15.11.2019

Taking a van apart

Received from a reader in the south of England, a set of photos showing the removal of a van mounted work platform from the van.

It is clearly not being carried out in the safest manner and looking at the photos is almost like one of those ‘spot the difference’ challenges that used to be so popular, in that the more you look, the more you see in terms of poor work practice and safety.
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ready to remove the boom

The man standing on top of the van in a climate that looks as if it has previously seen a little rain - anyone who has ever stood on a van roof knows how slippery it can be - has nothing to stop him going over the edge, should he slip.

The rigging on the boom and turret looks distinctly dodgy, but the hoisting method is even more extreme, the lift cable runs over the tree limb above to a front bumper mounted winch on a pickup truck. Where to start -the ladder up to the van’s roof? the tree limb that might fail, the hoist cable that looks distinctly under sized for what is a fairly heavy load? compounded by the friction on the tree limb. If any of these fail the component would have dropped onto the roof and bounced the man off. Given the state of the yard he has a high chance of landing on something nasty and doing himself a mischief.
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up comes the turret

We have no idea where this was or when, but definitely one for our Death Wish series.

Have a safe weekend