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KEITH ROWSON  
#1 Posted : 12 December 2017 16:10:54(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
KEITH ROWSON

For the last three days all the Bricklayers have been prevented from working because the cold weather could make the mortar freeze and affect the setting of the mortar and ultimately effect the materials. However, the joiners are working on roofs at height setting in the roof trusses. The conditions underfoot are extremely Icey and slippery some 13 metres above Ground level, on a 45 degree roof pitch. Not to mention the effects the cold has on the hands and the concentration levels. Access to the trusses is by a ladder which is iced up and the scaffold is a skating rink. The top platform level is some 7 metres from Ground level and this is accessed by a single ladder. As companies are we legally bound to ensure the Health Safety and Welfare of our employees or materials? Not trying to be flippant but it really does anger me.
Roundtuit  
#2 Posted : 12 December 2017 19:29:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

As outdoor workers temperature is beyond the employers control - they can however put some controls in place e.g. more frequent warm up breaks and ensuring access isn't ice ridden

Please don't bemoan the brickies it is the chemistry of the materials they work with - too cold (or hot) and the mortar doesn't set correctly affecting the overall strength of the structure. When it all comes tumbling down the investigation will look at execution of supplier instruction, and any firm ignoring guidance doesn't stand a snowflakes chance in ... of passing liability back along the supply chain. Even more so nowadays as weather data by date, hour and location is readily available via the web.

Roundtuit  
#3 Posted : 12 December 2017 19:29:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

As outdoor workers temperature is beyond the employers control - they can however put some controls in place e.g. more frequent warm up breaks and ensuring access isn't ice ridden

Please don't bemoan the brickies it is the chemistry of the materials they work with - too cold (or hot) and the mortar doesn't set correctly affecting the overall strength of the structure. When it all comes tumbling down the investigation will look at execution of supplier instruction, and any firm ignoring guidance doesn't stand a snowflakes chance in ... of passing liability back along the supply chain. Even more so nowadays as weather data by date, hour and location is readily available via the web.

KEITH ROWSON  
#4 Posted : 12 December 2017 19:51:01(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
KEITH ROWSON

Hi Roundtult, I am not bemoaning the brickies I am one of them that has had to stop and rightly so because it will effect the materials. What I was trying to say is, in these conditions where ice is everywhere working at height and on sloping surfaces should not be happening, and working on scaffolds where they are ice bound is not safe. But the employer is more concerned by the effects of the weather on the finished product than the employee working on it. Why weren't the joiners protected from the obvious increase at working at height/falls from height that the frozen weather has brought?
Roundtuit  
#5 Posted : 12 December 2017 20:02:07(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

Sorry I can't answer for the employer. Have they been asked? Has someone highlighted all the recent (expensive) prosecutions regarding WAH? The HSE website under the tab news/press releases publishes notes on prosecutions held before the courts
Roundtuit  
#6 Posted : 12 December 2017 20:02:07(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

Sorry I can't answer for the employer. Have they been asked? Has someone highlighted all the recent (expensive) prosecutions regarding WAH? The HSE website under the tab news/press releases publishes notes on prosecutions held before the courts
RayRapp  
#7 Posted : 12 December 2017 20:47:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
RayRapp

Keith, I think you have answered your own question matey. As far as I can remember back production has always been put before safety - despite all the mantra. Notwithstanding that, any work outside should be subject to weather conditions regardless whether it is freezing, windy, wet, etc. Especially hazardous work like working at height.

I recall stoping a job on a major rail project a few years back due to heavy snow and ice. I was very popular with the guys who still got paid but not with the Project Director, who later said to me: " Ray, I'm not blaming you for the decision you took - but it cost us a £100K in lost production. Oh dear, never mind.

Mortar - 5 degrees and rising - Lol.   

KEITH ROWSON  
#8 Posted : 12 December 2017 21:14:12(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
KEITH ROWSON

Ray, that is exactly my point and good on you for stopping the job, a moral conscience is what more people should have. The joiners have inside work on other houses to do such as second fix. So like Roundtult said managers have access to weather reports and they know this cold spell is going to last four days. A company should delay work at height for four days while there is frost on the roofs concentrate on the interiors everyone is safe and work is still being produced, and no wife has to attend their husbands funeral. A four day delay or a fatality ask the families what should happen.
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