time we turn up.
Take a few seconds of your time to constantly check and always be aware of your surroundings.

Stay Safe my friends.

Jeff

Trevor Knight

  • Posts: 1825
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2007, 03:08:24 pm »
Hi Jeff,

A good posting and something we all should think about.

To think we are being stiffled with WAH directives, the do's and the don't but in reality we only have ourselves to blame. If we didn't have the amount of accidents as we do working from height then we wouldn't be under the watchful eye of the powers that be. I am guilty myself but fortunately lived to tell the tale.

I guess the more safety aware we are the less likely we are to have an accident.

best wishes,

Trevor
Covering Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire

drakestar!

  • Posts: 311
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2007, 04:08:55 pm »
good points but its easyer said than done. so much it can drown us when we get to work!

Trevor Knight

  • Posts: 1825
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2007, 04:11:54 pm »
good points but its easyer said than done. so much it can drown us when we get to work!

Again a valid point and something we all have to take into account.

I guess what we are all saying is perhaps on your first visit when you quote take a bit longer to understand all the H&S issues and potential hazards and then review them on a regular basis.

Even if you make a point to review every 3 cleans its better than nothing at all.

The simpler the better is my view as long as its safety in mind.
Covering Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire

xxmattyxx

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2007, 04:30:12 pm »
Jeff are you one of those blokes with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

I bet youre always re-arranging the ornaments on the mantle-piece  ;D  ;D and you think you do it to stop someone from tripping over them.

JOKE!!!

Helen

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2007, 04:30:35 pm »
that old saying springs to mind "more haste, less speed" work safely ;)

Davew

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2007, 05:09:46 pm »
No joke, common sense. Seems to be alarmingly lacking with some people.

jeff1

  • Posts: 5855
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2007, 08:15:31 pm »
Jeff are you one of those blokes with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

I bet youre always re-arranging the ornaments on the mantle-piece  ;D  ;D and you think you do it to stop someone from tripping over them.

JOKE!!!
And I susspect your one of those blokes who puts them back in the wrong place so that accidents will happen ;D ;D

                                 JOKE!!!
 ::) ;)

Paul Coleman

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2007, 09:04:14 pm »
Jeff are you one of those blokes with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

I bet youre always re-arranging the ornaments on the mantle-piece  ;D  ;D and you think you do it to stop someone from tripping over them.

JOKE!!!

Funny you should write that but I once had a friend who stuck his ornaments down to stop people moving them.
That's NOT a joke either - it's absolutely true.  :)

EasyClean

  • Posts: 558
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2007, 10:05:38 pm »
I can honestly say that I always work safe after carrying out a quick risk assesment prior to starting every job! After working as a metalsmith for 9 years prior to this job it's become second nature to always work safe and never cut corners to save time.
Losing a customer is like waiting for the next bus, another one will come along shortly!

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2007, 10:18:17 pm »
No joke, common sense. Seems to be alarmingly lacking with some people.

That's the very fraze i was thinking, "common sense". All these rules & regs are killing common sense these days as people seem to think they have to be told or its some one elses fault.

Good post Jeff, all your points come down to common sense.

Macc

jouk45

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2007, 10:33:07 pm »
thank you very much for taking your valuable time to write this  safety topic,   it should reminds us all to be more aware, and not to take everything for granted that it will be the same next time we go on our rounds, i must admit even i have left a few things out you mentioned, :oops:  but i promise i will start afresh, and pay more attention to detail on every job from now on, thanks jeff for the safety reminder

Paul Coleman

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2007, 10:55:45 pm »
While we are on the subject of safety:  I have developed the habit of covering my hose with rubber matting where it crosses the public path.  Some people make do with a sign.  I looked up from my work one day and saw an old lady with white stick walking over my mat.  She may have not seen a sign.
That was one of my lightbulb moments.
I know you can't cover every eventuality but minimising risk is possible.

jeff1

  • Posts: 5855
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2007, 11:22:58 pm »
Thanks for your replies Guy's and Gals ;)

I'm just trying to point out what potential dangers we all face every single day and like I said in the post, it takes seconds to look?

we all get our self into a routine that we tend to stick with, how many of us start with the same window when we start a job every time?? I bet most of us do?
This is the point I'm trying to get across we tend to think everything on that paticular Job will be the same as we left it last time we did it.

Take a post recently by John Garnet, regarding an American vetran window washer, he was actually safety training a guy on his first day, The experienced guy is now DEAD! he failed to pay attention to were he was fastening his safety line and fell 8 stories, this proves my point about paying attention to the little details we all take for granted.

Take those extra couple of SECONDS to glance around and check.

*foxman

  • Posts: 250
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2007, 11:47:40 pm »
Lets wrap ourselves in cotton wool and put a matress down every time some one uses a ladder! wait a minute i might put my back out putting the matress down and cotton wool makes me itch!

Get over it, it's called life.

Health and Safety these days is becoming more and more ridiculous. I've met literally hundreds of window cleaners in the last 12 years and i've yet to know first hand of  anyone having a serious accident. Yes there have been falls and slips but nothing worse than any other industry. I've heard of terrible accidents in the buliding trade from people i know where limbs and lifes have been lost on site and in factories, a friend of mine actually broke his back falling off scaffold. Accidents happen whether you have a risk assessment or not. Bottom line is be sensible, as there comes a point where people become paralised through fear of the 'what if?' and where does that leave anyone and nothing gets done???

Paul Coleman

Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #15 on: June 23, 2007, 05:24:48 am »
Lets wrap ourselves in cotton wool and put a matress down every time some one uses a ladder! wait a minute i might put my back out putting the matress down and cotton wool makes me itch!

Get over it, it's called life.

Health and Safety these days is becoming more and more ridiculous. I've met literally hundreds of window cleaners in the last 12 years and i've yet to know first hand of  anyone having a serious accident. Yes there have been falls and slips but nothing worse than any other industry. I've heard of terrible accidents in the buliding trade from people i know where limbs and lifes have been lost on site and in factories, a friend of mine actually broke his back falling off scaffold. Accidents happen whether you have a risk assessment or not. Bottom line is be sensible, as there comes a point where people become paralised through fear of the 'what if?' and where does that leave anyone and nothing gets done???
Sure you can't cover every eventuality.  A window cleaner came off a ladder about half a mile from where I live about a year back.  I wasn't there but I'm told that the leakage from his head left the pavement red.  The guy who called the ambulance told me that he thought he was a goner.  I bumped into the WC a few weeks ago.  He's working again.  His speech and general actions are all much slower now due to the head injury and he has to work at ground level because he is more vulnerable to having a fit.  The previous time I bumped into him was about two years ago.  He looks like he's aged ten years.  I'm not advocating it but, oddly enough, a mattress under him might have spared him much of his agony.

jeff1

  • Posts: 5855
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2007, 11:10:44 am »
assessment or not. Bottom line is be sensible,
Foxman
If you re-read the post, you will see in there nothing about wraping people in cotton wool, just your own words above,  All I aimed to do was to point out area's to be aware of and not many of the negative replies are reading the bit about how long it takes,

so let me just refresh it for you SECONDS for an assesment,  work all  that out through out the day and its probably taken you less than five minutes for the whole day? Mmmm! That's lost you a lot of money don't you Think?

Trevor Knight

  • Posts: 1825
Re: How Safe are You?
« Reply #17 on: June 25, 2007, 10:55:26 am »
Lets wrap ourselves in cotton wool and put a matress down every time some one uses a ladder! wait a minute i might put my back out putting the matress down and cotton wool makes me itch!

Get over it, it's called life.

Health and Safety these days is becoming more and more ridiculous. I've met literally hundreds of window cleaners in the last 12 years and i've yet to know first hand of  anyone having a serious accident. Yes there have been falls and slips but nothing worse than any other industry. I've heard of terrible accidents in the buliding trade from people i know where limbs and lifes have been lost on site and in factories, a friend of mine actually broke his back falling off scaffold. Accidents happen whether you have a risk assessment or not. Bottom line is be sensible, as there comes a point where people become paralised through fear of the 'what if?' and where does that leave anyone and nothing gets done???

Exactly, thats why now you have to follow strict proceedures withy hard hats, shoes, perimiter fencing, group fall arrests sytems etc.. on building sites, gone are the days of them bieng a kids fantasy playground.

In the 15 years I have been in this industry I too have never personally known anyone that has had a serious accident or lost a life, but does that mean I ignore the potential risks???????
Covering Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire