15.12.2014

You are being watched

When a man working on a roof in Oslo, Norway, climbed out of his boom lift to work on a steep roof, little did he know that not only was he being filmed, but that his risk taking would be reported.

His antics were published in the local media and his employer was asked to comment. The move follows a number of serious construction incidents in Norway this year involving cranes and working at height, not to mention worsening accident statistics. As a result people are more aware of bad work at height practices that inevitably lead to more injuries and fatalities.

The man, caught on Friday, was employed by roofing company KB Blikk and was fixing snow dogs on the roof of a building in downtown Oslo. He then exits the platform and works on the steep, smooth wet roof before getting back into the platform. While the man was careful it would have qualified for our Death Wish series, given the height he was working from.
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The man captured breaking work at height rules

The company was asked to comment and after confirming that the man in the video was one of its employees, said that the man had forgotten to tighten a screw on the snow dog and instead of following the company’s rules for working at height, which requires that the work be carried out from the basket, he chose to climb out onto the roof instead. Apparently in order to avoid repositioning the lift.

KB Blikk’s chief executive Stian Kirkeby “This was a clear violation of our rules and instructions. We strictly focus on health and safety, and all employees must complete an appropriate training course before they are allowed to perform work at height. We consider that we have good procedures in place to ensure that our employees are focused on their own and others' safety in everything they do. Meanwhile it is a reality that we are at the mercy of the individual employee being fully aware of this responsibility. Thankfully in this case there were no serious consequences.”

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Vertikal Comment

To be fair to this man who appears to be an otherwise diligent worker, reaching the upper snow dog from the platform without damaging the lower one would have been something of a challenge. It looks as though the work needed a bit more planning – perhaps if he had moved the platform along and then used a lanyard?

The main point though is that awareness of the dangers of poor work at height practices is becoming quite widespread these days and that can only be good for those who manufacturer and rent out the right equipment for the job.