20.01.2015

Still a long way to go

A reader has sent us a video of a man carrying out work at height from the bucket of an excavator – not in the third world – but in the UK.

Reportedly spotted on Friday at a job site in London, the man has been lifted to a height of around four metres and is working with a petrol disc cutter, removing metal brackets from a building wall. Upon completing the task he is then lowered back to the ground.

While this is clearly an example of bad practice which qualifies for our Death Wish series, our reader makes the point: “What is more worrying is the response the video has generated in the comments section, with the majority of the opinion that ‘no one was harmed, so where’s the harm?’ and that it is just a case of ‘health and safety go mad’...”

With all the effort to improve the safety of working at height over the past 20 years it is sad to see so many people agreeing that working in this manner is acceptable. I wonder whether they would still hold this opinion had the man slipped and fallen to his death?


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