19.12.2013

A new mobile platform

Spotted in Hungary a group of men using a primitive form of mobile access platform to install Christmas lights

In the words of our correspondent: “We have a new competitor in the Self-Drive business in Hungary. In this job they are putting up Christmas decorations. Please note the special outriggers, a rope on each corner being pulled by a human. There are a total of 11 people involved in the operation, so even at a minimal cost of €4 per hour, it would have been more cost effective to hire a more modern Self-Drive unit, and have only two people on the job.”
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11 men and a van to make this ancient steel scaffold work

“The vehicle pulling the ‘lift’ seems to be a municipal vehicle, from the village of Kocser, and the EU sticker on the side might imply that the village has availed itself of some EU funding at some point, but obviously they didn’t use the funds to purchase a new aerial work platform. Perhaps it was for R&D work, and this is a prototype?”

This one makes our Death Wish series on a number of counts, clearly it is unstable and could easily go over dropping the men on the platform around three metres to the road below, not to mention the fact that the falling steelwork would land on others – and if there was a passing car!?

Even if we overlook the lack of toe-boards, the platform is very dodgy and bending under the weight of the two men and the guardrails look as though they will not survive a strong sneeze. The there are those overhead cables?
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A closer look

A definite one for our Death Wish series.