Posted By Carl West Dear All, I need some adivce regarding the erection of our office xmas tree. Does anyone have a SSW/ Method Statement for the safe installation of an office xmas tree. With hazards such as impact, falls from height, manual handling, electricity, cuts (from crushed baubles), repetitve strain, it can become a very hazardous activity. We have never experienced preparing documentation for this before; But, we have just been pulled up on it by our cleaner. Any ideas Carl

Posted By Darren J Fraser As the cleaner has identified this, ask them to carry out the preparation of the method statement, and then review with them along with the individuals that normally erect the tree/s.

Posted By Carl West Salus, "two little elves (elf & safe-t)" Thats legendary Carl

Posted By JM82 Bah Humbug to Bob!

Posted By Carl West i say that this is serious discussion. The reception area is 13 metres high (tiles floor so any falls could be fatal). Tree will be 8 metres. Asking a cleaner to to this is neglegable? If there is an accident here, and an inspector did come to the scene. First 2 questions: SSW/ Method statement Training certification - for injured person. Its a workplace activity, which in my opinion involves some fairly big hazards; Please ignore this thread if you think it is silly but there have been some incidents in the past.... Car;

Posted By Carl West Thanks Ship 9, I was thinking of getting a Landscape gardener involved and just subbing it anyway.

Posted By Stupendous Man Why are we being so tough on ourselves when these types of subject arise? We are merely meeting customer demand. Our most valuable customers are the stupid people who have stupid accidents then decide to sue; and the even stupider judges who find for the claimants in such stupid cases. Bring it on I say. The day that we need to risk assess and control the hazards associated with paperclip use will be the day that the health and safety practitioner will become truely indispensible and massively rich as a result. I see the tag-line now... Stupendous Elf n Safety Limited: specialists in the management of paperclip risk. But on a serious note, it is sad to say that there are people out there who would claim to have suffered injury through avoiding a falling bauble, and judges who would find for such a claimant (good day for golf perhaps?).

Posted By JPK I agree! With this level of complexity and for a tree of this size, I would sub it out. You can be sure that the cleaners your local Supermarket or Brent Cross do not put up their tree. Not sure where you are based, but there are alot of firms on the WWW, who provide this service, and also provide a maintenance SSW, for cleaning the area whilst the tree is erect.

Posted By Philby' Bob, I dont doubt that in the scheme of things this would appear trivial, however, there can be serious consequencies from the mundane, routine or perceived safe activities... I have a friend who fell 2m, broke his back and punctured a lung....18 months later he returned to work An ex-collegue of mine always handles correctly these days...he can do no other with all his lower vertebrae fused together...strangely he doesnt handle at work because he cant work. Futhermore he cant do a lot of things like football, golf and rally driving, all things he used to enjoy. His act, he simply went to stop something falling off the bench, it weighed/had a compund action, when twisted, as opposed to the straight lift he would, and did, carry out usually. Philby'

Posted By Bob Shillabeer Don't get me wrong. I understand fully there can be serious consequences from activities like this but I find it worrying that supposed H&S professionals at whatever level they are associate or fellow to be asking for others help and opinion on such mundane issues bodes very badly for the image of the profession. Putting up an 8 metre tree should mean the work at hight regs come into play, etc and should be second nature to a professional. This Sunday I will be putting house christmas lights up for my grandchildren and don't plan on breaking myneck but I won't be writting a method statement I will be thinking the best way to do it. I now hope you all understand where I am coming from?

Posted By Peter MacDonald Anyone for replacing the Fairy with a Troll on the tree. The original posting is embarrasing.

Posted By Robert Weiland Carl and some of the less contributing posters.. 1000 people injured every year with Xmas trees http://www.rospa.com/new.../pr421_15_12_05_home.htm Here's a example of a claim regarding a Xmas tree (bout 3 quarters of way down page) http://archive.theargus....uk/2004/8/25/110295.html Xmas tree fire safety http://www.eastriding.go...ng/fire/fire_safety.html If it's a real tree, be aware of heat sources. I recently attended a fire reforms day and we saw a video clip of a Christmas tree catching fire, it was really scary how quick the tree went up. I might be able to upload onto You tube if anyone wishes to view it ? What ever happened to the 12 days of Christmas it seems lights go up earlier and earlier every year. Reading this thread it seems we're not all in the Christmas mood yet folks ?

Posted By J Knight Hi Folks, It seems to me that Carl was asking for needed advice; surely it's not right to cry 'bah humbug' just 'cos its second nature to some of us; everybody has to everything for the first time at some point. We have had a similar situation in one of our Hospices, but since the crew there are very experienced they were more concerned about the use of ladder supports than anything else; they still rang me up to talk it through though, and they would have been rightly dischuffed if I'd given them 'bah humbug'. John

Posted By Pete48 And when we ask for advice, we also need to accept it in whatever form it comes. If you respond emotionally to advice given emotionally you may never see the message that is there amongst the emotion. Managing the H&S risks of erecting any structure, be it an Xmas tree in the office or one in Trafalgar Sq, is serious enough to warrant attention. The level of formality and control might just be a little different. "To make something very complex is simple, anyone can do it. To make something simple is very complex, it takes skill, knowledge and experience"

Posted By Merv Newman I don't really care how high the lobby is but a 2 metre high tree is as symbolic as one 8 metres high. For which you would need a MEWP. 2 metres and you are doing OK and it is safe. 8 metres and you are doing the macho thing. Stop it. Merv. (ours will be about 1.5 m and heavily weighted at the base as the office cats tend to climb up and overbalance the whole thing)

Posted By Brian McMillan Have just arrived back at the forum after a self enforced ban on it following the huge spelling issue arguments that raged some time ago (probably still going on now). Having read a couple of postings I now know exactly why I went away in the first place. The initial posting is fine and at this time of year very relevant. Having just erected a 5 metre tree in a large hall I can tell you that a 2 metre one might be symbolic but it would look stupid in a large space. Many contributors have identified the real risks and also the fact that it might be sensible to outsource this particular operation. That is up to the individual and the company or place they work for. I have to say that nothing compares with the satisfaction of seeing a decent sized, well dressed tree showing itself off in a well proportioned environment. The satisfaction one gets from being involved in erecting such a tree is particularly heartwarming. 30 hours work (from suitably erected scaffolding) 3000 lights (all PAT tested), 20 lengths of flame retardant tinsel and 500 baubles later our tree looks amazing behind its beaded barrier with "Danger of electrocution" signs hanging off it. All work carefully planned and undertaken by a small team of people who are used to (and enjoy) working together. No injuries, no hassle and no whinging! Good luck with your big erection job - I would love to see it when it is finished. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas no matter how symbolic is may be.

Posted By Salus Hi Carl, £4000 now that is cause for another thread, next year.