29.06.2015
Hanging over the traffic
Spotted by a reader in Belgium last week a bridge inspection/work platform with a difference that makes you wonder what sort of work planning and risk assessment was utilised.
The two, or is it three, men are working on a bridge over the highway which was open to traffic, rather than use a specialist piece of equipment the men have attached a well-worn suspended man basket to an excavator. It then looks as though it needs some manual guidance from above to keep the platform from scraping the edge of the bridge. If the platform had dropped it would quite possibly has fallen into the path of a fast moving car or truck – adding to the impact of a fall and involving an innocent motorist and their passengers.
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Working on a highway bridge in Belgium
While we have of course seen much worse examples than this, it does make you wonder who commissioned this form of access equipment to work on such a public job? Definitely one for our Death Wish series
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A closer look
Gideon
A hydraulic hose failure on the excavator could drop them into the traffic, as the excavator will not have pilot pressure safety locking valves welded to its hydraulic rams.