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Acorns  
#1 Posted : 10 June 2020 07:41:24(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Acorns

Was I the only one who watched the current news reports of some of the statues being removed, and then being distracted by how it was done .....to watch a larger digger (JCB style) within a crowded area being used for a "planned lift" of a statue.  I was left wondering if the urge to remove the statue from its plinth in front of the cameras was more important than following statutes and using the correct lifting equipment as part of a planned lift operation in a well planned, risk assessed manner?   Perhaps part of the post query then is to ask whether using a "digger" for a planned lift is the right kit.  I don't recall digger's being routinely being tested under LOLER and any smaller diggers that I have used have alsways had big stickers in the cab stating it must not be used for lifting.   

Edited by user 10 June 2020 07:42:05(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Kate  
#2 Posted : 10 June 2020 08:24:45(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Kate

I expect you were, yes :-)

thanks 1 user thanked Kate for this useful post.
Messey on 11/06/2020(UTC)
Mark-W  
#3 Posted : 10 June 2020 08:30:03(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Mark-W

I'm with you. I thought the same but then this being rushed through with such haste that no thought has gone into the legalitys of the process. It's currently all about being seen to doing something.

It's all well and good until something goes wrong. If were lucky, it might fall on a protester

peter gotch  
#4 Posted : 10 June 2020 16:56:05(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

Acorns - excavators are often used for lifting and can be rated for such task.

There used to be a specific HSE guidance note on this subject. Mostly about what to do if the Safe Working Load was 1 tonne or more and linked to what were then the Construction (Lifting Operations) Regulations 1961.

Acorns  
#5 Posted : 11 June 2020 06:23:29(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Acorns

Hi Peter, imwasntbsayingnthey cantnbe tested for lifting, rather looking at the whole setup of the lift left me wondering, dubious, that they had considered it, as they didn't seem to have considered other things to conduct a safe lift.   

Bigmac1  
#6 Posted : 12 June 2020 08:24:23(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Bigmac1

Lifting with excavators IS acceptable but there is better options, in this case it was all about a symbolic and for the cameras.

But not sure this was a planned lift mentioned in the earlier post

Mark-W  
#7 Posted : 16 June 2020 07:33:49(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Mark-W

Originally Posted by: Bigmac1 Go to Quoted Post

Lifting with excavators IS acceptable but there is better options, in this case it was all about a symbolic and for the cameras.

But not sure this was a planned lift mentioned in the earlier post

Surely it was a planned lift? They didn't just drive by and then someone said, come over here mate and lift this for us.

They took that piece of plant to the site with the sole intention of lifting the statue down from it's perch.

Is that not a planned lift? If not, What defines a lift as planned or unplanned.

Acorns  
#8 Posted : 16 June 2020 07:43:17(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Acorns

Was it a planned lift?  well, when I watched the media and the pics oin some papers, I wondered - was it the right piece of kit?, as a "digger had it been subject of LOLER or just happened to be handy to use?, Had they considered the weight of the statue to be lifted - bearing in mind, if it was bronze it may have been hollow but now filled with water or if it was solid bronse what was its real weight, was their a working zon, uinteraction with the public and so forth.

To my mind, a planned lift is a bit more than asking the nearest digger driver to pop along to the quayside with a few mates to drag something out of the water - that was the whole impression conveyed by the story.  

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