And that's a valid point. You wouldn't install a roof at night time or during inclement weather. It would therefore be dumb to send them up when you know 90% of the suns disc will be blocked and significant dimming occurs. Similarly you should be considering how the eclipse impacts on your activities. Will you be having staff gawping into the sky while traffic is moving around the site? Will staff be tempted to misuse PPE (I mentioned welding visors, but made no mention of the staff member who was cavorting round with nothing but a dust mask protecting their modesty)? All the above did happen on my site in 1999, so they are real and foreseen hazards, which may be need to be considered, even if they are not 'work related' in the strictest possible sense.

Ray.... don't look at the sun!

Well done Chris, not difficult eh? But as Yossarian reminded us, above, it's an 85% eclipse, it will get dark, and if cloudy weather that will make it darker still. Hopefully employees working at height will make good decisions about what work they can safely do on Friday morning, even some staff working on the ground may be more at risk from trip hazards. As good management I'd be recommending supervisors to make a plan for what work can be done safely.

Hilarious! However, I seem to recollect that the eclipse was in summer last time. Its a bit chilly today and, so far, cloudy hereabouts.

Will you be having staff gawping into the sky while traffic is moving around the site? Will staff be tempted to misuse PPE (I mentioned welding visors, but made no mention of the staff member who was cavorting round with nothing but a dust mask protecting their modesty)?" What sort of face fit testing will you be expecting for this !

I brought in the smoked-plastic top off my hi-fi turntable, that seemed to be a safe device with the added light cloud.

It being Friday, you know what I'm going to say.....

As expected, all a total over reaction by the h&s 'touchy-feely' gang. No more dark than a winters day - a little gloomy at worst. No realistic risk of not being able to see what was going on.

Ah, so you weren't in Aberdeen today then Ian? :o)

Commiserations to those whose anticipated view of the eclipse this morning was obscured by thick cloud. By sheer coincidence I'd arranged months ago to spend this week with friends in the Inner Hebrides where this morning we watched a 98% eclipse. Hazy cloud assisted us by serving as a natural filter and obviated the use of our collander and pinholed cards. By the time the next solar eclipse of today's scale occurs in the UK in 2026, I guess this thread really will have sunk into forum obscurity - so perhaps a similar thread will appear a few weeks before it and generate yet another discussion with strongly contrasting opinions! :-) On a more immediate note, this thread has now received some 3,720 viewings. Does this constitute some sort of viewing record for a discussion forum thread ? (When considering this question it's best to ignore the IOSH/moderatorial 'sticky' type postings which live at the top of discussion forum page 1.)

"Hazy cloud assisted us by serving as a natural filter" Check the UV that makes it through hazy cloud. The reduction is not that good...

I don't see why it should Graham, certainly not in terms of contacting H&S 'bods' for advice and also with it being only 11 years away. There was plenty of appropriate advice both in the press, including the Daily Mail, and the television. Schools also gave the necessary advice and 'PPE' as could be seen by the 100's of school children in Leicester that were on the TV. Possibly towards the end of this century the question will 'crop up', as this will be when the next total eclipse in the UK is due..... weather permitting of course. Coincidentally we are in New York in 2017 for the total eclipse there...... be interesting to see if the ASSE forum has a similar thread. Mind you the arguments will disappear in due course as will all total eclipses, the moon is moving away from the earth at a rate of 4cm a year.