05.08.2008

Death Wish 9

While Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister is on vacation, his official residence, 10 Downing Street, is getting an external pressure wash. However the man doing the washing clearly hasn’t a clue about the safe use of access equipment.
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Pressure washing No10 from a precarious perch

First of all it is questionable if a small step ladder is best suited to pressure washing a façade, a spider or trailer lift would have been far more suitable,

Secondly having chosen to use the step ladder our man is standing on the top rung, something you never do on such a ladder, while only around 1.5 metres up, he is right alongside spiked railings and a fall into the basement, most likely a drop of six metres?

Typically our man has his bright yellow vest on and a hard hat – why he needs a hard hat when people walking in the street don’t have one is a mystery – and in all likelihood his Wellington boots have steel toecaps?

All this safety gear which is totally unnecessary in this application and yet he is running a very serious risk with the choice of access equipment!

We would certainly like to see this risk assessment, is this a case of parliamentary privilege and do as I say not do as I do?